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Today's Topics:
Day of the Woman ... Continued
The Descent of Inanna
In The Descent of Inanna, we see Inanna as a fully grown goddess. She has had many adventures and experiences between the previous story (The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi) and this one. You should know that Dumuzi was her first lover ... but not her last. She has fallen in love hundreds of times by now, and has been with many, many men (gods). She gathers a reputation as a wild lover, but also a man-eater of sorts, chewing them up and spitting them out when someone new comes along. When we get to the story of Gilgamesh, we will see Gilgamesh reject Ishtar's (Inanna's) advances, due to her reputation. In fact, Gilgamesh recalls what Ishtar had done to Dumuzi as one of his reasons for rejection (Dumuzi will be called "Tammuz" in many translations, and this name appears in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel in the Bible, referencing his crying and wailing).
Inanna plans to enter the Underworld to visit her older sister, Ereshkigal, who is mourning the loss of her husband, Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven. However, anyone who enters the Underworld will never be allowed to leave. Instead, the Underworld is a dark, dusty, and lonely place where nothing ever happens. Imagine entering the scariest old haunted house imaginable. Inside it is dark and has fallen into disrepair. The floorboards give way, spider webs hang from the bannisters, and no lights in the house are working. Now imagine that you decide to explore the musty basement of this ancient house. As you step down the stairs, you smell the dank mildews and chase away the rats. Entering the bowels of this basement, you realize that you are standing in a lifeless, dark, and scary environment, where your cries for help go unheard. You sense that others are around you, but you do not interact with them. In a sense, the Underworld represents a lifeless, lonely existence. You are not being punished, but you have no worth, value, or purpose either. You are "just there."
The Mesopotamians believed that three realms existed: heaven, earth, and underworld. The heavens were the distant stars in the sky. You can reach as high as you can, but you will never be able to touch them. You can build Towers of Babel, climb the highest mountains, or jump as high as possible, but you will never reach the sky. This distant, unreachable place is referred to as "the heavens." The earth should speak for itself, a place that is influenced by events occurring both on earth and in the sky. It is the realm of duality, human life, and a middle state, where the demons (intermediaries) roam freely from one realm to the other. This story will show you how these intermediaries operate.
On page 53, Inanna instructs her trusted servant Ninshubur about what to do if Inanna does not return. She tells her friend to ask the gods for help if she becomes trapped in the land of no return. Therefore, Inanna clearly knows that she has a difficult journey ahead. By page 55, she has descended the stairs and approaches the door to the netherworld. She knocks, and the door is answered by Neti, the main gatekeeper of the seven gates into the Underworld. He asks her what she wants, and she tells him that she is Ereshkigal's sister and that she comes to attend the funeral of her brother-in-law. He tells her to wait so that he can ask the Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, what to do.
But wait. There is something else going on here. On page 55, Inanna says that she is "[o]n my way to the East." However, the East always represents life and rebirth -- the West represents death and dying. Why would she be traveling through the Underworld to get to the East? Joseph Campbell explains that all of us are "twice born," and that we have to "die" before we can assume a new "life." For example, when you meet your significant other, your single life "dies" so that you can be reborn into a new person, one who is not alone any more, but rather part of a whole -- your relationship. Likewise, when you become a parent, part of your old life is replaced with a new one, filled with new responsibilities and challenges that changes the way that you live your life. If Inanna is traveling to the East, then she is metaphorically seeking a rebirth, which can only occur through a death, hence her visit to the realm of the dead.
Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. Inanna seeks the experience of death in order to better understand life. Only when a person comes to terms with his or her mortality does life take on its proper meanings. I recall being a small child and thinking to myself that I wanted to live to 100, just because it seemed like the thing to do. Now that I have a better understanding of life and death, I do not wish to live to 100, which now appears a more frightening thought. If you always keep the dualities in mind, you will see the reasons behind the actions. Inanna wishes to understand death, which can only occur once it is experienced. Once she knows death, then she can become better at life. After all, our lives are defined by our births and deaths more than anything else.
