Inana was the most powerful and ambitious goddess in the Sumerian pantheon. Much of this power stemmed from her role as the goddess of sexual love and agricultural fertility, the relationship between the two conveyed in metaphors which equate making love with plant cultivation, and sexual satisfaction with fruitful livestock and crops. Her partner in these celebrations was the shepherd-god Dumuzid, although this male role was often taken by a king who thus established his pastoral responsibility for his (human) flock, proximity to the divine, and contribution to agriculture, the economic foundation on which urban civilization was based. In Dumuzid and Enkimdu the shepherd-god vies successfully with the farmer for the affections of Inana, with whom she was initially smitten. The relationship between Inana and her lover is celebrated joyously and lyrically in Ploughing with the jewels and A love song for Su-Suen.
However, passion can have more than one object of desire, emotions take many forms, and, as the biblical Song of Songs reminds us, ‘love is as strong as death’. Consequently Inana’s fervour extends beyond the boundaries of sexual love and her power also exultantly manifests itself in rage and war, military success being a further essential to a Mesopotamian ruler. It is this terrifying aspect of the goddess which dominates Inana andIsme-Dagan and A hymn to Inana. In one case her wrath is harnessed for the king against his enemies; in the other it is turned against the priestess En-hedu-ana.
Sex and death are most closely intertwined in the narratives Inana’s descent to the Underworld and Dumuzid’s dream, which are interrelated yet not directly sequential. The first is concerned with Inana’s attempt to extend her rule to the Underworld, recounting her confinement there and subsequent release from this land of no return on condition that she be replaced by another deity (in the end, Dumuzid and his sister Gestin-ana in alternation). The second provides a different account of Dumuzid’s capture by the demons of the Underworld. These works exploit parallels between, on the one hand, what happens to deities and, on the other, the fruitfulness and cycle of the seasons with which they were associated, the human world being depicted as an inextricable complement to the divine.
They also contrast, however, jealous and destructive sexual passions with other kinds of love. Although Gestin-ana is selflessly devoted to her brother Dumuzid, just as Inana’s entourage unequivocally miss and mourn her, Dumuzid and Inana quarrel as soon as they are reunited, with fatal consequences that they will regret for evermore. This is the flipside to the eroticism that is celebrated in the love songs of Inana and Dumuzid: an exploration of the ways in which emotional intensity can have the most terrible consequences when allowed to run out of control. (See also the Introduction to Group F.)
FURTHER READING
Abusch, T., ‘Ishtar’, K. van der Toorn, B. Becking, and P. W. van der Horst (eds.), Dictionary ofDeities and Demons in the Bible (Brill: Leiden, 2nd edn. 1999, pp. 452—6) gives a stimulating discussion of Inana (whose Akkadian name was IStar or EStar), supplemented by an extensive bibliography.
Alster, B., ‘Tammuz’, in K. van der Toorn, B. Becking, and P. W. van der Horst (eds.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Brill: Leiden, 2nd edn. 1999, pp. 828—4) performs the same service for Dumuzid (whose name in Hebrew was Tammuz).
Katz, D., The Image of the Netherworld in the Sumerian Sources (CDL Press: Potomac, 2003) surveys Sumerian literature on the Underworld.
Sefati, Y., Love Songs in Sumerian Literature: Critical Edition of the Dumuzi-Inanna Songs (Bar-Ilan University Press: Ramat-Gan, 1998) is an excellent edition of most of the relevant love songs.
OTHER COMPOSITIONS FEATURING INANA AND /OR DUMUZID INCLUDE
Group A Lugalbanda in the mountain cave Lugalbanda and the Anzud bird Gilgames, Enkidu, and the Underworld Sargon and Ur-Zababa The death of Ur-Namma Group C The cursing of Agade Group F Inana and Su-kale-tuda
A love song for Isme-Dagan A balbale to Inana and Dumuzid Group G Enki and the world order The home of the fish
Group H A kungar to Inana and Dumuzid
A sir-namursaga to Inana for Iddin-Dagan
Group J The exaltation of Inana
A praise poem of Lipit-Estar Inana and Ebih
World History
