Ereshkigal

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Adad · Ashnan Asaruludu · Enbilulu Enkimdu · Ereshkigal Inanna · Lahar Nanshe · Nergal Nidaba · Ningal Ninisinna · Ninkasi Ninlil · Ninurta Nusku · Uttu Annunaki

In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (lit. "Great Lady under the Earth") was the goddess of the land of the dead or Underworld. One of the oldest goddesses of Mesopotamia, she was the daughter of the chief god, "Skyfather" Anu.

Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, which is also the name of the Underworld itself, similar to way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler. Ereshkigal was the only one who could pass judgment and give laws in her kingdom, until she came to share power with the god Nergal, probably sometime in the second millennium B.C.E.

The main temple dedicated to Ereshkigal was located in Cuthah. The goddess Ishtar refers to Ereshkigal as her older sister in the Sumerian hymn "The Descent of Ishtar" (which was also in later Babylonian myth still called "The Descent of Ishtar"). Inanna/Ishtar's trip and return to the underworld is the most familiar of the myths concerning Ereshkigal.

Origins

When Anu's tears—shed for for his separated sister-lover Ki (earth)—met the salt waters of the primeval sea goddess Nammu, Ereshkigal and her brother Enki (Ea) were born. Ereshkigal was later abducted by the great dragon Kur, her half-brother, and taken to the Underworld. Enki attempts to rescue her, but she makes this realm her abode, from which no one, even the gods, may return.

Source myths

Ereshkigal is the sister of Ishtar and from one point of view her counterpart, the symbol of nature during the non-productive season of the year. As the doctrine of two kingdoms, one of this world and one of the world of the dead, becomes crystallized, the dominions of the two sisters are sharply differentiated from one another.

Ereshkigal is known chiefly through two myths, believed to symbolize the changing of the seasons, but also also intended to illustrate certain doctrines or rituals developed in the temple-schools of Babylonia.

One of these myths is the famous story of "Ishtar's Descent" to Irkalla (or Aralu), as the lower world was called. There she is required by the gatekeeper to remove successive layers of clothing as she approaches the throne of Ereshkigal.

The other is the story of Nergal, the plague god, whose offense against Ereshkigal, his banishment to the kingdom controlled by the goddess and the reconciliation between Nergal and Ereshkigal through the latter's offer to have Nergal share the honors of the rule over Irkalla. In later tradition, Nergal is said to have been the victor, taking her as wife and ruling the land himself.

It is theorized that the story of Ishtar's descent is told to illustrate the possibility of an escape from Irkalla, while the other myth is intended to reconcile the existence of two rulers of Irkalla: a goddess and a god. The addition of Nergal represents the harmonizing tendency to unite with Ereshkigal as the queen of the netherworld to the god who, in his character as god of war and of pestilence, conveys the living to Irkalla and thus becomes the one who presides over the dead.

Ishtar's descent

One of the most striking of Sumerian myths, this story describes Ishtar descent into and return from the underworld. Her pretext for the journey in the more complete version of the story is that Ereshkigal's husband has recently died and Ishtar wishes to pay her respects. However, she brings with her seven divine powers and acts aggressively toward Ereshkigal's gatekeeper, Neti. Ereshkigal requires that Ishtar pass through seven gates into the "Land of No Return," and at each gate Neti removes an article of her clothing and ornaments, beginning with her crown and ending with her loincloth, until at the last gate she is entirely naked. Ishtar immediate attempt to usurp Ereshkigal's place on the throne of the Underworld. In one version of the story Ereshkigal then dispatches Namtar to smite Ishtar with diseases in every part of her body. In another, Ishtar is judged guilty by the other gods. She is turned into a corpse and hung on a hook on the wall.

Meanwhile, back in the land of the living, Ishtar's absences results in a horrible plague of infertility among both humans and animals. "No bull mounted a cow, no donkey impregnated a jenny... The young man slept in his private room. The girl slept in the company of her friends."

Neither her grandfather Enlil nor her father, the Moon god Nanna/Sin, are willing to rescue Ishtar, believing she has overstepped . However, by the intercession her uncle Ea (Enki in Sumerian), Ishtar eventually wins release. According to the underworld rules, however, she must find someone to take her place. Returning above, she discovers her beloved husband, Tammuz, seated in splendor on her throne. Enraged, she has him seized and dragged below. She eventually repents of this act and arranges for Tammuz's sister, Belili, to substitute for him during six months of the year—thus explaining the mystery of the sun's diminishing in winter and growing stronger summer. Meanwhile, Ereshkigal reigns as she should over the "Land of No Return," at least for the present.

Ereshkigal and Nergal

In this story, Ereshkigal willingly gives up her sole rulership of the underworld for the sake of her passionate love for Nergal.

The story begins with an affirmation of the fundamental separation between the gods of Heaven and the Underworld. Ereshkigal cannot meet directly with the great gods Anu, Enlil, and Ea. The gods therefore send a messenger to Ereshkigal, inviting her to send her own servant to receive her portion of a divine banquet in the heavens.

