Category Archives: Ereshkigal

Enki & Ereshkigal

Enki goes further by going deeper

Enki and Ereshkigal as twins share close ties, and when she disappears from the Middleworld, it is said that he goes after her to bring her back. This is a myth about loyalty, the ties that bind brother and sister and the need to accept change to pursue one´s own individuality.

For Mark and Albanie and friendship everlasting

https://earth-history.com/

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

In the first days after Ereshkigal, the daughter of Nammu the Sea

and the Skyfather An had disappeared from the Middlearth,

Enki, her twin brother, could hardly bear the pain of being apart from his twin and friend.

2 - Ereshkigal (Ereshkigal artifact, Queen of the Under World)

‘Let Ereshkigal be, Enki’, repeated Enlil, Lord Air, for the hundredth time that day.

Ereshkigal’s loss was heavy on him, but she had gone beyond any known boundaries to him.

‘Maybe one day she will return to us. Who knows?’

Enki looked up at Enlil this time, his face darkened by sorrow:

‘Can’t you do anything to bring Ereshkigal back?’

‘Do what, brother?’ ‘ Whatever you have to do!

You could separate Mother Ki form the Skyfather An.

Your Word, Enlil, has the power to bring things forth.

Please, brother, let’s create anything we need to rescue Ereshkigal!’

Enlil considered the question for a long moment, and then lifted troubled eyes

to the distant line beyond horizon where Ereshkigal had vanished.

‘I can’t. She is beyond reach. I am the Guardian of the Earth,

I watch over Mother Ki, so I cannot leave the Middleworld unattended.

This is my duty, the responsibility I took upon my shoulders

after I caused the separation of Mother Ki from the Skylord An.

  2 - Enki, the wisest god (giant god Enki, King Anu‘s eldest & wisest son)

But you can rescue Ereshkigal, Enki.

If anyone can bring her back to us, this is you.

The bond between you and her as Perfect Twins is too strong.

Only you can seek her out, wherever she is.’

‘But how can I bring her back?’

‘You´ll know,´ answered Enlil.

The world was so young.

At least he hoped Enki would find a way to do so.

‘Then I must learn whatever is needed to bring my sister back.

I just wish I had a clue where to start though!’

Enlil suppressed a sigh of heartfelt relief.

He had been so afraid of loosing Enki to the bottomless Depths of Despair and Hopelessness.

But his fears might be unfounded.

Enki’s curiosity had been aroused, he was getting in contact with Life again!

‘While you learn what you must,

I could very well do with some help from you, little brother’, continued Enlil wistfully.

‘It is true that by my Word I called the Anunnaki, the Great Gods,

out of the Mould of Creation, but this is not enough.

There is more to life and being than only mere Existence.

Who knows, perhaps Life should be organized into Meaningful Patterns. I sure need help.

Would you be by my side to get the Middleworld organized so that it can be safe for all?’

‘ What do you mean, Enlil?’ asked Enki, his old eagerness to Learn and Grow resurfacing.

Enlil smiled inwardly. ‘ It is for you to find out, Enki as well!’

Enki raised to his feet, considering Enlil’s request, the trust the young Lord Air was bestowing upon him.

A wave of conflicting emotions, awe and wonder, swept Enki.

If Enlil considered him capable, Enki would do his best to help.

‘Out of Mother Nammu the Sea, the Watery Deep, we all came from’, Enki said thoughtfully.

3j - unknown, Utu, Ninurta, & Enki

(Utu, Ninurta, & Enki on his throne in Eridu, & Abzu worker)

‘Water, my Nature, can also be molded in countless forms

depending on the vessel that receives it, and yet it never loses its Essence.

So perhaps Life should be a sort of Molding and Shaping,

always Evolving and Changing to allow for Countless Possibilities.

Not as a pre-conceived plan, but as a Process and a Goal as Existence unfolds.’

‘As I myself must learn, evolve and grow

if I want to be able to rescue Ereshkigal one day’, completed Enki.

‘Life and Being as a Process and a Goal!

Yes, Enki, you may be very, very right!’, exclaimed Enlil in true delight.

As usual, he never ceased to get amazed at Enki’s skill to Understand all Realities and Visualize all Possibilities.

Thus, what Enlil named with the power of his Word, Enki’s craft conferred shape and meaning.

3b - Enki image  (Enki; Skyfather King Anu in his winged sky-disc)

Enki, son of Nammu the Primeval Mother Sea and the Skyfather An, became Nudimmud (Enki),

the Image Fashioner, Lord of Archetypal Forms, the Patron of all Crafts and Skills.

And to him were assigned all sweet fertilizing waters and the underground Springs, called the Apsu.

When many of the arts of civilization had come into being,

             

                (alien gods boating down the rivers Euphrates & Tigris in Mesopotamia)

when the Anunnaki had developed the craft of making boats,

Enki withdrew to the south-western edge of the Land Between Rivers (Biblical Eden),

where he had found a lagoon of the deepest jade and calm blue fringed by palm trees.

              (early settlement with reed huts for the gods)

Nearby a settlement was being built.

But Enki did not spend much time overseeing the laborious setup of reed huts,

               

                          (Enki’s settlement Eridu on the Euphrates River;            Enki’s ziggurat temple residence in Eridu)

fences and the first temple, and he called the place Eridu (Enki‘s patron city).

At that time Enki searched the precious, silent companionship of the lagoon and the marshlands.

He took long walkabouts over the land and profound dives into the deep blue waters,

considering how he could fulfil the promise he had made to himself

to rescue Ereshkigal from wherever she had been taken to.

As far as the ends of the Earth he would go for her, wherever this was.

