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The Library
Picture

trans. Clifton Daggett Gray
1901


NOTE
The text that follows comes from a relatively late Semitic version of the very ancient story of Innana and Dumuzi, known here as Ishtar and Tammuz. This version of the poem covers only a part of the myth; the rest was only discovered in the twentieth century in even older Sumerian texts. The story begins when Inanna, the goddess of fertility, decides to descend into the Underworld to visit her sister, Ereshkigal (Allatu), queen of the Underworld, likely with the intent of trying to seize the Underworld for herself. Doing so necessitates dying. The poem below picks up when Inanna (Ishtar) has begun her descent. I will summarize the remainder of the story after Clifton Daggett Gray's 1901 translation.
​

Picture
Toward the land of No-Return, the region of darkness,
Ishtar, the daughter of the Moon-god, directed her attention.
The Moon-god's daughter directed her attention
Toward the house of darkness, Irkalla's dwelling-place,
Toward the house out of which he who enters never comes,
Toward the road whose way turns not back,
Toward the house where he who enters is deprived of light,
A place where dust is their sustenance, their food clay,
Light they see not, they sit in darkness,
They are clothed, like a bird, with feathered raiment,
Over door and bolt is spread the dust.
Ishtar, on her arrival at the gate of the land of No-Return,
Addressed the porter of the gate:
"O porter of the waters, open thy gate,
Open thy gate, let me enter!
If thou dost not open the gate, and I enter not,
I will shatter the door, the bolt I will break in pieces,
I will shatter the threshold, I will tear away the doors,
I will bring up the dead that they may eat and live,
And the dead shall join themselves to the living."

The porter opened his mouth to speak,
He addressed the Princess Ishtar:
"Stay, my lady, do not destroy it (i. e., the door).
Let me go and announce thy name to the Queen Allatu." [Note: = Ereshkigal]
The porter went within and addressed Allatu:
"These waters thy sister Ishtar has crossed
nu-kil-tu sha kip-pi-i rabuti da * * * (?)"
When the goddess Allatu [heard] this,
Like a fallen tap-pu tree * * *
Like a broken ku-ni-nu reed, she sank down and spoke:
"What does her heart wish of tie? What do her spirits desire?
These waters have I with * * *
For food I will eat clay, for wine I will drink [sewage],
I will weep for the men who have left their wives,
I will weep for the concubines who have been torn from  the bosom of their masters,
For the little children will I weep, who before their time [are taken away].
Go, porter, open thy gate for her, Do unto her according to the ancient custom."

The porter went and opened for her his gate:
"Enter, my lady; may Kutu (i. e., the under-world) rejoice,
May the palace of the land of No-Return be glad at thy presence!"
The first gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the great crown of her head.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the great crown of my head?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The second gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the ornaments of her ears.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the ornaments of my ears?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The third gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the chains about her neck.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the chains about my neck?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The fourth gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the ornaments of her breast.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the ornaments of my breast?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The fifth gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the studded girdle of her waist.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the studded girdle of my waist?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The sixth gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the bracelets of her hands and the anklets of her feet.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the bracelets of my hands and the anklets of my feet?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."
The seventh gate he caused her to enter, he approached and took off the garment covering the shame of her body.
"Why, O porter, hast thou taken off the garment covering the shame of my body?"
"Enter, my lady, for such is the custom of Allatu."

As soon as Ishtar had descended to the land of No-Return,
Allatu saw her and moved angrily toward her.
Ishtar took no counsel, she threw herself upon her (Allatu).
Allatu opened her mouth to speak,
She addressed Namtar, her messenger:
"Go, Namtar, open my [gate] and * * *
Bring her forth * * * the goddess Ishtar.
With disease of the eyes [smite her],
With disease of the hips [smite] her,
With disease of the feet [smite] her,
With disease of the heart [smite] her,
With disease of the head [smite] her,
Upon her whole person [put disease]."

After the mistress Ishtar had descended to the land of No Return,
The bull did not mount the cow, nor did the ass leap upon the she-ass,
The man did not approach the maid in the street,
The man lay down to sleep upon his own couch,
While the maid slept by herself.

Pap-sukal, the messenger of the great gods, with countenance downcast before Shamash,
Was clad in sackcloth, he was filled with grief.
Shamash came into the presence of Sin, his father, weeping,
In the presence of Ea, the king, his tears ran down his cheeks.
"Ishtar has gone down into the earth, and has not yet come forth;
After Ishtar had descended to the land of No-Return,
The bull did not mount the cow, nor did the ass leap upon the she-ass,
The man did not approach the maid in the street,
The man lay down to sleep upon his own couch,
While the maid slept by herself."

