Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, was loved by all her people. The world was fine and the crops plentiful. Her consort, Dumazi, was a weak man and inconstant, but Inanna loved him and trusted him with all her heart. One night, Inanna heard a plaintive moaning. She looked high and low to find the source in every corner of Heaven and Earth, but she could not find it. At last, in a lone and desolate part of her world she recognized the moaning as that of her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld. She listened more closely and heard Ereshkigal lamenting the death of her husband. Inanna's love for her sister was great. She resolved to travel to the realm of the Underworld to console her sister. She prepared herself to journey to that realm by seeking the help of Enki, the God of Wisdom and Waters. He gave her fourteen me--the blessings of power. She arrayed herself as her strongest; a crown upon her head, lapis lazuli around her neck, sparkling stones, jewels upon her breastplate, a gold ring around her wrist, a measuring rod also of lapis, and her dress of the Sun. Thus arrayed, with her nurse Ninshubur, she then set out on her journey to the Underworld. At the gates of the Underworld, she told Ninshubur to wait for three days and that if she had not returned, to call upon Enki and the elder gods. Not even Inanna could enter the Underworld, arrayed as a goddess. To enter she had to pass seven gates and enter naked. Inanna so loved her sister that she agreed. At the first gate, the gatekeeper removed her crown. At the second, her lapis beads. At the third, her sparkling stones. At the fourth, her breastplate. At the fifth, her gold ring. At the sixth, her lapis measuring rod. At the seventh, her dress of the Sun. Now naked and vulnerable, Inanna entered the Underworld. Naked, surrounded by the Judges of the Underworld, who then condemned her, Inanna begged her sister Ereshkigal for mercy. Ereshkigal was so in mourning for the loss of her husband that she struck the one who most loved her, at the same tearing her own hair; and Inanna was turned into a corpse. Inanna was hung from a hook in the wall to rot. After three days, Ninshubur returned to the Upper world. Without Inanna, there was neither rain, nor sun, and all living things mourned her. Ninshubar went first to Dumuzi and found him with his many concubines, and did not grieve her. He denied to Ninshubar that he was Dumuzi the consort of Inanna, and cursed her before the gods. Ninshubar ran to the gods. She sought the help of Enlil, the God of Air. Enlil refused to help, for the Underworld was not in his domain. Ninshubur then went to Nanna, Goddess of the Moon. Nanna refused to help, swearing she had no jurisdiction over the Underworld. At last, Ninshubur found Enki, God of Wisdom and Water. Enki grieved and brooded and at last, he gave to Ninshubur the dirt from under his fingernails in the form of two Creatures, neither male nor female, to bear the Food and Water of Life to Inanna in the underworld. The Creatures were invisible to the Gatekeepers and entered the Underworld through small cracks in each gate. They found Ereshkigal in her throne room in full mourning, lying naked and unkempt. "Oh! Oh! My inside!" she cried. The creatures echoed to her, "Oh! Oh! Your inside!" Ereshkigal cried even louder, "Oh! Oh! My outside!" And the creatures echoed to her again, "Oh! Oh! Your outside!" For seven days and seven nights, Ereshkigal continued to sing and cry her agony and the Creatures sang her song back to her. At last, she stopped her moaning and blessed the Creatures and asked what they would have. They asked for Inanna's corpse, lifting it off the wall and reviving her with the Food and Water of Life. Inanna embraced her sister Ereshkigal and begged to return to her world as Queen of Heaven and Earth. Ereshkigal agreed but Inanna had to agree that she would return and spend part of the year with her sister, or send someone else in her place. When Inanna returned to the Upper world, nature flourished and her people were happy again. But Inanna's eyes had been opened. Dumuzi greeted her with a kiss, assuring her of his fidelity, and sought to bring her to his bed. But Inanna refused him. Dumuzi begged for her forgiveness, and at last Inanna relented, but sent him to take her place in the underworld with Ereshkigal. ~XineAnn
Katabasis (Descent to the Cave)
The Myth of Inanna, retold by XineAnn