RSS
Home
Ancient goddess spotlight: Inanna
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
~The Queen of Heaven, the Mistress of Animals ~
Goddess of life, death, and rebirth
The great Sumerian goddess Inanna (pronounced eh-na-na) is a multifunctional deity in every sense of the phrase. Known as the "queen of all me's," she reined over virtually every aspect of ancient Sumerian culture. Having tricked her father, the god of water and wisdom known as Enki into giving her the one hundred objects of culture, she in turn bestowed them upon humankind: traits of life that included truth, priesthood, kingship, sexuality (or the art of lovemaking), arts and crafts, power, and more.
The goddess of fertility, love, sex, and procreation, Inanna is similar to other ancient goddess counterparts (especially the Greek / Roman Aphrodite-Venus) in that she did not need to adhere to virginity in order to be considered pure and divine. Often called "Mother" though she never actually procreated, Inanna aided in the procreation and creation of life. Or rather, she facilitated the process. Indeed, all plants, animals, and humans hinged on her grace.
Consequently, when Inanna was rendered temporarily unavailable during her fated escapade in the Underworld, the entire living realm became sterile and nothing new sprang from the ground. Yet Inanna did not plan to become stranded as she was.
In the mysterious "Descent of Inanna," the great goddess is said to have traveled down to the Underworld to visit her other half, otherwise known as her sister: the chthonic goddess of birth and death, the dark queen Ereshkigal.
On her way to the lowest level of the other side, Inanna is compelled to discard everything of the living world. As she emerges through the seven gates, each leading further and further into oblivion, she is made to gradually remove all clothing, jewels, and external goods until she stands naked before her sister-queen.
Stripped of all exteriors and barriers, Ereshkigal gazes upon her along with the seven judges of the Underworld known as the Anunnaki. Giving her the literal "look of death," the eight figures then transform goddess of life into a corpse of rotting green meat, who is then hung on a hook for three days and three nights.
Rescuing her from death on the final night, Inanna's father Enki saves her by sending forth two asexual lamenting spirits called the kararru and kalaturru, who sprinkle the "food of life" and "water of life" on the goddess' decayed body, reviving her.
Returning to the realm of the living, Inanna sees that the cycles of life return to normal, and is greeted by all who mourned her death -- only to discover that her very own consort, the divine shepherd Dumuzi, had not lamented her passing.
Knowing that a condition of her release from the Underworld had been to replace herself with a substitute, she angrily chooses her emotionally unaffected lover to be sent to the world below to rot year-round.
Yet Dumuzi, known as a "year god" (a god figure who is defined by his cyclic death as it stimulates the circle of life) does not spend all of his time in the Underworld. Lucky for him, he is partially rescued by his sister Geshtinanna, who voluntarily takes his place for half of every year, allowing him to live and die over and over again.
Thus explains the cycle of the seasons, and the triumph of life every year as spring is sprung. As for Inanna, she is believed to live eternally to embody every aspect of being including the dark and the light. As such, she is also appropriately a goddess of war: who can destroy life as well as nurture it.
Associated iconically with rosettes, gateposts, birds, and lions like many other goddesses of antiquity, Inanna's legacy spans multiple ancient civilizations, reaching her counterpart in Babylon known as Ishtar (whose consort's name Tammuz curiously resembles that of Dumuzi). In fact, in all likelihood, the very ancient Inanna may have influenced other legends of goddesses worldwide, as subtle overlaps can be identified between the story of the "Descent of Inanna" and the mythological Underworld domain of the Greek Persphone.
Sources:
The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky (2002)
Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book by Miriam Robbins Dexter (1990)
Other articles of interest:
Ancient goddess spotlight: Durga
Ancient goddess spotlight: Baba Yaga
Related Articles:
Comments
