Tag Info

The Descent of Inanna (Ishtar) was unearthed from 1889 - 1900, but as far as I can tell, it wasn't really considered that well reconstructed until around the 1940s or later. Early published versions were based on less complete information, and had to make assumptions that turned out incorrect, especially with regards to Dumuzi's (Tammuz) role in the story (...

I will admit that I'm not a scholar on the subject and mostly just speculating from what I have available to me, but maybe my speculation is better than nothing, lacking another answer. My interpretation is that Inanna has just matured enough to realize her own majesty, as seen not only by her delight at her own beauty but also by her placing the crown upon ...

Doing some more reading, I found that Wolkstein does provide some information on this bit of text, which expresses a similar meaning to @Dolda2000's answer: In Sumerian, the word for sheepfold, womb, vulva, loins, and lap are the same. The images presented in the first few lines - shepherd, sheepfold, apple tree, young woman, and vulva - are all related ...

I understand the question to be asking what is the author’s intent in having Gilgamesh describe Ishtar’s prior lovers in the way he does, and what, as a literary matter, did the author want to convey through that scene. I agree with Jeffrey Tigay (p. 42) that there was a single creative mind behind the Old Babylonian, Akkadian text, who deserves to be ...

The main reason why it exists in the narrative is that it precedes the epic by quite a long time. Before the epic of Gilgamesh was put together as one single narrative, hymns of Gilgamesh were performed separately. These are the Sumerian predecessors of what's commonly read today. They can fortunately for us be easily found on the internet at The Electronic ...

Ishtar was the goddess of fertility. She was married to Tammuz and when he died Ishtar was still young. She fell then in love with Gilgamesh (when he was king) but it seems he was not interested in her. After being rejected by Gilgamesh, Ishtar became depressed and decided she would descend into the Underworld to be with Tammuz source: Ishtar’s ...

The way that poem is told in your link is fancy and questionable. That is a fairly personal interpretation of the myth. In that story, Inanna doesn't have to go the underworld, but in fact does precisely the contrary, as she would have to climb upon mountain range. At the beginning she is with her brother Utu probably in a tavern: shul dUtu kash-mu-unu4-...

According to the myth, she "opened her ear to the underworld", and, after prudently arranging for help if it goes wrong, she goes to the doors of the underworld and demands entrance. The other myths about her tell us how she got her power and dominions, in this myth she goes to the one place where she has no power, and survives, just. It seems to be a model ...