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Inanna
"My father gave me the heavens,
gave me the earth,
I am Inanna!
Kingship he gave me,
queenship he gave me,
waging of battle and attack he gave me,
the floodstorm he gave me,
the hurricane he gave me!
The heavens he set as a crown upon my head,
the earth he set as sandals on my feet,
a holy robe he wrapped around my body,
a holy scepter he placed in my hand.
The gods are sparrows, I am a falcon."
Names:
Names:
Inanna (I-nanna, Queen Moon) - Inana - Inninna - Innin - Ninanna - Nin-me-sa-ra
(Mesopotamian: Sumerian) Great Goddess of love, war, fertility and infinite variety;
chief goddess of the Sumerian pantheon. (She corresponds to the
Babylonian/Akkadian ISHTAR).
Inanna originated as goddess of the date storehouse who each year ritually married
Damuzi, the date harvest god. Her attributes are so many, so varied, and so often
conflicting that she is likely a fusion of several earlier goddesses.
The original Dance of the Seven Veils was Inannaís descent into the Underworld, her
sister Ereshkigalís realm, where she was gradually stripped naked as she passed
through the seven gates. First went her crown, next earrings, then necklace, breast
pins, belt of birthstones, then bracelets and finally her gown. No acts of procreation
took place on earth while Inanna was in the Underworld. When she discovered that
her only way out was in exchange for someone else, she betrayed Damuzi into taking
her place. Inanna's time in the Underworld is a myth of the lunar cycle, Damuzi's a
myth of the seasons.
Inanna figures in various myths and epics, including The Epic of Gilgamesh. She got
Enki drunk and tricked him into bestowing many attributes and powers upon her. In
the myth The Elevation of Inanna, Enki, An and Enlil all give their powers to Inanna,
making her the Queen of the Universe. Inanna is a femme fatale whose lovers always