The Descent of Inanna
Notes and Questions 

At right:  Inanna (Ishtar) in her war-aspect. She places her foot on a roaring lion. Note the weapons sprouting from her shoulders and the scimitar in her left hand. 

(Image from the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago)

The Descent of Inanna Notes and Questions (read Wolkstein 51-73). After you finish the poem, read Wolkstein's interpretation, pp. 155-163.

(52) In Uruk . . . In Badtibira, etc. = Inanna leaves various temples in various cities.
(53) me, or visible signs of various godlike powers. The small lapis beads are made of lapis lazuli, a cobalt blue stone; sukkal = vizier or #1 advisor.
(60) Inanna started toward the throne. Perhaps Ereshkigal feels threatened by this movement, and perhaps Inanna means it to be threatening.
(61) Inanna had not returned. The later Babylonian version of the tale makes it clear that fertility suffers while Inanna is dead: "As soon as Ishtar went down to Kurnugi / No bull mounted a cow, no donkey impregnated a jenny, / No young man impregnated a girl . . ." (Dalley 158).
(64) kurgarra; galatur Jacobsen says these are "two expert mourners, a beadle ... and an elegist" (58). Wolkstein interprets them as "two instinctual, asexual creatures who will not disturb the infertility rules" (160) of the underworld.
Ereshkigal . . . is moaning / With the cries of a woman about to give birth. She is either pregnant and can't give birth, or she is sorrowing over the children she has given birth to, only to see them die because the laws of the underworld demand death. Or perhaps both. (Or perhaps she is sorry for killing Inanna, her sister. Or maybe sickness is normal in the Underworld.)
(65) "Oh! Oh! My inside!" The kurgarra and galatur sympathize with Ereshkigal, and she likes this. Why do you suppose their sympathy impresses her so much?
(68) demons Other translations say "devils" or "deputies."

Questions
1. Why do you suppose Inanna wants to journey to the Underworld? Do you think the reasons she gives on p. 55 are her real ones? Why or why not? (See pp. 157-158.)

2. Compare the "law of the underworld" in this story to other underworld myths we have read. What do you think Inanna's shedding of her garments and jewels symbolizes?

3. Why do you think Ereshkigal treats Inanna as she does? Why do you think Ereshkigal is sick? In what ways are Inanna and Ereshkigal alike? In what ways are they opposites?

4. Why do you think Enlil and Nammu won't listen to Ninshubur's pleas? Why do you think Enki helps Inanna? Why do you think his messengers are sexless (64)?

5. What associations do flies have with death and alcohol? In what ways are flies (64, 88) appropriate messengers in this context?

6. Why do you think Inanna decides to hand Dumuzi over to the demons (71)?

7. In what ways could Inanna's descent be seen as a psychological descent? In what ways is her descent like or unlike a typical hero's journey?

Dumuzi's Dream and The Return Notes and Questions (read Wolkstein 74-89). After you finish the poem, read Wolkstein's interpretation, pp. 163-169.

(75) Geshtinanna = "the leafy grapevine," literally, "Lady of the Vine."
(76) sheepfold is given to the winds: the Sumerian "word for wind, lil, also means 'ghost' and 'demon'" (Wolkstein 164).
(78) the ditches of Arali = the semi-desert land outside of civilization.
(85) He will no longer raise his sword . . . The kurgarra priests were probably impotent eunuchs, and the sword may be a phallic symbol here.

A Seasonal Cycle? Around page 88 the ancient tablets become fragmentary, but all the authorities agree that a fly appears and leads Inanna and Geshtinanna to Dumuzi's body. According to Thorkild Jacobsen, Dumuzi was also associated with grain, which was harvested in the spring, made into beer, and stored underground during the hot summer. Geshtinanna's grapes were harvested and made into wine in the fall, however, so brother and sister both "died, mythopoetically speaking, at harvest time, and both descended into the earth for underground storage" (62). So the pattern would be:

· Dumuzi (grain, beer) dies in spring, stored underground in hot summer;
· Geshtinanna (grapes, wine) dies in fall, stored underground in winter. Questions
1. What do you think this story tells us about Sumerian conceptions of death and the underworld?