Furthermore, let me give you some insights into Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, a character that we will see in Gilgamesh as the representation of drought. Gugalanna has died, but he represents drought. Therefore, what has died? Drought! (See the Gilgamesh story.) The way to kill a drought is to apply water, which replaces it (or chases it away). Perhaps this story really represents the changes that occur from the season of winter into spring. Inanna knows that the cycles of life whirl around and around, and that there is always a new life after each death. She is going to pay tribute to the end of winter and the beginning of new life in the East. She is going to become born again. First, however, she needs to experience death. Hence, the Underworld. Inanna ia already the "Queen of Heaven and Earth," as your book's subtitle indicates, but does she control the Underworld? No. Perhaps she is curious about it so that she can also assume power over the third of the three realms?
On page 56, Inanna gathers together seven Holy me, her powers and wisdom that she will need to do battle with the forces of the Underworld. These take the form of royal robes and assorted jewelry. At the bottom of the page, though, Ereshkigal (Queen of the Underworld) tells Neti (the gatekeeper) to allow Inanna in only one gate at a time, removing one of the seven me as she passes through each gate. Pages 57-59 show Inanna's passage until she finally arrives in the Underworld completely naked. Immediately (page 60), Ereshkigal attaches the "eye of death" onto Inanna and hangs her corpse on the wall. Inanna is dead.
Ninshubur, Inanna's assistant, begins to ask the gods for their help. First she asks Enlil (also called Ellil), who refuses to help. Next, she visits Nanna, Inanna's father, but he too says no. Why won't these father figures offer any succor to Inanna? Perhaps because they have no power over the Underworld, as each god and goddess controls limited aspects. Furthermore, Inanna is an adult woman now, and she needs to fight her own battles, especially since nobody forced her into the Underworld! Much like in the earlier Inanna stories, Inanna must face her own life changes, as nobody else can experience these things for her.
Enki is the only god who makes a commitment to help Inanna, and he does so on page 64 by creating two androgynous creatures, a kurgarra and a galatur. He gives them the food and water of life, and he sends them into the Underworld. Because they are neither male or female, they will be allowed in and out of the Underworld at will, and they will not be subjected to the same rules that mortals and gods must follow. But why is their lack of sexual identity a benefit (or a condition that circumvents death)? Perhaps this has a lot to do once again with dualities.
As men or women, we live in a world of opposition. The only way we can rise above these dualities is to transcend these dualities. One way that we shed our dual natures is through death. In death, we are not male and female (gender only matters on earth). We finally share the exact same experiences together, if you will. Therefore, sexuality is an inherent part of a dualistic being, just like we are living in one side of the duality of life/death.
If we were to avoid
the traps and conditions of this dualistic state, then we would not be living
in the forms that we are in right now. That would be impossible, given
our world that we live in. Keep in mind that we don't die because
we are men or women, but that, in death, we become unified in our experience.
An agendered creature (a creature with no gender), therefore, is already a unified
idea, much like the way that many cultures conceive of their gods (as a transcendent
entity that is not locked into the world that we know, but a different one where
there are no distinctions between the dualities). The term "androgynous"
is made from the combination of "andro" (implying the male, such as in
the hormone "androgen") and "gyno" (referring to the female, as in "gynecologist").
These creatures, therefore, are neither male nor female (or they could be BOTH).
Either way, they have nothing to offer in the Underworld, nothing to exchange,
and nothing to lose. They are already unified, so death does not change
their natures. They are the classic intermediaries (demons), according
to the definition.
Ereshkigal (the Queen of the Underworld, and Inanna's
sister) questions these kurgarra and galatur creatures and attempts
to offer them gifts, but they refuse the offerings (pages 66-67). The
only gift they ask for is the body of Inanna, whom they revive with Enki's magic
potions. Ereshkigal allows Inanna to leave the Underworld, due to these
highly unusual conditions, but places one strict demand on her exit -- if she
leaves, she will be accompanied by the galla creatures (little demon
dudes) who will search the Earth for someone to take Inanna's place in the Underworld.
After all, the Underworld must be balanced, so the soul of Inanna must be replaced.
Why does Ereshkigal affix the "eye of death" upon her sister Inanna? Is she evil? Corrupt? No.
