Inanna, goddess of love, beauty, sex, war, justice and political power

Inanna is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice, and political power. She was originally worshipped in Sumer under the name "Inanna" and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar. She was known as the "Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Temple of Eanna in the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center. She was associated with the planet Venus, and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star. Her husband was the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz) and her sukkal , or personal attendant, was the goddess Ninshubur (who later merged with the male deities Ilabrat and Papsukkal).

Inanna was worshipped in Sumer at least as early as the Uruk period (c. 4000 BC – c. 3100 BC), but she had little cult activity before the conquest of Sargon of Akkad (first ruler of the Akkadian Empire). During the post-Sargonic era, she became one of the most widely venerated deities in the Sumerian pantheon, with temples throughout Mesopotamia. The cult of Inanna/Ishtar, which may have been associated with a variety of sexual rites, was continued by the East Semitic-speaking peoples (Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians) who succeeded and absorbed the Sumerians in the region. She was especially beloved by the Assyrians, who elevated her to become the highest deity in their pantheon, ranking above their own national god, Ashur. Inanna/Ishtar is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and she greatly influenced the Ugaritic Ashtart and later the Phoenician Astarte, who in turn possibly influenced the development of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Her cult continued to flourish until its gradual decline between the 1st and 6th centuries AD, with the rise of Christianity.

Inanna appears in more myths than any other Sumerian deity. She also had an exceptionally high number of epithets and alternative names, rivaled only by Nergal. Many of her myths involve her conquering the domains of other deities. She is believed to have stolen the mes , which represented all the positive and negative aspects of civilization, from Enki, the god of wisdom. She is also believed to have taken over the temple of Eanna from An, the sky god. Alongside her twin brother Utu (later known as Shamash), Inanna was the executor of divine justice; she destroyed Mount Ebih for defying her authority, unleashed her wrath on the gardener Shukaletuda after he raped her in her sleep, and tracked down the bandit woman Bilulu and killed her in divine retribution for murdering Dumuzid. In the standard Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to become her consort. When he refuses, she releases the Bull of Heaven, resulting in Enkidu's death and Gilgamesh's subsequent struggle with his mortality.

The most famous myth of Inanna/Ishtar is the story of her descent and return from Kur, the ancient Mesopotamian underworld, a myth in which she attempts to seize dominion from her older sister Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, but is found guilty by the seven judges of the underworld and killed. Three days later, Ninshubur begs all the gods to bring Inanna back, but they all refuse except Enki, who sends two sexless beings to rescue Inanna. They escort Inanna out of the underworld, but the galla, the guardians of the underworld, drag her husband Dumuzid to the underworld as a replacement. Dumuzid is allowed to return to heaven for half the year, while his sister Geshtinanna remains in the underworld for the other half, resulting in the cycle of the seasons.

Co-author: Bruno Becker