2. What does this story tell us about the seasonal cycle? (See the last note above.) What do you think would happen if Inanna stayed in the underworld?

3. In what ways are the following pairs of gods and goddesses alike or different? Dumuzi and Adonis; Dumuzi and Balder; Inanna and Aphrodite; Inanna and Demeter; Ereshkigal and Persephone; Geshtinanna and Adonis and Persephone.

The Descent of Inanna

Notes and Questions and The Rest of the Story (for telecourse version of ENG 204)

(136) In Erech . . . In Badtibira, etc. = Inanna leaves various temples in various cities.
(137) seven divine decrees = me, or visible signs of various godlike powers.  The small lapis stones are a necklace made of lapis lazuli, a cobalt blue stone; messenger --perhaps a vizier or #1 advisor.
(141) Bowed low . . .  Later translations fill out these lines:

Perhaps Ereshkigal feels threatened by Inanna's movement towards the throne, and perhaps Inanna means it to be threatening.

(141) After three days and nights had passed  The later Babylonian version clearly states that fertility suffers while Inanna is dead:  "As soon as Ishtar went down to Kurnugi / No bull mounted a cow, no donkey impregnated a jenny, / No young man impregnated a girl . . ." (Dalley 158).
(143) he brought forth dirt Later translations read "From under his fingernail Father Enki brought forth dirt" (Wolkstein 64).  kurgarra; galatur --these creatures are "neither male nor female" (Wolkstein 64). Jacobsen says these are "two expert mourners, a beadle ... and an elegist" (58).  Wolkstein interprets them as "two instinctual, asexual creatures who will not disturb the infertility rules" (160) of the underworld.  Later translations fill out the missing lines in which Enki gives instructions to the kurgarra and galatur:

The lines "Ereshkigal . . . is moaning / With the cries of a woman about to give birth" are quite puzzling. Perhaps she is pregnant and can't give birth, or maybe she is sorrowing over the children she has given birth to, only to see them die because the laws of the underworld demand death.  Or perhaps both.  (Or perhaps she is sorry for killing Inanna, her sister.  Or maybe sickness is normal in the Underworld.)  At any rate, the kurgarra and galatur echo Ereshkigal's cries of "Oh! Oh! My inside!" sympathizing with her sufferings, and she likes this. (Why do you suppose their sympathy impresses her so much?) After this display of sympathy, Ereshkigal gives Inanna to the kurgarra and galatur just as Enki predicted.
(143) Annunaki = gods.  small demons accompany Inanna because the laws of the underworld demand that someone take her place. Other translations call the demons "devils" or "deputies."
Questions
1.  Why do you suppose Inanna wants to journey to the Underworld?  In one translation, Inanna tells Neti that she has come to the underworld because Ereshkigal's husband, "Gugulanna, the Bull of Heaven, has died. / I  have come to witness the funeral rites" (Wolkstein 55).  Do you think these reasons she gives are her real ones?  Why or why not?
2.  Compare the "law of the underworld" in this story to other underworld myths we have read.  What do you think Inanna's shedding of her garments and jewels symbolizes?
3.  Why do you think Ereshkigal treats Inanna as she does?  Why do you think Ereshkigal is sick?  In what ways are Inanna and Ereshkigal alike?  In what ways are they opposites?
4.  Why do you think Enlil and Nammu won't listen to Ninshubur's pleas?  Why do you think Enki helps Inanna?  Why do you think his messengers are sexless?
5.  What associations do flies have with death and alcohol?  In what ways are flies appropriate messengers in this context?