View Ereshkigal as a mirror image of Inanna herself. Whereas Inanna represents fertility, Ereshkigal promotes the opposite force. Both are aspects of Nature and natural cycles. Inanna, however, is the friendlier (and more flirtatious) side of Nature, while Ereshkigal offers the dark side. In other words, these two women are really different halves of the same concept -- one that operates by day, and the other that tends to the night. They are more than sisters -- they are both components of Nature's dualities.
As Inanna and her demon companions re-emerge on the land, the galla creatures begin to point out prospects for Inanna's replacement. First, they find Ninshubur, Inanna's assistant, but Inanna complains that Ninshubur cannot be taken, since she is so valuable to Inanna. Next, on page 70, the galla stumble across two of Inanna's sons, Shara and Lulal. But Inanna complains again, stating that her sons are brave warriors and needed on the Earth. That is when, on page 71, the galla find a man sleeping beneath an apple tree -- Dumuzi. Inanna then exclaims: "Take him! Take Dumuzi away!" Fighting, kicking, and screaming, Dumuzi is dragged away toward the Underworld, wondering why he has met this fate. He will attempt to hide, and succeeds temporarily, until he is finally sentenced to the Underworld in the next two sections of this story.
In the section entitled “The Dream of Dumuzi,” we see Dumuzi asking his sister Geshtinanna to interpret his dreams, which she does on pages 76-77. In short, she tells her brother that his dream portends his own death, followed by hers. After this interpretation is made, Dumuzi runs away. Notice that Geshtinanna does not tell Dumuzi that he will die. Rather, she uses nature metaphors to describe Dumuzi’s passing: “terror of tall trees,” “fall to earth,” “given to the winds.” Remember that these nature-based stories tell about natural events and cycles. Geshtinanna discusses the “sheepfold” to Dumuzi, which can be translated into “Mother Earth.” This allows us to better understand some descriptions, such as Dumuzi’s fire being “put out on your holy hearth,” allowing the “sheepfold” (earth) to “become a house of desolation.” Why does Geshtinanna use nature references rather than speaking directly about his death? Maybe Dumuzi is not going to “die.” Perhaps his “death” is really another “birth.” We all must make a sacrifice before we can gain something. Dumuzi will gain an important role in the cycles of the earth by the end of the story. Remember that Inanna was traveling to the “East,” representing life.
On pages 78-79, Dumuzi goes into hiding, asking his sister and friend to keep his hiding place a secret. When the galla approach Geshtinanna, she refuses their gifts. The “water-gift” and the “grain-gift” are both representations of life (the same stuff that the androgynous creatures fed to Inanna to revive her in the Underworld). Why does Geshtinanna refuse the gifts of life? Perhaps because they come from down below, or perhaps because of her loyalty to her brother.
The galla proceed to torture Geshtinanna (they rape her) before moving onto the friend who, on page 80, immediately accepts the gifts and reveals Dumuzi’s hiding places. What kind of friend is this? Why would a friend turn against you? Maybe he feared the torture that the galla applied to Geshtinanna. Or perhaps he was just selfish. Additionally, maybe the friend knows something that we are not aware of. Either way, Dumuzi’s sister is more loyal, in part, because she is a member of his family.
The friend here actually does the right thing. Although we want to assist our friends in their times of need, sometimes we need to let go and allow them to mess up in order to learn a valuable lesson themselves. We learn best by doing, so perhaps the friend can’t stop Dumuzi’s progress into his next set of experiences. Parents face this dilemma all the time in their attempt to achieve a balance between allowing their children to learn from experience while wanting to shelter them from harm.
The galla catch up with Dumuzi, of course, because this is his fate. In a panic, Dumuzi calls up to the sun god, Utu, to transform his arms and legs into those of a snake, and later as those of a gazelle. Utu complies, and gives Dumuzi one last chance for escape. Why does the sun god have mercy on Dumuzi as he is dragged away to death? The sun represents life and its energy. The sun naturally wants to preserve life and keep it active. The moon reflects the changes of death, in dual opposition to the qualities of the sun (male vs. female). Dumuzi is eventually seized by the galla, who take him to his new home.
