In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal was identified as the queen of the underworld or the goddess of the dead. In later Semitic myths, she is said to have ruled Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal. The main temple dedicated to her was located in Kutha. In the ancient Sumerian poem Descent of Inanna into the Underworld, Ereshkigal is described as Inanna’s older sister. The two main myths involving Ereshkigal are the story of Inanna’s descent into the underworld and the story of Ereshkigal’s marriage to the god Nergal.
1. Mythology
In ancient Sumerian mythology, Ereshkigal is the queen of the underworld. She is the older sister of the goddess Inanna. Inanna and Ereshkigal represent opposite poles. Inanna is the Queen of Heaven, but Ereshkigal is the queen of Irkalla and plays a very important role in two particular myths.
Inanna’s descent into the underworld
The first myth of Ereshkigal is described in the ancient Sumerian epic poem “The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld.” In the poem, the goddess Inanna descends into the Underworld, apparently seeking to extend her powers there.
Ereshkigal is described as Inanna’s older sister. When Neti, the guardian of the underworld, informs Ereshkigal that Inanna is at the gates of the underworld, demanding to be let in, Ereshkigal responds by ordering Neti to close the seven gates of the underworld and to open each one separately, but only after Inanna has removed one item of clothing. Inanna passes through each gate, removing one item of clothing at each gate.
Finally, once she has passed through the seven gates, she stands naked and powerless before Ereshkkigal’s throne. The seven judges of the underworld judge Inanna and find her guilty. Inanna is beaten to death and her body is hung on a hook in the underworld for all to see.
Inanna’s minister, Ninshubur, however, pleads with Enki, and Enki agrees to rescue Inanna from the Underworld. Enki sends two sexless beings to the Underworld to revive Inanna with the food and water of life.
The sexless beings escort Inanna from the Underworld, but a horde of angry demons follow Inanna from the Underworld, demanding to take someone else to the Underworld as a replacement for Inanna. When Inanna discovers that her husband, Dumuzid, has not mourned her death, she becomes furious with him and orders the demons to take Dumuzid as her replacement.
Marriage to Nergal
They invited her to send a messenger, and she sent her vizier Namtar in her place. He was treated well by everyone, except for Nergal, who did not stand up for him out of disrespect. As a result, Ereshkkigal demanded that Nergal be sent to the underworld to atone for his actions.
In one version, Nergal travels to the underworld along with 14 demons. When he arrives, the gatekeeper Neti receives orders from Ereshkkigal to allow him to pass through the seven gates, stripping him of everything until he reaches the throne room, where he would be killed. But at each gate, Nergal places two demons. When he reaches the throne, he throws Namtar aside and drags Ereshkkigal to the ground.
He is about to kill her with his axe when she begs for her life, promising to be his wife and share her power with him. He agrees. However, Nergal must still leave the underworld for six months, so Ereshkkigal returns his demons and allows him to pass through the upper world during that time, after which he returns to her. This myth shows how seasonal warfare is waged.
In a later tradition, Nergal travels on the advice of Enki, who warns him not to sit, eat, drink, or wash while in the underworld, as well as not to have sexual relations with Ereshkkigal. However, although he respects all the other warnings, Nergal succumbs to temptation and remains with the goddess for six days.
On the seventh day, he escapes back to the upper world, which upsets Ereshkkigal. Namtar is sent to bring Nergal back, but Enki disguises him as a lesser god and Namtar is thwarted. Ereshkkigal eventually realizes the deception and demands that Nergal return once again. This time Nergal returns alone, violently dethroning her, but then they lie again for another six days. Afterward, Nergal becomes Ereshkkigal’s husband.
2. Interpretation of myths
It is theorized that the story of Inanna’s descent is told to illustrate the possibility of escape from the Underworld, while the myth of Nergal seeks to reconcile the existence of two rulers of the Underworld: a goddess and a god.
The addition of Nergal also represents the harmonizing tendency to unite Ereshkkigal as the queen of the underworld with the god who, as the god of war and pestilence, brings death to the living and thus becomes the one who presides over the dead. This takes the metaphor of a love story in the later tradition.
3. Related deities
In some versions of the myths, Ereshkigal rules the underworld by herself, but in other versions of the myths, Ereshkigal rules alongside a husband subordinate to her named Gugalana.
In his book, Sumerian Mythology, Ereshkigal was kidnapped by force, taken to the Underworld by the Kur, and forced to become queen of the Underworld against her will. To avenge Ereshkigal’s kidnapping, Enki, the god of water, set out in a boat to kill the Kur.
The Kur defend themselves by throwing rocks of various sizes at Enki and sending waves under Enki’s boat to attack him. The poem never really explains who is the ultimate victor of the battle, but it is implied that Enki wins. Samuel Noah Kramer relates this myth to the ancient Greek myth of the rape of Persephone, claiming that the Greek story probably derives from the ancient Sumerian story.
In Sumerian mythology, Ereshkkigal is the mother of the goddess Nungal. Her son with Enlil is the god Namtar. With Gugalana, her son is Ninazu.
In Hittite mythology, the Sun Goddess of the Earth rules as a deity of the underworld. Although the deity is probably of Proto-Indo-European origin (see the Sun Goddess of Arinna), this is an aspect believed to have been influenced by Ereshkigal.
4. Greco-Roman syncretic popular religion
In later times, the Greeks and Romans seem to have syncretized Ereshkigal with their own goddess Hecate. In the heading of a spell in the Michigan Magic Papyrus, which has been dated to the late third or early fourth century AD, Hecate is known as “Hecate Ereschkigal” and is invoked using magical words and gestures to alleviate the caster’s fear of punishment in the afterlife.
