#aprodithe

Sumerian Mythology - The earliest deities of ancient Mesopotamia (13)

Inanna – Goddess of war, Goddess of love

Inanna, later known as Ishtar, is "the most important female deity of ancient Mesopotamia at all periods." She was the Sumerian goddess of love, sexuality, prostitution, and war. She was known as the "Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center. She was the divine personification of the planet Venus, the morning and evening star and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star.

Accounts of her parentage vary; in most myths, she is usually presented as the daughter of Nanna and Ningal, but, in other stories, she is the daughter of Enki or An along with an unknown mother.

The Sumerians had more myths about her than any other deities. Many of the myths involving her revolve around her attempts to usurp control of the other deities' domains. Her most famous myth is the story of her descent into the Underworld, in which she attempts to conquer the Underworld, the domain of her older sister Ereshkigal, but is instead struck dead by the seven judges of the Underworld. She is only revived due to Enki's intervention and her husband Dumuzid is forced to take her place in the Underworld. Alongside her twin brother Utu, Inanna was the enforcer of divine justice.

Inanna/Ishtar is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible, and she greatly influenced to the Phoenician goddess Astarte and the Syrian goddess Anat, and in ancient Greece she was called Aprodithe and identified with the Roman goddess Venus (Wenus). Her cult continued to flourish until its gradual decline between the first and sixth centuries AD in the wake of Christianity.

シュメール神話～古代メソポタミア最古の神々(13)

イナンナ〜戦いの女神、愛の女神

イナンナ（後にイシュタルとして知られる）は，"古代メソポタミアのあらゆる時代において最も重要な女性神 "である。彼女はシュメールの愛、性、売春、そして戦争の女神である。彼女は「天の女王」として知られ、彼女の主な信仰の中心地のウルク市のエアンナ神殿の守護女神だった。彼女は朝夕の星である金星を神格化したものであるとされ、ライオンと八芒星が最も有名なシンボルである。

神話の中では、ナンナとニンガルの娘として描かれていることが多いが、エンキやアンの娘であり、母親は不明であるという話もある。シュメール人は、他の神々よりも彼女に関する神話を多く持っていた。彼女にまつわる神話の多くは、他の神々の領域の支配権を奪おうとする彼女の試みにまつわるものである。姉のエレシュキガルの領域である冥界を征服しようとしたが、冥界の7人の審判によって打ち殺されてしまう。エンキの介入によって彼女は復活し、夫のドゥムジが彼女の代わりに冥界に入ることになる。イナンナは双子の兄ウトゥと一緒に、神の裁判を執行していた。