The Obituary
Inanna, called Ishtar by the Akkadians, was among the oldest and most powerful Mesopotamian deities, ruling over love, sexuality, war and the planet Venus. Her most famous myth sends her through seven gates into the underworld, where she dies and is revived, demanding a substitute for her freedom. Honored across Sumer and Babylonia for over three thousand years, her temples and sacred rites slowly emptied as the region passed to Persian, Greek and later monotheistic rulers. By the early centuries CE her worship had ended and her name faded from living memory.
Worth remembering
- In 'Inanna's Descent', she passes through seven gates of the underworld, surrendering a garment at each until she stands naked and is struck dead, later revived by Enki's emissaries.
- She embodied the contradictory powers of sexual love and brutal warfare, and was identified with the planet Venus as both morning and evening star.
Sources
- Inanna (Akkadian Ishtar) was the Mesopotamian goddess of love, beauty, war and political power, associated with the planet Venus. Wikipedia
- The myth 'Inanna's Descent to the Underworld' has the goddess pass through seven gates, die, and be revived. World History Encyclopedia
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.