In the final section entitled “The Return,” we see everyone in tears over Dumuzi’s fate. His family is crying, including his mother Sirtur and sister Geshtinanna. A strange fly appears who seems to know where Dumuzi is, but it asks for compensation before saying where. Inanna grants the fly the abilities to enter the taverns (which explains why flies are attracted to restaurants!) and listen to people’s conversations (the traditional “fly on the wall”). Bear in mind that any flying creatures were considered to be gods or spirits of some fashion, since they can fly heavenward, unlike people. (In fact, in Genesis 9, after Noah alighted from the ark and made a sacrifice to Yahweh, the "gods" descended 'like flies" to the sacrifice; the flies here too represent gods, a carry-over tradition from Mesopotamian literature). The fly tells Inanna to look at the “edges of the steppe,” or on the horizon, to find Dumuzi -- which they do!
Why the horizon? Think about what the horizon is – the intersection of heaven and earth. Dumuzi is about to leave the earth and pass into the next world. The horizon represents a boundary between these two realms. However, the horizon is also a trick that is played on the eyes. There really isn’t a “horizon,” since it is a matter of perspective. In the third unit on Egypt, we will see the horizon play an even more important role in the stories.
On page 89, a deal is struck. Geshtinanna offers to make a sacrifice of herself so that Dumuzi can be released from the Underworld for one half a year. In Mesopotamia, the growing seasons of different crops lasted about 6 months each -- in the spring and summer, grains were grown; but in the fall and winter, grapes were cultivated. The grains were harvested to produce beer, and the grapes were collected to make wine. Dumuzi, although he is a shepherd in the earlier stories, later assumed control over the grains, perhaps because of his marriage to the goddess of fertility. Likewise, Geshtinanna is the “lady of the vine,” assisting in its production.
The Mesopotamians needed to explain why certain “forces” allowed different plants to grow at opposite times, so they used their understanding of dualities to tell their stories. They also shape their view of the world in the contexts of their surroundings. Because the end of one growing season corresponds with the beginning of the other, the Mesopotamians constantly associated death with life and life with death. Citizens of the United States typically experience four distinct seasons. In the autumn, the crops wither and die, and then lay fallow for months before new life springs into action. The Mesopotamians lived in a very arid and warm climate year-round, although they recognized three distinct seasons.
This story is really a metaphor of the changing seasons, where Dumuzi and Geshtinanna (the winter and summer) return to earth, exchanging places twice a year. Undoubtedly, this also explains the rotation of the cosmos, and ties the planting and harvest seasons into these six-month periods of transition. The siblings tag-team their duties on earth and the Underworld, just as the plants do, but then wither away in their “off” seasons. The seasons belong to the same family, and the year becomes broken into a fertile season (when Inanna and Dumuzi are together) and a fallow one.
Sending Dumuzi to the Underworld also gives him a divine purpose. Instead of sitting around in a state of retirement or leisure, he now can be deified by assuming a greater cosmic purpose. The male characters don’t really understand what they’re getting into when they marry a powerful goddess! In the end, Dumuzi becomes glorified, especially since he sacrifices his “self” for the greater harmony of the world. He has now become an important god, worthy of worship. He began as a stubborn shepherd who had no knowledge of agriculture, and he ends up becoming a fertility god through his association with Inanna and his experiences in the underworld. His name means “faithful son,” and he parallels many other sacrificial sons throughout world literature.
Ishtar's Descent to the Underworld
This story is a shorter and later version of the Wolkstein version. Throughout Mesopotamia, dozens of different versions of this story exist, all revealing subtle changes in setting, motivation, action, etc. Often, these stories were adapted to the local traditions that would highlight certain characters while ignoring others, based on the desires and needs in that time and place.
Since we covered the Sumerian version carefully last time, we only examined a few key differences between the editions. One is Inanna's/Ishtar's motivation for taking the journey. In this Babylonian version, Ishtar never indicates her reason for descending. Rather, the text simply says that she set her mind to it.
