Inanna
Inanna West AsiaEarly sites excavated in Sumer indicate that temples were located in groups of two. The pair of deities worshipped were probably the mother goddess and her consort, later called Inanna and Dumuzi. Inanna was the most important goddess in the Sumerian pantheon, a variant of her name being Ninanna, ‘mistress of heaven’. Daughter of An or Enlil, she was identified with the planet Venus, and as a war goddess overcame the mountain god Ebeh, most likely a reference to a victory over the steadily encroaching Semites. Inanna was best known, however, as the goddess of fertility and love.
Fascinating is the account of Inanna's descent into ‘the land without return’, kur-nu-gi-a, a dry, dusty place, situated below the sweet waters of the earth. She decided to visit this dark realm, which belonged to her enemy and sister goddess, Ereshkigal, ‘the mistress of death’, and assert her own authority there. Having adorned herself with...
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