Sacred Writing
Babylon: Ishtar's Descent
Ishtar's Descent
Ishtar thinks to go into the Place of Darkness in search of her beloved spouse Tammuz. Arrayed in her magnificent power and splendor she enters the cavern that leads to that realm. The place is surrounded by seven walls and has seven gates and at her demand for entry, the watchman, Nedu, begs leave to consult with his mistress, Irkalla, sister of Ishtar. The mistress of the Place of Darkness bids Nedu to admit Ishtar in accordance with the ancient rites.
- At the first gate he removes her splendid crown.
- At the second gate he removes her necklace with the eight-rayed star.
- At the third gate he removes her bracelets of gold and lapis lazuli.
- At the fourth gate he removes her shoes.
- At the fifth gate he removes her veil.
- At the sixth gate he removes her outer robe.
- At the seventh gate he removes her garment.
Ishtar/Inanna 17th c. BCE
"And naked, with her splendor, and her power, and her beauty all gone from her, the Lady of the Gods came before Irkalla. And Irkalla, the goddess of the World Below, had the head of a lioness and the body of a woman; in her hands she grasped a serpent."
Irkala curses Ishtar and summons the plague demon to afflict her. And Ishtar becomes as one dead -- "Ishtar saw the light no more; feathers came upon her; she ate dust and fed upon mud...."
Meanwhile Shamash, Lord of the Sun, notices the effect of Ishtar's
absence on the
world and concludes that this generation of creatures will die and that
the creation
will end. He sends Ea to conjure the Water of Life from Irkalla, and
revive Ishtar.
This Ea does through an intermediary.
Genie with Lustral Waters 9th c. BCE
"Ishtar came from out the dust and the mud; the Water of Life was sprinkled upon her. She stood before Irkalla's seat living, but pale, powerless, naked, and trembling." She returns through each of the seven gates and receives back her raiment and jewels. "Then Ishtar came from the realm of Irkalla. But she did not go in splendor, she did not go in radiance; she went with her head bowed. She went into the world where no light was. No blossoms were there, and no birds called."
"But no sooner had she come upon the earth than her splendour and power came back to Ishtar; she walked as a Goddess--yea, as the Lady of the Gods....And the Gods rejoiced, knowing that what they had created would not pass away." Padraic Colum, trans., Myths of the World, Universal Library, 1930, pp.33-37.