Inanna, also spelled Inana (Sumerian ^DINA NA; Akkadian ^DINANA ) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love, fertility, and warfare. Alternative Sumerian names include Innin, Ennin, Ninnin, Ninni, Ninanna, Ninnar, Innina, Ennina, Irnina, Innini, Nana and Nin. These names are commonly derived from an earlier Nin-ana "lady of the sky", although Gelb (1960) presented the suggestion that the oldest form is Innin (^DINNIN) and that Ninni, Nin-anna and Irnina are independent goddesses in origin.^[1] Her Akkadian counterpart is Ishtar.

Inanna can be considered the most prominent female deity in ancient Mesopotamia. ^[2] As early as the Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC), Inanna was associated with the city of Uruk. The famous Uruk Vase (found in a deposit of cult objects of the Uruk III period) depicts a row of naked men carrying various objects, bowls, vessels, and baskets of farm produce, and bringing sheep and goats, to a female figure facing the ruler. This figure was ornately dressed for a divine marriage, and attended by a servant. The female figure holds the symbol of the two twisted reeds of the doorpost, signifying Inanna behind her, while the male figure holds a box and stack of bowls, the later cuneiform sign signifying En, or high priest of the temple. Especially in the Uruk period, the symbol of a ring-headed doorpost is associated with Inanna. ^[3]

Seal impressions from the Jemdet Nasr period (ca. 3100-2900 BC) show a fixed sequence of city symbols including those of Ur, Larsa, Zabalam, Urum, Arina, and probably Kesh. It is likely that this list reflects the report of contributions to Inanna at Uruk from cities supporting her cult. A large number of similar sealings were found from the slightly later Early Dynastic I phase at Ur, in a slightly different order, combined with the rosette symbol of Inanna, that were definitely used for this purpose. They had been used to lock storerooms to preserve materials set aside for her cult.^[4]

Inanna's name is commonly taken from Nin-anna "Queen of Heaven" (from Sumerian NIN "lady", AN "sky"),^[5] although the cuneiform sign for her name (Borger 2003 nr. 153, U+12239 𒈹) is not historically a ligature of the two. In some traditions Inanna was said to be a granddaughter of the creator goddess Nammu or Namma.^{[citation needed]}. These difficulties have led some early Assyriologists to suggest that Inanna may have been originally a Proto-Euphratean goddess, possibly related to the Hurrian mother goddess Hannahannah, accepted only latterly into the Sumerian pantheon, an idea supported by her youthfulness, and that, unlike the other Sumerian divinities, she at first had no sphere of responsibilities^[6] The view that there was a Proto-Euphratean substrate language in Southern Iraq before Sumerian is not widely accepted by modern Assyriologists.^[7]

Along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were many shrines and temples dedicated to Inanna. The temple of Eanna, meaning "house of heaven" or "house of An"^[8] in Uruk^[9] was the greatest of these, where sacred prostitution was a common practice. In addition, according to Leick (1994) persons of asexual or hermaphroditic bodies and feminine men were particularly involved in the worship and ritual practices of Inanna's temples. The god of this fourth-millennium city was probably originally An. After its dedication to Inanna the temple seems to have housed priestesses of the goddess. The high priestess would choose for her bed a young man who represented the shepherd Dumuzid, consort of Inanna, in a hieros gamos or sacred marriage, celebrated during the annual Akitu (New Year) ceremony, at the spring Equinox. According to Samuel Noah Kramer in The Sacred Marriage Rite, in late Sumerian history (end of the third millennium) kings established their legitimacy by taking the place of Dumuzi in the temple for one night on the tenth day of the New Year festival.^[10]

Inanna's symbol is an eight-pointed star or a rosette.^[11] She was associated with lions — even then a symbol of power — and was frequently depicted standing on the backs of two lionesses. Her cuneiform ideogram was a hook-shaped twisted knot of reeds, representing the doorpost of the storehouse (and thus fertility and plenty).^[12]

Inanna is the goddess of love and is one of the Sumerian war deities: "She stirs confusion and chaos against those who are disobedient to her, speeding carnage and inciting the devastating flood, clothed in terrifying radiance. It is her game to speed conflict and battle, untiring, strapping on her sandals."^[13] Battle itself is sometimes referred to as "the dance of Inanna."