Ea in the wisdom of his heart created a man,
He created Uddushunamir, the servant of the gods:
"Go, Uddushunamir, set thy face toward the gate of the land of No-Return,
May the seven gates of the land of No-Return open before thee,
May Allatu see thee, may she rejoice at thy arrival!
When her heart becomes at rest and she is in good spirits,
Conjure her by the name of the great gods;
Lift up thy head, direct thy attention to the water-skin (?) (saying),
'If you please, my lady, give me the water-skin, that I may drink the water therefrom.'"

Allatu, when she heard this,
Smote her thigh and bit her finger-tip:
"Thou hast sought from me a favour not to be sought after.
Begone, Uddushunamir. I will curse thee with a fearful curse:
The food of the sewage of the city shall be thy food,
The gutters of the city shall be thy drinking-place,
The shadow of the wall shall be thy station,
The threshold shall be thy place of residence,
May dungeon and prison-house destroy thy strength!"

Allatu opened her mouth to speak,
She addressed Namtar, her messenger:
"Go, Namtar, destroy the palace of righteousness,
Overturn the thresholds—for the posts are tottering--
Bring out the Anunnaki, seat them upon a golden throne,
Sprinkle Ishtar with the water of life, and take her from my presence."

Namtar went and destroyed the palace of righteousness,
He overturned the thresholds—the posts were tottering,
He brought out the Anunnaki, he seated them upon a golden throne,
He sprinkled Ishtar with the water of life and brought her forth.
He led her out through the first gate and restored to her the garment covering the shame of her body.
He led her out through the second gate and restored to her the bracelets of her hands and the anklets of her feet.
He led her out through the third gate and restored to her the studded girdle of her waist.
He led her out through the fourth gate and restored to her the ornaments of her breast.
He led her out through the fifth gate and restored to her the chains about her neck.
He led her out through the sixth gate and restored to her the ornaments of her ears.
He led her out through the seventh gate and restored to her the great crown of her head.

"If she [Allatu] does not give to thee her release, then turn thyself to her [Ishtar],
Unto Tammuz, the husband of her youth,
Pour out pure water, with goodly oil [anoint him],
In fine raiment clothe him, a flute of lapis lazuli let him [play],
May the Uchati [sacred prostitutes]wail with loud [wailing],
May the goddess Belili [Tammuz’s sister] [destroy] her ornaments,
With eye-stones shall be filled * * *"

The lament of her brother she heard, (and) Belili destroyed the ornaments of * * *
The eye-stones which were filled * * *

"O my only brother, do not let me perish!
On the day of Tammuz play for me the flute of lapis lazuli, the samdu flute also play for me;
At that time play for me, O male-mourners and female-mourners,
On [?] instruments let them play, let them inhale the incense."


