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==Descent into the underworld== |
==Descent into the underworld== |
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One of the most famous myths<ref>Jastrow</ref> about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. The myth states that Ishtar approached the gates of the underworld and demanded that the gatekeeper open them. If he did not let her in, she said, she would break down the gates, so that the dead would escape and devour the living. The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but "according to the ancient decree". |
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The gatekeeper let Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar had to shed one article of clothing. When she had finally passed the seventh gate, she was naked. In rage, Ishtar threw herself at Ereshkigal, but Ereshkigal ordered her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her. |
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At all seven gates, Ishtar, like the souls of the dead, had to remove an article of clothing, at the seventh taking off her beautiful dress. When Ishtar arrived at the palace of Ereshkigal, cold and naked, she complained to her sister of her treatment, but Ereshkigal silenced her and told her that when she visited the underworld, she would have to follow underworldly rituals. Ishtar then grabbed Ereshkigal, pulling her off her throne and sitting in her place, but the [[Annunaki]], the seven demon-gods of the underworld, sentenced her to death. Immediately after their judgement was announced, Ishtar turned into a green, decaying slab of meat, which Ereshkigal hung on a slab in her bedchamber. However, [[Ea (Babylonian god)|Ea]], the cunning uncle of Ishtar, managed to get Ereshkigal to let Ishtar live again provided she sent a substitute. |
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After Ishtar had descended to the underworld, all sexual activity ceased on earth. The god Papsukal reported the situation to Ea, the king of the gods. Ea created a eunuch called Asu-shu-namir and sent him to Ereshkigal, telling him to invoke "the name of the great gods" against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal was enraged when she heard Asu-shu-namir's demand, but she had to give him the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkled Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then Ishtar passed back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and was fully clothed as she exited the last gate. |
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Ishtar was greeted by minor deities upon her return, who had been wearing only rough sacks and groveling in the dirt for days mourning for Ishtar, and so Ishtar decided that she couldn't send any of them. However, when she reached her palace, she found her lover [[Tammuz]] wearing brilliantly colored clothes and sitting upon her throne, and, in her rage, sent him to the underworld in her place. However, she later missed him and sent Tammuz's half-sister for six months every year to take Tammuz's place. |
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Here there is a break in the text of the myth. The text resumes with the following lines: |
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There is also another version of this story, which says that Ishtar was rescued from the underworld by a being named [[Asushunamir]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} |
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<blockquote>"If she (Ishtar) will not grant thee her release, |
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To Tammuz, the lover of her youth, |
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Pour out pure waters, pour out fine oil; |
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With a festival garment deck him that he may play on the flute of lapis lazuli, |
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That the votaries may cheer his liver. [his spirit] |
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Belili [sister of Tammuz] had gathered the treasure, |
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With precious stones filled her bosom. |
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When Belili heard the lament of her brother, she dropped her treasure, |
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She scattered the precious stones before her, |
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"Oh, my only brother, do not let me perish! |
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On the day when Tammuz plays for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, playing it for me with the porphyry ring. |
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Together with him, play ye for me, ye weepers and lamenting women! |
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That the dead may rise up and inhale the incense."</blockquote> |
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Formerly, scholars<ref>Guirand, p. 58</ref><ref>Mackenzie, p. 95-98</ref> believed that the myth of Ishtar's descent took place after the death of Ishtar's lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth<ref>Wolkstein and Kramer, p. 52-89</ref> about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar's descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna could only return from the underworld if she sent someone back in her place. Demons went with her to make sure she sent someone back. However, each time Inanna ran into someone, she found him to be a friend and let him go free. When she finally reached her home, she found her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna had the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement. Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna was grief-stricken and volunteered to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi could go free. The Ishtar myth presumably has a comparable ending, Belili being the Bablyonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.<ref>Kirk, p. 109</ref> |
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==Temples== |
==Temples== |
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Revision as of 02:57, 3 June 2007
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Ishtar (DIŠTAR 
𒀭𒌋𒁯) is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte.
Anunit, Astarte, Atarsamain and Esther are alternative names for Ishtar.
Aspects of Ishtar
Ishtar is a mother goddess, fertility goddess, the goddess of spring, a storm goddess, a warrior goddess and goddess of war, a goddess of the hunt, a goddess of love, goddess of marriage and childbirth, and a goddess of fate.
She was also an underworld deity, her twin sister being Ereshkigal, the Goddess of Death, but her dominant aspects are as the mother goddess of compassion and the goddess of love, sex and war.