But she is also seen among people: "When the servants let the flocks loose, and when cattle and sheep are returned to cow-pen and sheepfold, then, my lady, like the nameless poor, you wear only a single garment. The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you are likely to snatch a man from the tavern."^[14] Despite her association with mating and fertility of humans and animals, Inanna was not a mother goddess, though she is associated with childbirth in certain myths.^[15] Inanna was also associated with rain and storms and with the planet Venus ^[16] as was the Greco-Roman goddess Aphrodite or Venus.

Inanna has a central role in the myth of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta. ^[17]

In the text, the city Aratta is structured as a mirror image of Uruk, only Aratta has natural resources (i.e. gold, silver, lapis lazuli) that Uruk needs. A major theme in the narrative is the rivalry between the cities for the heart of Inanna: "The lord of Aratta placed on his head the golden crown for Inana. But he did not please her like the lord of Kulaba (A district in Uruk). Aratta did not build for holy Inana -- unlike the Shrine E-ana (Temple in Uruk for Inanna)." ^[18] Enmerkar comes to Inanna requesting that a temple be built in Uruk with stones from Aratta, and she orders him to find a messenger. ^[19]

According to one story, Inanna tricked the god of culture, Enki, who was worshipped in the city of Eridu, into giving her the Mes. The Mes were documents/tablets which were blueprints to civilization. They represented everything from truth to weaving to prostitution, granting power over, or possibly existence to, all the aspects of civilization (both positive and negative). Inanna traveled to Enki's city Eridu, and by getting him drunk, she got him to give her hundreds of Mes, which she took to her city of Uruk. Later, when sober, Enki sent mighty Abgallu (sea monsters, from ab, sea or lake + gal, big + lu, man) to stop her boat as it sailed the Euphrates and retrieve his gifts, but she escaped. This story may represent the historic transfer of power from Eridu to Uruk.

This myth depicts Inanna's confrontation with and ultimate destruction of Mount Ebih, which has refused to recognize her superiority.

The story begins with an introductory hymn to praise Inanna.^[20] The goddess then journeys about the world, until she comes across Mount Ebih, and is subsequently angered by its seeming lack of respect and natural beauty, and rails at the mountain:

    "Mountain, because of your elevation, because of your height,
    Because of your goodness, because of your beauty,
    Because you wore a holy garment,
    Because An organized (?) you,
    Because you did not bring (your) nose close to the ground,
    Because you did not press (your) lips in the dust."[21]

She petitions to the god An to allow her to destroy the mountain. An refuses, but Inanna proceeds to attack and destroy the mountain regardless, utterly annihilating it and leaving sad destruction in her wake. In the conclusion of the myth, she tell Ebih why she attacked it.

Inanna and Shukaletuda begins with a hymn to Inanna which praises her as the planet Venus (as it appears in the sky).

The story then goes on to introduce the reader to Shukaletuda, a gardner who is terrible at his job and partially blind. All of his plants die, with the exception of one poplar tree. Shukaletuda prays to the gods for guidance in his work. To his surprise, the goddess Inanna, sees his one poplar tree and decides to rest under that shade of its branches. While Inanna is asleep, and Shukaletuda decides it would be a good idea to undress and rape her. The goddess awakes and realized she was violated in her sleep. She is furious and determined to bring her attacker to justice. In a fit of rage, Inanna unleashes plagues upon the Earth to punish and identify her attacker. She turns water to blood, causes destructive storms and blocks all of the roads. Shukaletuda, terrified for his life, asks his father for advice on how to escape Inanna's wrath. His father tells him to hide in the city, amongst the hordes of people and blend in. After her plagues, Inanna is still not able to find her rapist and asks Enki for help in revealing him. Inanna threatens to leave her temple at Uruk unless Enki helps her find her attacker. He consents, and allows her to "fly accross the sky like a rainbow". Inanna finally find Shukaletuda. He attempts to make his excuses for his crime against her, but she will have nothing to do with it and kills him. ^[22]

The story of Inanna's descent to the underworld is known from a poem on a relatively intact set of tablets.