Following the events of this poem, the gods bargain for Inanna's release, which Ereshkigal grants on the condition that another take her place. Inanna sails back from the Underworld in the unholy company of demons. She must choose someone to go down to the Underworld for her, but she encounters only friends she cannot condemn to death. She finds, however, Dumuzi (Tammuz) sitting upon a throne refusing to mourn for her. Enraged, she sends him to the Underworld. He is torn apart and dragged down by demons. His sister and mother weep for him, and they and Inanna search for him. Only his sister is able to sail into the Underworld to find him. In a fragment of a poem found only in the mid-twentieth century, we learn that Inanna decrees that brother and sister should share one fate, and each would spend six months in the Underworld and six months free. Thus, Dumuzi sails back from the Underworld each year, his funereal barge heralded by a flight of demons and a warning for the living to beware the risen dead. Dumuzi and Inanna marry, and the cycle begins anew.
Back
Source: Clifton Daggett Gray, "Ishtar's Descent into Hades," in Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Translations, ed. Robert Francis Harper (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1901), 408-413.
Picture
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        • Volume 7 Archive
        • Volume 8 Archive
        • Volume 9 Archive
        • Volume 10 Archive
      • Volumes 11-20 Archive >
        • Volume 11 Archive
        • Volume 12 Archive
        • Volume 13 Archive
        • Volume 14 Archive
        • Volume 15 Archive
        • Volume 16 Archive
        • Volume 17 Archive
        • Volume 18 Archive
        • Volume 19 Archive
        • Volume 20 Archive
      • Volumes 21-30 Archive >
        • Volume 21 Archive
        • Volume 22 Archive
    • Television Reviews >
      • Ancient Aliens Reviews
      • In Search of Aliens Reviews
      • America Unearthed
      • Pirate Treasure of the Knights Templar
      • Search for the Lost Giants
      • Forbidden History Reviews
      • Expedition Unknown Reviews
      • Legends of the Lost
      • Unexplained + Unexplored
      • Rob Riggle: Global Investigator
    • Book Reviews
    • Galleries >
      • Bad Archaeology
      • Ancient Civilizations >
        • Ancient Egypt
        • Ancient Greece
        • Ancient Near East
        • Ancient Americas
      • Supernatural History
      • Book Image Galleries
    • Videos
    • Collection: Ancient Alien Fraud >
      • Chariots of the Gods at 50
      • Secret History of Ancient Astronauts
      • Of Atlantis and Aliens
      • Aliens and Ancient Texts
      • Profiles in Ancient Astronautics >
        • Erich von Däniken
        • Robert Temple
        • Giorgio Tsoukalos
        • David Childress
      • Blunders in the Sky
      • The Case of the False Quotes
      • Alternative Authors' Quote Fraud
      • David Childress & the Aliens
      • Faking Ancient Art in Uzbekistan
      • Intimations of Persecution
      • Zecharia Sitchin's World
      • Jesus' Alien Ancestors?
      • Extraterrestrial Evolution?
    • Collection: Skeptic Magazine >
      • America Before Review
      • Native American Discovery of Europe
      • Interview: Scott Sigler
      • Golden Fleeced
      • Oh the Horror
      • Discovery of America
      • Supernatural Television
      • Review of Civilization One
      • Who Lost the Middle Ages
      • Charioteer of the Gods
    • Collection: Ancient History >
      • Prehistoric Nuclear War
      • The China Syndrome
      • Atlantis, Mu, and the Maya
      • Easter Island Exposed
      • Who Built the Sphinx?
      • Who Built the Great Pyramid?
      • Archaeological Cover Up?
    • Collection: The Lovecraft Legacy >
      • Pauwels, Bergier, and Lovecraft
      • Lovecraft in Bergier
      • Lovecraft and Scientology
    • Collection: UFOs >
      • Alien Abduction at the Outer Limits
      • Aliens and Anal Probes
      • Ultra-Terrestrials and UFOs
      • Rebels, Queers, and Aliens
    • Scholomance: The Devil's School
    • Prehistory of Chupacabra
    • The Templars, the Holy Grail, & Henry Sinclair
    • Magicians of the Gods Review
    • The Curse of the Pharaohs
    • The Antediluvian Pyramid Myth
    • Whitewashing American Prehistory
    • James Dean's Cursed Porsche
  • The Library
    • Ancient Mysteries >
      • Ancient Texts >
        • Mesopotamian Texts >
          • Atrahasis Epic
          • Epic of Gilgamesh
          • Kutha Creation Legend
          • Babylonian Creation Myth
          • Descent of Ishtar
          • Berossus
          • Comparison of Antediluvian Histories
        • Egyptian Texts >
          • The Shipwrecked Sailor
          • Dream Stela of Thutmose IV
          • The Papyrus of Ani
          • Classical Accounts of the Pyramids
          • Inventory Stela
          • Manetho
          • Eratosthenes' King List
          • The Story of Setna
          • Leon of Pella
          • Diodorus on Egyptian History
          • On Isis and Osiris
          • Famine Stela
          • Old Egyptian Chronicle
          • The Book of Sothis
          • Horapollo
          • Al-Maqrizi's King List
