Inanna

• 1. Origins And Etymology

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  Scholars have debated the true origin of Inanna's name since the first cuneiform tablets were unearthed in the late 19th century. The word appears to derive from a Proto-Euphratean root, suggesting she may have been worshipped before Sumerian became the dominant language of southern Iraq. Some early Assyriologists proposed that Inanna was originally a goddess who entered the Sumerian pantheon after it was already fully structured. This theory gained traction because her youthfulness and lack of an initial distinct sphere of responsibilities set her apart from other deities. Modern scholars largely reject the idea of a Proto-Euphratean substrate language, yet the linguistic puzzle remains unsolved. The name Inanna itself does not appear as a ligature of the signs for lady and sky, despite earlier assumptions. Instead, the cuneiform sign for Inanna is a hook-shaped twisted knot of reeds representing the doorpost of a storehouse. This symbol points to fertility and plenty rather than a simple title like Lady of Heaven. The Akkadian version of her name, Ishtar, occurs in personal names from both pre-Sargonic and post-Sargonic eras across Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia. It is of Semitic derivation and likely relates to the West Semitic god Attar mentioned in later inscriptions from Ugarit and southern Arabia. During the reign of Sargon of Akkad, these two formerly separate entities became so extensively syncretized that they were regarded as effectively the same goddess under two different names.

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• 2. Worship And Ritual Practice

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  The Eanna temple at Uruk served as the primary cult center for Inanna during the fourth millennium BCE. Votive objects found within this sanctuary indicate she was a popular deity among women throughout ancient Mesopotamia. Individuals who practiced gender nonconformity were heavily involved in the cult of Inanna, performing elegies and lamentations in temples dedicated to her. Men who became gala priests sometimes adopted female names, and their songs were composed in the Sumerian dialect reserved for female speech. Some Sumerian proverbs suggest these priests had reputations for engaging in anal sex with men. During the Akkadian period, gala servants dressed in female clothing and performed war dances in Ishtar's temples. Several Akkadian proverbs imply they may have also had homosexual proclivities. Anthropologist Gwendolyn Leick has compared these individuals to contemporary Indian hijra. A long-held belief held that the cult involved a sacred marriage ritual where a king would take on the role of Dumuzid and engage in sexual intercourse with the high priestess. This view has been challenged by modern scholars who argue the ritual likely involved only symbolic intercourse if it occurred at all. Hierodules known as qadištu are reported to have worked in Ishtar's temples, but it is unclear if such priestesses actually performed any sex acts. Women across the ancient Near East worshipped Ishtar by dedicating cakes baked in ashes known as kisallu. Clay cake molds discovered at Mari are shaped like naked women with large hips clutching their breasts. These molds may have produced cakes intended as representations of Ishtar herself.

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• 3. Iconography And Symbolism

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  The eight-pointed star served as Inanna/Ishtar's most common symbol throughout Mesopotamian history. The exact number of points sometimes varies, though six-pointed stars also occur frequently with unknown symbolic meaning. By the Old Babylonian period, this star became specifically associated with the planet Venus rather than general heavens. During later Babylonian times, slaves working in Ishtar's temples were sometimes branded with the seal of the eight-pointed star. On boundary stones and cylinder seals, the star appears alongside the crescent moon of Sin and the rayed solar disk of Shamash. A chlorite bowl from the temple of Inanna at Nippur depicts a large feline battling a giant snake. A cuneiform inscription on the bowl reads Inanna and the Serpent, indicating the cat represents the goddess. Doves were prominent animal symbols associated with Inanna/Ishtar from the beginning of the third millennium BCE. Lead dove figurines were discovered in the temple of Ishtar at Aššur dating to the thirteenth century BCE. A painted fresco from Mari shows a giant dove emerging from a palm tree in the temple of Ishtar. This suggests the goddess herself was sometimes believed to take the form of a dove. During the Neo-Assyrian Period between 911 and 609 BCE, the rosette may have eclipsed the eight-pointed star as Ishtar's primary symbol. The temple of Ishtar in the city of Aššur was adorned with numerous rosettes.

