Inanna / Ishtar masterpost
Inanna / Ishtar is the deity that I am devoted to, and there is a lot of misinformation out there about her, so this is a masterpost about her and her mythology, which does involve sex and rape, and revenge. Read with care.
Edit: I forgot certain points I wanted to add, so instead of editing and adding them in as an after thought, find them here :)
Lineage
Sources disagree on who her parents are. Some say Enki or Nanna, both male presenting, but most often she is depicted as the granddaughter of Enlil, and the niece of Enki. Her mother, as stated in Inanna Prefers The Farmer, is Ningal, as it is the only story that discusses her mother. Perhaps she is the daughter of Enki, Nanna, and Ningal. Regardless of who her parents are, she is the twin sister of Utu, and the sister of Ereshkigal. In the story of Gilgamesh and a few others, she is also portrayed as Gilgamesh's sister. She is married to Dumuzid.
Myths
Inanna and the Huluppu Tree: "A young woman who walked in fear of no man, and would not be owned, Plucked the tree from the river and spoke: “I shall bring this tree to Uruk. I shall plant this tree in my holy garden.”"
Enki, God of wisdom, planted a tree by the Euphrates at the beginning of time. Eventually, the tree was taken by the Euphrates. Inanna came, picked the tree, and decided she would nurture it so she could carve her throne and bed from it. Many years passed, and a serpent who couldn't be charmed made it's home in the tree. Then the Anzu-bird raised his family in the tree. And the dark maid Lilith made her home in the trunk. No matter how much Inanna wept, the creatures would not leave the tree. Inanna called to her brother, Utu, God of the sun, for help. He refused. She went to her brother, the great hero Gilgamesh, and he helped. He struck the serpent who couldn't be charmed and the birds flew away and Lilith fled to the wild uninhabited places. From the trunk, he carved her throne and her bed. From the roots, Inanna fashioned a pukku for her brother, and from the crown a mikku for Gilgamesh.
Inanna Prefers The Farmer: "No, brother!
The man of my heart works the hoe.
The farmer! He is the man of my heart!
He gathers the grain into great heaps.
He brings the grain regularly into my storehouses."
Inanna asks her brother, Utu, who she will marry. He tells her to marry Dumuzi, the shepherd. She responds that her heart is with the farmer Enkimdu. Utu tells her no, Dumuzi is the better choice, but she says no, Enkimdu is. Dumuzi and Enkimdu fight over this, but eventually Inanna is swayed and marries Dumuzi, in a rather erotic scene.
Inanna's Descent: "Then Erishkigal fastened on Inanna the eye of death.
She spoke against her the word of wrath.
She uttered against her the cry of guilt.
She struck her.
Inanna was turned into a corpse,
A piece of rotting meat,
And was hung from a hook on the wall."
Inanna goes to the underworld for her sister Ereshkigal's husband's funeral, having been the cause of his death. Inanna tells her priestess Ninshubur what to do should she not return. Dress in a single cloth like a begger, go to the temple of Enlil and beg for his help. If he does not help, go to Nanna. If he does not help, go to Enki. Inanna arrives at the gates, and as she passes through each of the seven gates, a garment is removed until she stands naked. The Anunna pass judgement, and Ereshkigal turns Inanna into a rotting corpse with the Eye of Death, and hangs her on a hook on the wall. On the third day, Ninshubur follows instruction. She dresses in a single cloth like a begger and goes to Enlil. Enlil denies. She goes to Nanna. Nanna denies. She goes to Enki. Enki creates the Kurgarra and the Galatur, neither male nor female, and gives them each the food of life and water of life. He tells them how to get on Ereshkigal's good side and to take the corpse from the wall and give it the food and water. They do, and Inanna rises, but the Annuna prohibit her from leaving. She must put someone else in her place. The Galla, demons from Ereshkigal, try to take Ninshubur, Shara, and Lulal, but Inanna spares them, as they mourned her. Then they find Dumuzi, dressed beautifully, with women around him. Inanna was betrayed, her own husband did not mourn her. The Galla take him away. Eventually, Inanna misses him, and sets a deal. For half of the year, Dumuzi will be on the wall in the underworld. For the other half, his sister.
Inanna and the God of Wisdom: "“In the name of my power! In the name of my holy shrine! Let the me you have taken with you remain in the holy shrine of your city. Let the high priest spend his days at the holy shrine in song. Let the citizens of your city prosper, Let the children of Uruk rejoice!”"
Inanna goes to Enki, and Enki treats her with butter cake and water and beer, lots of beer. Enki, while intoxicated, gives Inanna the Meh, the various humanities. She takes them and flees with Ninshubur. Enki, now sober, sends his servants to get the Meh back. Ninshubur protects the Meh for Inanna. They go back and forth six times, until Inanna gives the gifts to her people, and Enki resigns himself.
Inanna and Utu: "She makes perfect the great divine powers, she holds a shepherd's crook, and she is their magnificent pre-eminent one."
Inanna is given reign over fertility and sex, but she knows nothing about that subject. Utu and her go to the underworld and Inanna eats the fruit from the tree of knowledge, gaining that information.
Inanna and Su-Kale-Tuda: "He recognised a solitary god by her appearance. He saw someone who fully possesses the divine powers. He was looking at someone whose destiny was decided by the gods."
Inanna had had a long journey, so she rests on earth beneath the shade of a tree in a garden. The farmer Su-Kale-Tuda sees her sleeping and rapes her, then flees to his father. Inanna wakes up, seeing what had been do to her, and vows to find the man who did this. Su-Kale-Tuda confesses to his father, who tells him to hide. Inanna turns the water of the realm to blood, she sits on a storm cloud and drowns the world, then sends a dust storm, then stopped trade entirely within the world. Unable to find him she cries to her father, Enki, demanding his help. Enki turns her to a rainbow so that she stretched across the sky, and saw everything. Su-Kale-Tuda still tried to hide, but he could not hide from her any longer. She found him, and her first words are lost to time (some words translated to "How ......? ...... dog ......! ...... ass ......! ...... pig ......!") Su-Kale-Tuda tried to defend himself but Inanna told him "You will die, but the world will remember your name. Rapist."
Symbols:
Lions - she is often depicted with lions harnessed, to symbolize her power over the king of beasts
Roses - roses are symbols of beauty and sex, and their thorns represent the war side of her. At one point, the rose/rosette eclipsed the eight pointed star as her main symbol
Doves - another symbol of beauty and sex, in one of her temples was a mural of a dove emerging from a large palm tree, leading many to believe she was able to take the form of a dove.
Lapis Lazuli - the only precious stone I have seen be named as something she wears, specifically referenced in The Descent Of Inanna
Eight pointed star - the symbolic meaning is lost to time, but it shows up frequently in her depictions
Hook shaped twist of reeds - a symbol of fertility, and was her cuneiform ideogram
The planet Venus - many hymns credit her as being the personification of the planet
Carnelian - one of her epithets means "precious carnelian"
Thank you for reading, and I hope to make a similar masterpost detailing Mesopotamian mythology as a whole.
Edit: I did, you can find it here.