        • Teshub and the Dragon
        • Hermetica >
          • The Three Hermeses
          • Kore Kosmou
          • Corpus Hermeticum
          • The Asclepius
          • The Emerald Tablet
          • Hermetic Fragments
          • Prologue to the Kyranides
          • The Secret of Creation
          • Ancient Alphabets Explained
          • Prologue to Ibn Umayl's Silvery Water
          • Book of the 24 Philosophers
          • Aurora of the Philosophers
        • Hesiod's Theogony
        • Periplus of Hanno
        • Ctesias' Indica
        • Sanchuniathon
        • Sima Qian
        • Syncellus's Enoch Fragments
        • The Book of Enoch
        • Slavonic Enoch
        • Sepher Yetzirah
        • Tacitus' Germania
        • De Dea Syria
        • Aelian's Various Histories
        • Julius Africanus' Chronography
        • Eusebius' Chronicle
        • Chinese Accounts of Rome
        • Ancient Chinese Automaton
        • The Orphic Argonautica
        • Fragments of Panodorus
        • Annianus on the Watchers
        • The Watchers and Antediluvian Wisdom
      • Medieval Texts >
        • Medieval Legends of Ancient Egypt >
          • Medieval Pyramid Lore
          • John Malalas on Ancient Egypt
          • Fragments of Abenephius
          • Akhbar al-zaman
          • Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah
          • Murtada ibn al-‘Afif
          • Al-Maqrizi on the Pyramids
          • Al-Suyuti on the Pyramids
        • The Hunt for Noah's Ark
        • Isidore of Seville
        • Book of Liang: Fusang
        • Agobard on Magonia
        • Book of Thousands
        • Voyage of Saint Brendan
        • Power of Art and of Nature
        • Travels of Sir John Mandeville
        • Yazidi Revelation and Black Book
        • Al-Biruni on the Great Flood
        • Voyage of the Zeno Brothers
        • The Kensington Runestone (Hoax)
        • Islamic Discovery of America
        • The Aztec Creation Myth
      • Lost Civilizations >
        • Atlantis >
          • Plato's Atlantis Dialogues >
            • Timaeus
            • Critias
          • Fragments on Atlantis
          • Panchaea: The Other Atlantis
          • Eumalos on Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Gómara on Atlantis
          • Sardinia and Atlantis
          • Santorini and Atlantis
          • The Mound Builders and Atlantis
          • Donnelly's Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Morocco
          • Atlantis and the Sea Peoples
          • W. Scott-Elliot >
            • The Story of Atlantis
            • The Lost Lemuria
          • The Lost Atlantis
          • Atlantis in Africa
          • How I Found Atlantis (Hoax)
          • Termier on Atlantis
          • The Critias and Minoan Crete
          • Rebuttal to Termier
          • Further Responses to Termier
          • Flinders Petrie on Atlantis
        • Lost Cities >
          • Miscellaneous Lost Cities
          • The Seven Cities
          • The Lost City of Paititi
          • Manuscript 512
          • The Idolatrous City of Iximaya (Hoax)
          • The 1885 Moberly Lost City Hoax
          • The Elephants of Paredon (Hoax)
        • OOPARTs
        • Oronteus Finaeus Antarctica Map
        • Caucasians in Panama
        • Jefferson's Excavation
        • Fictitious Discoveries in America
        • Against Diffusionism
        • Tunnels Under Peru
        • The Parahyba Inscription (Hoax)
        • Mound Builders
        • Gunung Padang
        • Tales of Enchanted Islands
        • The 1907 Ancient World Map Hoax
        • The 1909 Grand Canyon Hoax
        • The Interglacial Period
        • Solving Oak Island
      • Religious Conspiracies >
        • Pantera, Father of Jesus?
        • Toledot Yeshu
        • Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay on Cathars
        • Testimony of Jean de Châlons
        • Rosslyn Chapel and the 'Prentice's Pillar
        • The Many Wives of Jesus
        • Templar Infiltration of Labor
        • Louis Martin & the Holy Bloodline
        • The Life of St. Issa (Hoax)
        • On the Person of Jesus Christ
      • Giants in the Earth >
        • Fossil Origins of Myths >
          • Fossil Teeth and Bones of Elephants
          • Fossil Elephants
          • Fossil Bones of Teutobochus
          • Fossil Mammoths and Giants
          • Giants' Bones Dug Out of the Earth
          • Fossils and the Supernatural
          • Fossils, Myth, and Pseudo-History
          • Man During the Stone Age
          • Fossil Bones and Giants
          • American Elephant Myths
          • The Mammoth and the Flood
          • Fossils and Myth
          • Fossil Origin of the Cyclops
          • Mastodon, Mammoth, and Man
        • Fragments on Giants
        • Manichaean Book of Giants
        • Geoffrey on British Giants
        • Alfonso X's Hermetic History of Giants
        • Boccaccio and the Fossil 'Giant'
        • Book of Howth
        • Purchas His Pilgrimage
        • Edmond Temple's 1827 Giant Investigation
        • The Giants of Sardinia
        • Giants and the Sons of God
        • The Magnetism of Evil
        • Tertiary Giants
        • Smithsonian Giant Reports
        • Early American Giants
