Descent of Inanna

At a glance

History, context & interpretation

The text and its story

Inanna passes through seven gates, removing a piece of clothing at each, until she is killed and hung on a hook. She is rescued, but someone must take her place, and that is her husband Dumuzi.

Traditional attribution

The journey of the goddess Inanna into the underworld of her sister Ereshkigal.

Historical scholarship

Anonymous Sumerian myth, known from Old Babylonian tablets from Nippur and Ur.

Context and curiosity

It is one of the oldest known death-and-return myths.

Chronology and transmission

This text belongs to Mesopotamia & the Levant (Sumer). The catalogue gives its approximate dating as c. 1900–1600 BCE (copies) and original language or script as Sumerian. The dated manuscript witnesses and traditional claims may not refer to the same historical event.

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Sources and further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna's_Descent_to_the_Netherworld

Historical descriptions are educational summaries. Religious traditions, scholarly interpretations and unverified claims are distinguished where possible; imagery may be illustrative rather than an artifact photograph.