Likewise, she is treated differently by Ereshkigal when she enters. Instead of "fixing the eye of death" upon Inanna, Ishtar unleashes 60 diseases that kill Ishtar. We will see many gods in the next unit unleash disease on the human populations, often because they are making too much noise. Notice that instead of directly killing Inanna, Ereshkigal simply lets diseases do the job, perhaps relinquishing responsibility due to the indirect nature of the assault. Remember that mythological gods ride on both sides of the duality -- sometimes they're good, while other times they're bad. Just like Nature.
Perhaps the most odd difference between these two versions is the creation by Enki/Ea that is allowed to enter and exit the Underworld with Inanna. Whereas in the Sumerian version Enki creates two androgynous creatures (the kurgarra and galatur), in the Babylonian version Ea creates "Good-looks the playboy," who is either a castrated boy (eunuch) or some kind of androgynous, hermaphroditic character. Both are intermediaries, since they are allowed to enter and exit the Underworld, but their appearances are clearly different. In Sumeria, the kurgarra and galatur are akin to a type of serpent, which represents life. Here, in the Ishtar version, we employ a boy (in and of itself a sexually immature individual) who further becomes impotent due to his condition (either he was born with improper sex organs, as is the case with 1 in every 1000 births anyway, or they have been removed as part of a court ritual in the kingdom). Either way, we learn that a gender defines a person on one side of the duality or the other. Androgynous creatures can bridge that gap because they have nothing to offer, sacrifice, or take to or from the Underworld.
Lastly, we don't see the aftermath of Ishtar's resurrection, nor do we see the galla creatures, Dumuzi's descent, or the episodes with Geshtinanna, the friend, or the fly.
Inanna and Ebih
After Inanna acquires the holy me and becomes married, she will then assert her powers in order to acquire even more power. The cover of Diane Wolkstein's text calls Inanna the "Queen of Heaven and Earth." In the previous Inanna stories, we can see her become a powerful fertility goddess (hence, a powerful Earth goddess). Now, in this story and the next, we see Inanna grab heavenly power as well. Later, we'll see her attempt to control the Underworld.
Ebih is another name for an unknown location in the Zagros Mountains, the range of mountains visible due East if we stand in Sumer. I had shown you pictures of Utu, the sun god, rising out of the mountain, which represents the sun rising above the eastern mountain ranges in Iran. Over time, the mountain (kur) would become associated with the Underworld, and here's why ....
Hundreds of Mesopotamian documents (both myths and histories) refer to the repeated and frequent attacks by the various peoples populating the Iranian mountains. The latest war between Iran and Iraq (1980-1989) is only the latest incarnation of the battles waged between the nomadic shepherds from the mountains and the agrarian Mesopotamians. Because the Mesopotamians were able to store food and live comfortably through droughts, they fared much better than the mountain herdsmen did, causing these starving and desperate people to routinely attack the Sumerians and Babylonians for food and riches. Very few accounts exist that describe the Sumerian farmers as the aggressors, although we will see a few hero tales in the second unit to this effect. Therefore, the mountain often became associated with evil, due to the animosity against these invaders from the high country.
In Mesopotamian literature, we see references to two types of "mountains": the "Great Mountain" and "The Great Mound." Unfortunately, the distinctions and applications of these concepts are disputed amongst the experts, mainly because these ideals are applied inconsistently throughout the literature of this region. Sometimes, the "mountain" pertains to the high ground between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (called "Mesopotamia," the "Land Between the Rivers"), and sometimes it references the eastern mountains. In many ways, however, these two locations are connected ... underground.
The Mesopotamians buried their dead in the earth, wrapped in a funeral shroud. Therefore, the Underworld was initially a literal place, as the corpses were literally under the ground's surface. Access to the underworld was easy, and many references to these passages are found throughout the readings. The Underworld, although located beneath the earth, was supposed to float upon the Apsu, the underground pools of water that were associated with Enki. Therefore, entrance to the Underworld could be gained by floating in the Apsu, made accessible through certain temples (such as E-ana), mountain tunnels, and cracks in the earth (as we will see in Gilgamesh in several weeks). The Apsu was supposed to extend to all "four corners" of the Sumerian world, and therefore also allowed underground access to the kur, the Great Mountain, often depicted as a monster, a dragon, a god, or living rock.
