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ERESHKIGAL

ERESHKIGAL

Called the Queen of the Great Earth was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian mythology. In last East Semitic myths she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal. Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to the way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler.

In Sumerian myths, Ersehkigal was the only one who could pass judgement and give laws in her kingdom. The main temple dedicated to her was located in Kutha. In the ancient Sumerian poem, Inanna's Descent to the Underworld Ereshkigal is described as Inanna's older sister.  Inanna and Ereshkigal represent polar opposites, Inanna the Queen of Heaven and Ereshkigal the Queen of the Underworld. The two main myths involving Ereshkigal are the story of Inanna's descent into the Underworld and the story of Ereshkigal's marriage to the god Nergal. Ereshkigal plays a very prominent and important role in both these myths.

INANNA'S DECENT INTO THE UNDERWORLD
In this myth the goddess, Inanna descends into the Underworld, apparently seeking to extend her powers there. When Neti, the gatekeeper of the Underworld, informs Ereshkigal that Inanna is at the gates of the Underworld, demanding to be let in, Ereshkigal responds by ordering Neti to bolt the seven gates of the Underworld and to open each gate separetely, but only after Inanna has removed one article of clothing. Inanna proceeds through each gate, removing one article of clothing at each gate. Finally, once she has gone through all seven gates she finds herself naked and powerless, standing before the throne of Ereshkigal. The seven judges of the Underworld judge Inanna and declare her to be guilty. Inanna is struck dead and her dead corpse is hung on a hook in the Underworld for everyone to see. Inanna's minister, Ninshubur, however, pleads with Enki and he agrees to rescue Inanna from the Underworld. Enki sends to sexless beings down to the Underworld to revive Inanna with the food and water of life. The sexless beings escort Inanna up from the Underworld, but a horde of angry demons follow Inanna, demanding to take someone else to the Underworld as Inanna's replacement. When Inanna discovers that her husband, Dumuzid, has not mourned her death, she becomes angry towards him and orders the demons to take Dumuzid as her replacement.

MARRIAGE TO NERGAL
Onece, the gods held a banquet that Ereshkigal, as Queen of the Underworld, could not come up to attend. They invited here to send a messenger, and she sent her vizier Namtar in her place. He was treated well by all, but for the exception of being disrespected by Negal, the plague god. As a result of this, Nergal was banished to the kingdom controlled by the goddess. Versions vary but all of them result in him becoming her husband. In later tradition, Nergal is said to have been the victor, taking her as wife and ruling the land himself.

INTERPRETATION OF THE TWO MYTHS
It is theorized that the story of Inanna's descent is told to illustrate the possibility of an escape from the Underworld, while the Nergal myth is intended to reconcile the existence of two rulers of the Underworld: a goddess and a god. The addition of Nergal represents the hamonizing tendency to unite Ereshkigal as the Queen of the Underworld with the god who, as god of war and of pestilence, brings death to the living and thus becomes the one who presides over the dead.