In Sumerian religion, the Underworld was conceived of as a dreary, dark place; a home to deceased heroes and ordinary people alike. Based on their behavior, it was believed, they could be afforded better treatment or positions in the underworld.

Inanna's reason for visiting the underworld is unclear. The reason she gives to the gatekeeper of the underworld is that she wants to attend her brother-in-law Gud-gal-ana's funeral rites. Gugalana was the Bull of Heaven in The Epic of Gilgamesh, killed by Gilgamesh and Enkidu.

In this story, before leaving Inanna instructed her minister and servant Ninshubur to plead with the gods Enlil, Nanna, and Enki to save her if anything went wrong, because everyone that went to the Underworld never came back.

Inanna dresses elaborately for the visit, with a turban, a wig, a lapis lazuli necklace, beads upon her breast, the 'pala dress' (the ladyship garment), mascara, pectoral, a golden ring on her hand, and she held a lapis lazuli measuring rod. These garments are each representations of powerful mes she possesses. Perhaps Inanna's garments, unsuitable for a funeral, along with Inanna's haughty behaviour, make Ereshkigal suspicious.^[23]

Following Ereshkigal's instructions, the gatekeeper tells Inanna she may enter the first gate of the underworld, but she must hand over her lapis lazuli measuring rod. She asks why, and is told 'It is just the ways of the Underworld'. She obliges and passes through. Inanna passes through a total of seven gates, at each one removing a piece of clothing or jewelry she had been wearing at the start of her journey, thus stripping her of her power.

When she arrives in front of her sister, she is naked. "After she had crouched down and had her clothes removed, they were carried away. Then she made her sister Erec-ki-gala rise from her throne, and instead she sat on her throne. The Anna, the seven judges, rendered their decision against her. They looked at her -- it was the look of death. They spoke to her -- it was the speech of anger. They shouted at her -- it was the shout of heavy guilt. The afflicted woman was turned into a corpse. And the corpse was hung on a hook."

Ereškigal's hate for Inanna could be referenced in a few other myths. Ereškigal is seen as an accidental 'black sheep' of sorts.^{[citation needed]} She can not leave her kingdom of the Underworld to join the other 'living' gods, and they can not visit her in the Underworld, or else they can never return. Inanna symbolized erotic love and fertility, and contrasts with Ereškigal.

Three days and three nights passed, and Ninshubur, following instructions, went to Enlil, Nanna, and Enki's temples, and demanded they save Inanna. The first two gods refused, saying it was her own mess, but Enki was deeply troubled and agreed to help. He created two asexual figures named gala-tura and the kur-jara from the dirt under the fingernails of the gods. He instructed them to appease Ereškigal; and when asked what they wanted, they were to ask for Inanna's corpse and sprinkle it with the food and water of life. However, when they come before Ereshkigal, she is in agony like a woman giving birth, and she offers them what they want, including life-giving rivers of water and fields of grain, if they can relieve her; nonetheless they take only the corpse.

Things went as Enki said, and the gala-tura and the kur-jara were able to revive Inanna. Demons of Ereškigal's followed (or accompanied) Inanna out of the underworld, and insisted that she wasn’t free to go until someone took her place. They first came upon Nincurba and asked to take her. Inanna refused, saying she had helped her as she had asked. They next came upon Cara, Inanna's beautician, still in mourning. The demons said they would take him, but Inanna refused, for he had been there for her. They next came upon Lulal, also in mourning. The demons offered to take him, but Inanna refused.

They next came upon Dumuzi, Inanna's husband. He was sitting in nice clothing underneath a tree and enjoying himself, despite his wife supposedly still being missing in the underworld. Inanna, displeased, decrees that the demons shall take him - and herself uses the same "look of death" etc. that was previously used upon her by Ereshkigal. Dumuzi tried to escape his fate, but a fly told Inanna and the demons where he was. However, Dumuzi's sister, out of love for him, begged to be allowed to take his place. It was then decreed that Dumuzi spent half the year in the underworld, and his sister take the other half. Inanna eventually regrets sending her husband to the underworld and begins to miss him. The fertility that she controls with her godly powers begins to fade when she misses her husband during the 6 months that he is in the underworld a year. This infertile time corresponds to the fall and winter months. When her husband's sister is in the underworld and Dumuzi is with Inanna, everything is filled with love and with life; this time corresponds to Spring and Summer.