In this myth, Inanna slays the mountain after it showed her "no respect." Figuratively, the people of the mountain are being targeted here, and we will hear more unflattering descriptions of them in future titles. On page 91, An warns Inanna about the dangers inherent in an attack of the kur, but she ignores these warnings. On the left column, An describes the terror of the mountain, but deviates in one paragraph to describe the flourishing and luxuriant foliage and beauty of the place. Why would a location be so beautiful and so terrifying at the same time? This is explained by specifying the references: what Nature gave the mountain is beautiful (after all Ninkura, the goddess of mountain pastures and daughter of Enki represents the vegetation), but what society gave the mountain was evil.
Interestingly enough, on the right column of page 91 we see how Inanna subdued the mountain: through drought, the same tool that she will use against Gilgamesh in the epic that we'll read later. Inanna, a fertility goddess, also has the powers (holy me) to destroy fertility. Killing the land assures that no one can hide from her wrath. We see Inanna asserting even further control and influence over Nature, especially its fertility. She is reinforcing her position as "Queen of Earth."
Inanna and An
In this myth, we see Inanna a little bit miffed. She is angry with her great-grandfather An because he did not give Dumuzi the gift that she wanted him to offer: his temple above the Apsu, called E-ana (the House of An/Heaven). This temple is located in the city of Nippur, and I showed a picture of this in Week 3. We have seen the courtship and marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi, and now we see the bridezilla awaken after she has assessed all of her wedding gifts. She claims that the temple is hers (and it is, historically), so she decides to take it back, perhaps in protest. Her method of overtaking the temple is a natural one: she conjures the "south wind" to rise in a storm against the temple.
The southern wind in Sumeria was considered to be the evil wind, and for obvious reasons. The storms were strongest when they rose from the south, much like this country has recently witnessed with Katrina. In Europe, the north wind was the unforgiving one (the Greeks called it Boreas) because it brought the Arctic chill during the winter, Europe's harshest season. In Sumeria, the north wind brought refreshing breezes, so it was welcome during the heat of summer. The south wind, however, brought heavy storms from the warm Persian Gulf waters, causing destruction. The most problematic aspects of these floods, however, may have been the inundation of salt water pushed upstream. Salt water is not potable water fit for human consumption, so this problem created by the southern wind directly impacted their livelihoods. Therefore, Inanna has chosen a formidable weapon.
After taking over the temple, the gateway to the Apsu, the Anunnaki (or Anunna) were essentially flooded out of their home. An escapes to the sky, which is where he belongs, and this will start a migration of the gods away from the earth. All myths tell the story of the separation of heaven from earth, and this is likely the foundation of mythology, since a duality is generated between the two realms: mankind is mortal, but the gods are immortal, thus they are kept separate. Eventually, Enlil will attain greater standing as the head of the pantheon, replacing An.
After losing his temple, An retaliates by creating night, evoking the similar scene that we read in the initial collection of creation stories. By introducing night into the sky, An creates the cycles and the boundaries within Inanna must operate. Because Inanna is the planet Venus, the morning star and evening star, she can only exert her influence at the confluence of night and day, restricting her abilities to overtake the heavens during both phases. In real life, this myth may have been written to explain an increased need for fertility in the region, perhaps after a stretch of intensely hot weather.
Announcements:
I passed back Quiz 1 today and reviewed them. Here are a few suggestions about writing your answers:
Be sure to adhere to the question and the limitations of the question. If I ask about a specific character, reading, or topic, then be sure to address it directly. If you think that I made a mistake, then send me an e-mail.
Provide a clear and direct thesis. Some students are writing bland, generic statements: "There are many dualities in this story." Avoid sentences that don't say anything.
Avoid empty statements, such as "The author talks about ..." or "has to do with."
Avoid simple plot summary. I will never ask you to recall the plot of a story. That should be generally understood by both of us.
Underline titles, such as Enki and Ninhursag or The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi.
Due Next Time:
The following readings are due (to be read before entering class on Friday). The documents highlighted in dark red are required readings. Please print them, annotate them, and bring them to class.
The remaining titles are supplemental, and are not required to print or read. I will not quiz or test you on them, but reviewing them will give you a deeper and more complete understanding of the concepts introduced in the main required titles.