Ereshkigal sends her faithful minister Namtar, the god of fate. He climbs "the long stairway to heaven" and is respectfully received. Only Nergal, the god of war and diseases, refuses to stand in his presence. Nergal is required to make restitution for his insult by descending into the Land of No Return.

The compassion god Ea assists Nergal by providing him with seven demons. Ea also instructs Nergal not to accept the hospitality he will be offered as Eriskigal's guest, especially, "not to do with her that which men and women do".

On the first visit, frustratingly incomplete in the existing text, Nergal seems to take Ea´s advice. Later, however, after the goddess allows him to see her stripping for her bath, he gives in to his desire. After six days of passionate lovemaking, Nergal leaves Ereshkigal asleep and makes his way back to the heavens. ter initiation in this context. The goddess is hearbroken and angry:

"Ereshkigal cried out aloud, grievously, Fell from the throne to the ground, Then straightened up from the ground. Her tears flowed down her cheeks: "Erra, the lover of my delight - I did not have enough delight with him before he left! Erra, the lover of my delight - I did not have enough delight with him before he left'.

Ereshkigal disatches Namtar with a touching message for the gods. She speaks of her lonelines as a young goddess and her difficult burdens as the goddess of the Underworld, since an early age. Finally she threatens that if her love is not returned to her, she will cause the dead to rise and outnumber the living.

Namtar, however, does recognize Nergal, who is in disguise, and returns to his mistress emptihanded. Ultimately, Nergal to the Underworld of his own accord.

He seized her by her hairdo,

And pulled her from the throne.

He seized her by her tresses..

The two embraced each other

And went passionately to bed.

Another six days of passion ensue. On the seventh day, the supreme god Anu sends the couple of message. The text here is once again incomplete, but it is clear that Nergal is to remain in the underworld as its new king, with Ereshikgal as its queen.

Irkalla

Irkalla (also Ir-Kalla, Irkalia) is the hell-like underworld from which there is no return. It is also called Arali, Kigal, Gizal, and the lower world. Irkalla is ruled by the death god Nergal and his consort Ereshkigal.

Irkalla was originally another name for Ereshkigal, who ruled the underworld until overthrown by Nergal. Both the deity and the location were called Irkalla, much like how Hades in Greek mythology is both the name of the underworld and the god who ruled it.

The Sumerian netherworld was a place for the bodies of the dead to exist after death. One passed through the seven gates on their journey through the portal to the netherworld leaving articles of clothing and adornment at each gate, not necessarily by choice as there was a guardian at each gate to extract a toll for one's passage and to keep one from going the wrong way. The living spirits of the dead are only spoken of in connection with this netherworld when someone has been placed here before they are dead or wrongly killed and can be saved. The bodies of the dead decompose in this afterlife, as they would in the world above.

As the subterranean destination for all who die, Irkalla is similar to Sheol of the Hebrew Bible or Hades of classic Greek mythology. It is different from more hopeful visions of the afterlife that later appeared in Platonic philosophy, Judaism, and Christianity.

Other details

In some versions of the myths, she rules the underworld by herself, sometimes with a husband subordinate to her named Gugalana. It was said that she had been stolen away by Kur and taken to the underworld, where she was made queen unwillingly. [1]

She is the mother of the goddess Nungal.

Her son with Enlil was the god Namtar, who was responsible for diseases and pests. Namtar was a hellish deity, god of death, and the messenger of An, Ereshkigal, and Nergal.It was said that he commanded sixty diseases in the form of demons that could penetrate different parts of the human body; offerings to him were made to prevent those illnesses. It is thought that the Assyrians and Babylonians took this belief from the Sumerians after conquering them. To some they were the spirit of fate, and therefore of great importance. This being was regarded as the beloved son of Bêl. Apparently they executed the instructions given him concerning the fate of men, and could also have power over certain of the gods. In other writings they were regarded the personification of death, much like the modern concept of the Grim Reaper.

With Gugalana her son was Ninazu. a god of the underworld, and of healing. He was the son of Enlil and Ninlil or, in alternative traditions, of Ereshkigal and Gugalana, and was the father of Ningiszida. In the text Enki and Ninhursag he was described as the consort of Ninsutu, one of the deities born to relieve the illness of Enki. Ninazu was the patron deity of the city of Eshnunna until he was superseded by Tispak. He had sanctuaries were the E-sikul and E-kurma. Unlike his close relative Nergal, he was generally benevolent.

Sources

• Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green (ISBN 0-292-70794-0)
• The Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels by Alexander Heidel (ISBN 0-226-32398-6)
• Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth" by Diane Wolkenstein and Sumuel Noah Kramer (ISBN 0-06-090854-8)
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

External links

• "Inana's descent to the nether world" - from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature by the Oriental Institute of the University of Oxford

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