Indented and italicized text is excerpted from the original poem, translated by diane wolkstein and samuel noah kramers book, inanna queen of heaven and. My descent into the underworldfollowing the footsteps of. Download pdf the marriage of inanna and dumuzi, reproduction of a sumerian sculptur the principle of the life force on which everything depends, along with fertility, love and procreation were just a few of the principles that inanna, one of the oldest sumerian goddesses, represents. The descent of inanna to the underworld by deanne quarrie. Inanna, ereshkigal, gatekeeper, messenger black guide, red guide, white guide black guardian, red guardian, white guardian storytellers one or. From the great above inanna openend her ear to the great below. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The mes maes represented everything from truth to weaving to prostitution.
Pdf inannas descent to the underworld by johanna stuckey. The descent of inanna a sumerian hero story during the times of gilgamesh that explores the descent into, and ascent from hell. Descent of inanna inanna and the mes according to one. First question and answer reading through the various versions of the descent of inanna made me realize some aspects of the selfrenewal part by rebirth. A centennial survey of scholarship, artifacts, and translations.
Revised edition of inannas descent to the nether world samuel noah kramer. They pieced together worn and broken clay tablets found in the longburied libraries of babylon and nippur, some dating from about 1750 b. Brown, not the authors, translators, or publishers. The descent of inanna from the great above she opened her ear to the great below. In the first line of the descent of inanna, from the great above she set her mind to the great below, what exactly does. Inanna and the mes according to one story, inanna tricked the god of culture, enki, who was worshipped in the city of eridu, into giving her the mes. Download fulltext pdf inannas descent to the netherworld. Libraries are based on magiclib base class library included. Inanna, the queen of heaven in ancient mesopotamia new. Among the temples abandoned by inanna in the sumerian text of the descent to the underworld. The 2001 version, titled inanas descent to the nether world is 412 lines long. This story isnt about gilgamesh however, it instead follows inanna.
The story of inannas descent into the underworld and subsequent return has typically been interpreted psychologically through feminist lenses, focusing on womens empowerment and reestablishing their connection to a femininity not defined by masculine ideals. My lady abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the underworld. This story, which was originally written in cuneiform and inscribed on clay tablets, is in the form of a poem. The sumerian descent of inanna 1 relates, in a poetic narrative. Descent 6 with notation as in simplicial, section 5. The descent of inanna the earliest text of the poem now known as the descent of inanna was archaeologically and linguistically reconstructed in the twentieth century by sumerian scholars. Inanna abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the underworld. The descent of inanna the story below is an abridged version of the descent myth of inanna summarized by amy peck. Henriette broekemas book makes the complex character and history of goddess inanna accessible to the ordinary reader and based on the texts from that time, in twenty six richly illustrated chapters, she succeeds in bringing the astonishing world of the goddess inanna to life. Meeting the shadow of oneself inanna queen of heaven.
Inanna focus questions these questions are to help focus your reading of inannas descent and bring up different potential interpretations. The tendency in these writings is to flatten and level the distinctively mesopotamian features of the goddess. Inanna abandoned heaven and earth to descend to the. Inanna focus questions university of north carolina at. This version is written to minimize certain roles in order to fit our rehearsal schedule. There are many myths about the descent of the goddess.
The descent of inanna known also as inannas descent to the netherworld underworld is a piece of work in the literary corpus of ancient mesopotamia. She is a goddess of order, fertility, grains, love, war, heaven and earth, healing, and emotion. Inannaishtar as paradox and a coincidence of opposites. In sumerian, the word for ear and wisdom are the same. The descent of inanna essay example bla bla writing. Descent of inanna wolkstein kramer from the great above she opened her ear to the great below. Inannas descent to the nether world continued and revised. The descent of inanna known also as inanna s descent to the netherworld underworld is a piece of work in the literary corpus of ancient mesopotamia. If you dont know how to extract the downloaded zip file or if you cant get the game to run, you can visit the help section of this website. Pdf the descent of inanna as a ritual journey to kutha.
The electronic text corpus of sumerian literature texts. Pdf an exegesis of inanna and ishtars descent to the nether world. Although the descent of inanna is a short work it runs to little over 400 lines, making it a little shorter than a poem like the waste land, it contains many of the elements we associate with epic poetry such as the descent into the. Inanna provides a manyfaceted image of the feminine. From the great above inanna opened her ear to the great below. It was generally understood by astrologers that venus would be in the underworld only when retrograde. There are numerous wellknown myths from ancient times which describe a heroine or heros descent into the underworld. From the great above the goddess oepned her ear to the great below. From the great heaven the goddess set her mind on the great below. It identifies some of the functions that may be fulfilled in our society by the sumerian myth the descent of inanna and explores the. Whilst studying the venus cycle, i was always perplexed as to the story of inannas descent into the underworld and her journey there through the 7 gates and how it related to the cycle of venus. Its incantations have the power of a rhythmic cadence.
Descent that deal with the disrobing of ishtar with what the bahir and the zohar say about the descent of the divine feminine in her descending aspect down the mystical tree of life. It was enki who helped resuscitate inanna from death and was instrumental in her rebirth. Inanna, the queen of heaven in ancient mesopotamia. She is the author of numerous awardwinning books of folklore, including the magic orange tree, and other haitian folktales and inanna, queen of heaven and earth. Her stories and hymns from sumer see other formats. It is believed by many scholars to have most probably derived from cumulative judaic and eastern myths and folklore. The descent of inanna by shani oates the true origins of the infamous dance of the seven veils supposedly danced by salome for the head of john the baptist is indeed a mystery. One of the more significant is the story of inanna, the sumerian goddess, who hearing the call, made her own eventful journey and return. Known for her meticulous research as well as her great range as a performer, ms. Kuhner for the university unitarian chapter of cuups samhain 1995 roles. The courtship of inanna and dumuzi mesopotamian gods. Her stories and hymns from sumer diane wolkstein, samuel noah kramer a fresh retelling of the ancient texts about ishtar, the worlds first goddess. Inannas descent to the underworld by johanna stuckey 20150802, 3. The descent of innana a ritual for a large group in a small space version 7.
The sumerian goddess inanna papers from the institute of. Your own engagement with the text should be the source of your answers, i. Inannas descent into the underworld healing stars inannas descent into the underworld. Most of the powers once held by her, the embodied, playful, passionately erotic feminine. We recommend you to use dosbox, a free dos emulator. Otto lehto the seven veils of ishtar and the ten sefirot.
Inannas descent myth from the great above inanna opened her ear to the great below. I am indebted to all four of these sources as well as many others, especially doris lessing for her briefing for a descent into hell and her. I will later provide a short overview of the ishtarkabbalah parallelisms. Could it be the one taken from inanna at a abandoned earth, gate of the. The descent of inanna as a ritual journey to kutha. Diane wolkstein has been teaching, performing, and writing for over thirtyfive years. She graduated from high school at age 15, going on to uc san diego and edinburgh university, receiving her b. My mistress abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, and descended to the underworld. That descent is a requirement of sovereignty, by which i mean the owning of ones own self and life. In this poem inannas reason for her descent is her need to know the underworld, to understand the great below. In this video i discuss why i made the descent, how i performed the ritual and what i learned link to read the story of the descent of inanna. Inannaishtars most famous myth is the story of her descent into and return from kur, the ancient sumerian underworld, a myth in which she attempts to conquer the domain of her older sister ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, but is instead deemed guilty of hubris by the seven judges of the underworld and struck dead. From the great above the goddess opened her ear to the great below. For example, enki, the god of wisdom, is said to have his ear wide open an unfiltered receptivity.
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