        • The Giant of Coahuila
        • Jewish Encyclopedia on Giants
        • Index of Giants
        • Newspaper Accounts of Giants
        • Lanier's A Book of Giants
      • Science and History >
        • Halley on Noah's Comet
        • The Newport Tower
        • Iron: The Stone from Heaven
        • Ararat and the Ark
        • Pyramid Facts and Fancies
        • Argonauts before Homer
        • The Deluge
        • Crown Prince Rudolf on the Pyramids
        • Old Mythology in New Apparel
        • Blavatsky on Dinosaurs
        • Teddy Roosevelt on Bigfoot
        • Devil Worship in France
        • Maspero's Review of Akhbar al-zaman
        • The Holy Grail as Lucifer's Crown Jewel
        • The Mutinous Sea
        • The Rock Wall of Rockwall
        • Fabulous Zoology
        • The Origins of Talos
        • Mexican Mythology
        • Chinese Pyramids
        • Maqrizi's Names of the Pharaohs
      • Extreme History >
        • Roman Empire Hoax
        • American Antiquities
        • American Cataclysms
        • England, the Remnant of Judah
        • Historical Chronology of the Mexicans
        • Maspero on the Predynastic Sphinx
        • Vestiges of the Mayas
        • Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel
        • Origins of the Egyptian People
        • The Secret Doctrine >
          • Volume 1: Cosmogenesis
          • Volume 2: Anthropogenesis
        • Phoenicians in America
        • The Electric Ark
        • Traces of European Influence
        • Prince Henry Sinclair
        • Pyramid Prophecies
        • Templars of Ancient Mexico
        • Chronology and the "Riddle of the Sphinx"
        • The Faith of Ancient Egypt
        • Spirit of the Hour in Archaeology
        • Book of the Damned
        • Great Pyramid As Noah's Ark
        • Richard Shaver's Proofs
    • Alien Encounters >
      • US Government Ancient Astronaut Files >
        • Fortean Society and Columbus
        • Inquiry into Shaver and Palmer
        • The Skyfort Document
        • Whirling Wheels
        • Denver Ancient Astronaut Lecture
        • Soviet Search for Lemuria
        • Visitors from Outer Space
        • Unidentified Flying Objects (Abstract)
        • "Flying Saucers"? They're a Myth
        • UFO Hypothesis Survival Questions
        • Air Force Academy UFO Textbook
        • The Condon Report on Ancient Astronauts
        • Atlantis Discovery Telegrams
        • Ancient Astronaut Society Telegram
        • Noah's Ark Cables
        • The Von Daniken Letter
        • CIA Psychic Probe of Ancient Mars
        • Scott Wolter Lawsuit
        • UFOs in Ancient China
        • CIA Report on Noah's Ark
        • CIA Noah's Ark Memos
        • Congressional Ancient Aliens Testimony
        • Ancient Astronaut and Nibiru Email
        • Congressional Ancient Mars Hearing
        • House UFO Hearing
      • Ancient Extraterrestrials >
        • Premodern UFO Sightings
        • The Moon Hoax
        • Inhabitants of Other Planets
        • Blavatsky on Ancient Astronauts
        • The Stanzas of Dzyan (Hoax)
        • Aerolites and Religion
        • What Is Theosophy?
        • Plane of Ether
        • The Adepts from Venus
      • A Message from Mars
      • Saucer Mystery Solved?
      • Orville Wright on UFOs
      • Interdimensional Flying Saucers
      • Flying Saucers Are Real
      • Report on UFOs
    • The Supernatural >
      • The Devils of Loudun
      • Sublime and Beautiful
      • Voltaire on Vampires
      • Demonology and Witchcraft
      • Thaumaturgia
      • Bulgarian Vampires
      • Religion and Evolution
      • Transylvanian Superstitions
      • Defining a Zombie
      • Dread of the Supernatural
      • Vampires
      • Werewolves and Vampires and Ghouls
      • Science and Fairy Stories
      • The Cursed Car
    • Classic Fiction >
      • Lucian's True History
      • Some Words with a Mummy
      • The Coming Race
      • King Solomon's Mines
      • An Inhabitant of Carcosa
      • The Xipéhuz
      • Lot No. 249
      • The Novel of the Black Seal
      • The Island of Doctor Moreau
      • Pharaoh's Curse
      • Edison's Conquest of Mars
      • The Lost Continent
      • Count Magnus
      • The Mysterious Stranger
      • The Wendigo
      • Sredni Vashtar
      • The Lost World
      • The Red One
      • H. P. Lovecraft >
        • Dagon
        • The Call of Cthulhu
        • History of the Necronomicon
        • At the Mountains of Madness
        • Lovecraft's Library in 1932
      • The Skeptical Poltergeist
      • The Corpse on the Grating
      • The Second Satellite
      • Queen of the Black Coast
      • A Martian Odyssey
    • Classic Genre Movies
    • Miscellaneous Documents >
      • The Balloon-Hoax
      • A Problem in Greek Ethics
      • The Migration of Symbols
      • The Gospel of Intensity
      • De Profundis
      • The Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf
      • The Bathtub Hoax
      • Crown Prince Rudolf's Letters
      • Position of Viking Women
      • Employment of Homosexuals
      • James Dean's Love Letters
      • The Amazing James Dean Hoax!
    • Free Classic Pseudohistory eBooks
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