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• 4. Mythological Narratives

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  Inanna and Ebih is an 184-line poem written by the Akkadian poet Enheduanna describing her confrontation with Mount Ebih. The goddess journeys across the world until she comes across the mountain and becomes infuriated by its natural beauty. She considers its existence an outright affront to her own authority and rails against it. Inanna petitions An to allow her to destroy the mountain despite his warning. She ignores his advice and proceeds to attack and destroy Mount Ebih regardless. The myth of Inanna and Shukaletuda begins with a hymn praising Inanna as the planet Venus before introducing a gardener who is terrible at his job. All of his plants die except for one poplar tree which catches the goddess's eye while she rests under its shade. Shukaletuda removes her clothes and rapes Inanna while she sleeps. When the goddess wakes up she becomes furious and determines to bring her attacker to justice. In a fit of rage she unleashes horrible plagues upon the Earth turning water into blood. Shukaletuda pleads his father for advice on how to escape Inanna's wrath. His father tells him to hide in the city amongst hordes of people where he will hopefully blend in. Inanna searches the mountains of the East for her attacker but is unable to find him. She releases storms and closes all roads to the city yet still cannot locate Shukaletuda so she asks Enki to help her find him.

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• 5. Astral Associations

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  Inanna was associated with the planet Venus which bears her Roman equivalent name today. Several hymns praise Inanna in her role as the goddess or personification of the planet Venus. Theology professor Jeffrey Cooley has argued that many myths show Inanna's movements corresponding with Venus across the sky. In Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, she descends into the netherworld and returns to the heavens unlike any other deity. The planet Venus appears to make a similar descent setting in the West then rising again in the East. An introductory hymn describes Inanna leaving the heavens and heading for Kur what could be presumed to be the mountains replicating the rising and setting of Venus. In Inanna and Shukaletuda, Shukaletuda scans the heavens searching for Inanna possibly looking toward Venus on the horizon. Because the movements of Venus appear discontinuous some cultures did not recognize it as a single entity. They assumed it to be two separate stars on each horizon: the morning star and the evening star. A cylinder seal from the Jemdet Nasr period indicates ancient Sumerians knew the morning and evening stars were the same celestial object. Modern astrologers recognize the story of Inanna's descent as a reference to an astronomical phenomenon associated with retrograde Venus. Seven days before retrograde Venus makes its inferior conjunction with the sun it disappears from the evening sky. The seven day period between this disappearance and the conjunction itself is seen as the astronomical phenomenon on which the myth was based.

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• 6. Syncretism And Legacy

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  In addition to the full conflation of Inanna and Ishtar during the reign of Sargon his successors syncretized her with many other deities. The oldest known syncretic hymn is dedicated to Inanna and has been dated to the Early Dynastic period. Many god lists compiled by ancient scribes contained entire Inanna group sections enumerating similar goddesses. Tablet IV of the monumental god list An-Anum is known as the Ishtar tablet due to most contents being names of Ishtar's equivalents. Some modern researchers use the term Ishtar-type to define specific figures of this variety. In cities like Mari and Ebla Eastern and Western Semitic forms of the name were regarded as basically interchangeable. Ugaritic god lists equate the local Ashtart with both Ishtar and Hurrian Ishara. Due to association with Ishtar the Syrian goddess Ishara started to be regarded as a lady of love like her in Mesopotamia. However in Hurro-Hittite context Ishara was associated with the underworld goddess Allani instead. A possible example of such use of the name is also known from Elam where a single inscription refers to Manzat-Ishtar meaning the goddess Manzat. In later periods Ishtar's name was sometimes used as a generic term goddess in Babylonia while a logographic writing of Inanna was used to spell the title Bēltu leading to further conflations.

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