The Rest of the Story:  Dumuzi's Dream and Return
When Inanna proceeds to her home city of Uruk (Erech), she finds her husband Dumuzi dressed in "shining me-garments" and sitting on the throne. Since he is not groveling in the dirt mourning for her, Inanna does not hesitate to send Dumuzi to the underworld as her substitute: Dumuzi runs from the demons, imploring Utu the sun god to save him.  Utu changes him into a snake, and Dumuzi escapes.

Dumuzi has a dream. Rushes are growing around him; reeds tremble for him; he is lost in a grove of tall trees. As the shepherd-god, Dumuzi is in charge of the sheepfold. But in his dream,

Eventually the "churn lies silent; no milk is poured. / The cup lies shattered; Dumuzi is no more / The sheepfold is given to the winds" (Wolkstein 76).  This is indeed serious, for as Wolkstein tells us in her notes, the Sumerian "word for wind, lil, also means 'ghost' or 'demon'" (164). Dumuzi runs to his sister, Geshtinanna ("Lady of the Grapevine") to tell her of his troubling dream. She interprets the dream to mean that the galla, or demons, will come to get Dumuzi and carry him off to the underworld.  Sure enough, the galla show up, and Dumuzi runs to the "ditches of Arali," or the semi-desert land outside of civilization.

The demons go to Geshtinanna and offer her the "water-gift" and the "grain-gift" if she will tell them where Dumuzi is hiding. She refuses. They begin to torture her, tearing her clothes and pouring "pitch into her vulva" (Wolkstein 76), but still she still refuses to tell.  The demons then go to a friend of Dumuzi's, and after giving the demons some false leads, the friend finally reveals Dumuzi's hiding place.  The galla run to capture Dumuzi, but again he appeals to the sun god Utu. This time Utu changes him into a gazelle, and Dumuzi escapes. Eventually, Dumuzi runs to his sister Geshtinanna's sheepfold, where he is captured as his dream predicted.  The galla strip Dumuzi:

The last lines of "Dumuzi's Dream" read:  "The cup was shattered; Dumuzi was no more / The sheepfold was given to the winds" (Wolkstein 84).

Dumuzi's Return
Inanna starts the weeping for Dumuzi. She sings, "Gone is my husband, my sweet husband."  At then end of her mourning song, she laments:

It seems that Dumuzi will stay in the underworld forever, but after Dumuzi's mother and sister sing mourning songs, a fly appears.  This holy fly buzzes around Inanna's head and asks, "If I tell you where Dumuzi is, / What will you give me?" (Wolkstein 88). Inanna promises to allow the fly to "frequent the beer-houses and taverns" and "dwell among the talk of the wise ones" and the minstrels.  After this generous offer, the fly leads the goddesses to the edge of the steppe, where they find Dumuzi weeping.  Inanna takes Dumuzi by the hand and says to him, Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna will take his place in the underworld for one half of the year.  Thus, Dumuzi dies in spring and rises in fall; his sister dies in fall and rises in spring.  According to Thorkild Jacobsen, Dumuzi was also associated with grain, which was harvested in the spring, made into beer, and stored underground during the hot summer.  Geshtinanna's grapes were harvested and made into wine in the fall, however, so brother and sister both "died, mythopoetically speaking, at harvest time, and both descended into the earth for underground storage" (62).  So the pattern would be: Questions
6.  Why do you think Inanna decides to hand Dumuzi over to the demons?
7.  In what ways could Inanna's descent be seen as a psychological descent?  In what ways is her descent like or unlike a typical hero's journey?
8.  What do you think this story tells us about Sumerian conceptions of death and the underworld?
9.  What does this story tell us about the seasonal cycle?  What do you think would happen if Inanna stayed in the underworld?
10.  In what ways are the following pairs of gods and goddesses alike or different?  Dumuzi and Adonis; Dumuzi and Balder; Inanna and Aphrodite; Inanna and Demeter; Ereshkigal and Persephone; Geshtinanna and Adonis and Persephone.
Works Cited