As the goddess of love, Ishtar was irresistible, with numerous lovers; she was the patroness of courtesans and prostitutes. Ishtar herself was the 'courtesan of the gods' and she was the first to experience the desires which she inspired. Sovereign of the world by virtue of love's omnipotence, Ishtar was the most popular goddess in Assyria and Babylonia.[citation needed]
Name
In late Babylonian astrology, the goddess Ishtar was related to the planet Venus and was the divine personification of the planet.[citation needed] As the most prominent female deity in the late Babylonian pantheon, she was equated by the Greeks with either Hera (Latin Juno) or Aphrodite (Latin Venus), hence the current name of the planet. (A continent on Venus is named Ishtar Terra by astronomers today.) The double aspect of the goddess may correspond to the difference between Venus as a morning star and as an evening star. In Sumerian the planet is called "MUL.DILI.PAT" meaning "unique star".
The name Ishtar derives from the Babylonian word for "star." The name is Semitic in origin, and is cognate with Canaanite `Ashtoreth (e.g. Biblical Hebrew עשתרת). She is referred to in the Bible as Ashtoreth or Anath, and the name Esther is an apparent late borrowing of Akkadian "Ishtar" into Hebrew. Some who seek to trace Christian practices to pagan origins claim that Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring (whose name later gave rise to modern English "Easter") may be etymologically connected to that of Ishtar, though there is no linguistically-meaningful evidence to support such a link.
Descent into the underworld
One of the most famous myths[1] about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. The myth states that Ishtar approached the gates of the underworld and demanded that the gatekeeper open them. If he did not let her in, she said, she would break down the gates, so that the dead would escape and devour the living. The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but "according to the ancient decree".
The gatekeeper let Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar had to shed one article of clothing. When she had finally passed the seventh gate, she was naked. In rage, Ishtar threw herself at Ereshkigal, but Ereshkigal ordered her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her.
After Ishtar had descended to the underworld, all sexual activity ceased on earth. The god Papsukal reported the situation to Ea, the king of the gods. Ea created a eunuch called Asu-shu-namir and sent him to Ereshkigal, telling him to invoke "the name of the great gods" against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal was enraged when she heard Asu-shu-namir's demand, but she had to give him the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkled Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then Ishtar passed back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and was fully clothed as she exited the last gate.
Here there is a break in the text of the myth. The text resumes with the following lines:
"If she (Ishtar) will not grant thee her release,
To Tammuz, the lover of her youth, Pour out pure waters, pour out fine oil; With a festival garment deck him that he may play on the flute of lapis lazuli, That the votaries may cheer his liver. [his spirit] Belili [sister of Tammuz] had gathered the treasure, With precious stones filled her bosom. When Belili heard the lament of her brother, she dropped her treasure, She scattered the precious stones before her, "Oh, my only brother, do not let me perish! On the day when Tammuz plays for me on the flute of lapis lazuli, playing it for me with the porphyry ring. Together with him, play ye for me, ye weepers and lamenting women!
That the dead may rise up and inhale the incense."
Formerly, scholars[2][3] believed that the myth of Ishtar's descent took place after the death of Ishtar's lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth[4] about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar's descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna could only return from the underworld if she sent someone back in her place. Demons went with her to make sure she sent someone back. However, each time Inanna ran into someone, she found him to be a friend and let him go free. When she finally reached her home, she found her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna had the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement. Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna was grief-stricken and volunteered to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi could go free. The Ishtar myth presumably has a comparable ending, Belili being the Bablyonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.[5]
Temples
In all the great centres Inanna and then Ishtar had her temples: E-anna, "house of An", in Uruk; E-makh, "great house", in Babylon; E-mash-mash, "house of offerings", in Nineveh. Ishtar was the guardian of prostitutes, and probably had priestess-prostitutes to serve her. She was served by priests as well as by priestesses. The (later) votaries of Ishtar were virgins who, as long as they remained in her service, were not permitted to marry. Inanna was also associated with beer, and was the patroness of tavern keepers, who were usually female in early Mesopotamia.[citation needed]
In Mesopotamian culture
Ishtar is also a significant figure in the Epic of Gilgamesh. She appears also on the Uruk vase, one of the most famous ancient Mesopotamian artifacts. The relief on this vase seems to show Inanna conferring kingship on a supplicant. Various inscriptions and artifacts indicate that kingship was one of the gifts bestowed by Inanna on the ruler of Uruk.
On monuments and seal-cylinders Inanna/Ishtar appears frequently with bow and arrow, though also simply clad in long robes with a crown on her head and an eight-rayed star as her symbol. Statuettes have been found in large numbers representing her as naked with her arms folded across her breast or holding a child. The lion, bull, serpent and dragon are sacred to Ishtar.[citation needed]
As part of a triad
Together with the moon god Nanna or Suen (Sin in Akkadian), and the sun god Utu (Shamash in Akkadian), Inanna/Ishtar is the third figure in a triad deifying and personalizing the moon, the sun, and the earth: Moon (wisdom), Sun (justice) and Earth (life force). This triad overlies another: An, heaven; Enlil, earth; and Enki (Ea in Akkadian), the ocean.
References
- Powell, Barry. Classical Myth: Fourth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.