Additionally, the myth can be described as a union of Inanna with her own "dark side", her twin sister-self, Ereshkigal, as when she ascends it is with Ereshkigal's powers, while Inanna is in the underworld it is Ereshkigal who apparently takes on fertility powers, and the poem ends with a line in praise, not of Inanna, but of Ereshkigal. It is in many ways a praise-poem dedicated to the more negative aspect's of Inanna's domain, symbolic of an acceptance of the necessity of death to the continuance of life. It can also be interpreted as being about the psychological power of a descent into the unconscious, realizing one's own strength through an episode of seeming powerlessness, and/or an acceptance of one's own negative qualities, as it is by Joseph Campbell.

Another recent interpretation by Clyde Hostetter^{[citation needed]} indicates that the myth is an allegorical report of related movements of the planets Venus, Mercury,and Jupiter; and those of the waxing crescent Moon in the Second Millenium, beginning with the Spring Equinox and concluding with a meteor shower near the end of one synodic period of Venus.

To the ancient Mesopotamian audience, though, it is most likely that the Descent of Inanna's moral was that there are always consequences for one's actions. "The Descent of Inanna, then, about one of the gods behaving badly and other gods and mortals having to suffer for that behavior, would have given to an ancient listener the same basic understanding anyone today would take from an account of a tragic accident caused by someone’s negligence or poor judgment: that, sometimes, life is just not fair."^[24]

Inanna is the daughter of the moon god Nanna, and sister to the sun god Utu and the rain god Ishkur.^[12] Her sister is Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld.

As the goddess of the planet Venus, Inanna was identified by the Akkadians with their own Venus deity, who may have been male.^[25] Although the Akkadian name for the goddess was Ishtar, the Akkadians used Sumerian as a religious language; so their hymns, written in Sumerian, use the name Inanna.

Since Inanna embodies the traits of independence, self-determination and strength in an otherwise patriarchal Sumerian pantheon, she has become the subject of feminist theory.^[26] Indeed, in one analysis of "Inanna and the huluppu tree", the author points out how she was implicitly "tamed and controlled", even "demoted", implying her prior importance as a female role model.^[27]

• Enheduanna. “The Exaltation of Inanna (Inanna B): Translation”. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. University of Oxford Library. 2 December 2004.
• Frymer-Kensky,Tikva. In the Wake of the Goddesses. New York: MacMillan, 1992.
• Fulco, William J., S.J. "Inanna." In Eliade, Mircea, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillan Group, 1987. Vol. 7, 145-146.
• George, Andrew, translator (1999) The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Books) ISBN 0-14-044919-1
• Inana's descent to the nether world: translation. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. University of Oxford Library.
• Jacobsen, Thorkild. The treasures of darkness: a history of Mesopotamian religion. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1976.
• Kramer, Samuel Noah (1988)History Begins at Sumer: Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History (University of Pennsylvania Press; 3rd edition) ISBN 978-0-8122-1276-1
• Leick, Gwendolyn (1994) Sex & Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh:A New English Translation. New York: Free Press (Div. Simon & Schuster), 2004.
• Stuckey, Johanna (2001) "Inanna and the Huluppu Tree, An Ancient Mesopotamian Narrative of Goddes Demotion" in ""Feminist Poetics of the Sacred", ed. Devlin-Glass, Frances and McCredden, Lyn, American Academy of Religion. ISBN 978-0-19-514468-0
• Wolkstein, Diana & Kramer, Samuel Noah (1983) Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth (Harper Perennial) ISBN 0-06-090854-8

• Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Eleanor Robson, and Gábor Zólyomi (2004) The Literature of Ancient Sumer (Oxford University Press) ISBN 0-19-926311-6
• The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
• Halloran, John A. Sumerian Lexicon Version 3.0
• Voorbij de Zerken: a Dutch book which "contains" both Ereshkigal and Inanna.
• Pereira, Sylvia Brunton, Descent to the Goddess (Inner City Books, 1981). A Jungian interpretation of the process of psychological 'descent and return', using the story of Inanna as translated by Wolkstein and Kramer. ISBN 978-0-919123-05-2

• Clickable map of Mesopotamia