During his long walkabouts he would only stop by the Great Reeds to see the tireless diligent work of their Mistress,

              (Ningikuga / Nisaba, Haia, & 2 unidentified)

a young Anunnaki goddess called Ningikuga (Nannar‘s mother-in-law).

It was she who brought to humankind the art of binding and weaving reeds,

sumerianreedhut Weaving - reed huts of early modern man (reed huts of the gods)

it was by her craft that the huts to live and worship were first built..

And it was by looking at the way Ningikuga weave the long reeds in a patterned

way that he felt he had found what he needed to go after Ereshkigal.

2b - Enlil, parent in-laws Haia, Nisaba, & spouse Ninlil

   (Enlil,           Haia,     Ningikuga / Nisaba,      Ninlil,    & worker / shepherd)

‘Sister Ningikuga, Lady of the Reeds, Mistress of this Place,

I ask your permission to cut some of the stoutest reeds under your protection

to build a structure that will carry me through the toughest waters and seas

so that I can attempt to rescue Ereshkigal’, said Enki, a greeting and a request as one.

Ningikuga looked at the expanse of the Great Reeds, contemplated with pride her work and then turned to Enki.

As a Craftsperson, she understood Enki and his Request with her Mind, Body, Heart and Soul.

            (Enki, god over the waters)   

She smiled at the Water God: ‘So you have not given up to take our older sister back?

Everything I own, from the smallest to the greatest reeds of the land are yours for this mighty task.

Do cut the stoutest in my canebrakes to make the structure that will float on the surface of all that flows.

Use also sacred cedar wood to build it safe and strong, and you will have my blessings everywhere you go.’

‘Sister, I can see already the shape this new structure will take!’

Enki’s voice sounded full of wonder. ‘ Yes, I can see it in full.

I’ll call it boat, and endow it with the gift of floating on all that flows.

Moved by long spears called paddles it will travel the toughest seas and return where it belongs.

Indeed, I can see it all ready to sail everywhere and anywhere!.

5f - Sickle boat, cargos of gold etc (shipping gods cargo in Sumer)

Let my boat, the magur boat be long, let its prow rear up and curve like the head of a swam,

let the stem sweep over and coil like the neck of a crane.

Sister, I’ve found what I need to undertake my Quest after my sister and friend, the very best!’

(Ningikuga / Nisaba; Enki)

Ningikuga laughed at the contagious enthusiasm of the Water God:

‘And when you are ready, when you have built the boat you need,

I will call upon our brothers and sisters, the Anunnaki and the Igigi,

to bring you their gifts and send you off to journey the Lands Beyond, with our blessings.’

Using all his craft, Enki fashioned a boat, a magur boat out of reeds and cedar wood.

With its sides elegantly curved and planked, as well as imposing mast, it was the strongest ship ever built.

  (Anunnaki royal family of gods on Earth)

While he worked, diligently and determined, many of the Anunnaki brothers and sisters came to help.

Enki reserved though to himself the work to get the ship done.

In a way, it was not only the magur boat that was being done up:

Enki was also getting himself ready, gathering Strength to face Kur

and the Underworld for the love of his Twin Sister and Best Friend.

Then, one day finally the boat was ready to set sail. And so was Enki.

Faithful to her promise, Ningikuga had come with the Igigi and the Anunnaki, who brought Enki gifts for the journey.

Thus he was cloaked with chain mail to protect his body, helmet to guide his Reason and Decisions,

a Sacred Horn so that he would never run out of food and drink

and Spear to focus his Will and to pierce the heart of the fiercest enemy.

With a graceful leap, Enki got into the boat.

There he stood for a while, contemplating the seashore, losing himself in Ningikuga´s eyes.

This last salute was for her… for the time being.

Then he took his post and started rowing.

On, past the sterile shores of desert still waiting for the kiss of the sun.

On, past the palm trees of the beaches of the south seas.

Out into the deep blue of the open ocean, the magur boat plunged down the back of still-climbing waves.

On, beyond the frozen seas. On and on Enki rowed.

The cold tumble of salt waters, nevertheless, sounded strangely encouraging to Enki.

These were the waters of Mother Nammu, he felt safe, although there was no sun to mark the days,

no moon to light the night, no stars to steer by.

‘It doesn’t matter where I go’, thought Enki.

‘In all directions the world must end somewhere and wherever it is, I’ll find the way to the Underworld.’

As if he had summoned the Powers of the Unknown with his Resolve to find the Entrance to the Great Below,

suddenly the wind started blowing hard, followed by stones falling from the heavens.

Frantically, Enki held on to the prow of the magur boat, protecting his head from the violence of the storm.

He could feel the stones hitting the keel of the magur boat, but it withstood the attack.

Waves rose to devour the head of the boat, like a hungry wolf , waves hit the rear of the ship striking like a furious lion.

All this was not enough to turn the ship upside down.

"God with a golden hand", initially completely gilded. The god wears a long "kaunakes" which leaves one shoulder free,typical of all divinities since Akkadian periods. From Susa, early 2nd mill.BCE. Copper and gold, H: 17,5 cm AO 2823  (Enki, King Anu‘s eldest & wisest son, 1st to arrive on Earth with crew of 50)

All the time Enki commanded his mind and racing heart to stillness.

He had to take control over the physical discomfort

and the fear that threatened to paralyze his mind, body and questing soul.

Above all, he had to take control of his emotions and forget the numbness that threatened to paralyze his body.

Then, when he was almost giving up to the force of the elements without,

silence and darkness fell upon him, upon the waters.

As the magur boat slowed down, Enki rose his head, fought for balance and stood up, blinking once, then twice.

The waters were so dark and still.

The ship had stopped moving, and his breath caught as he found himself watching the pure blackness

become a columnar figure of blazing fire towering over him.

A mighty challenge had been issued.

Fire was the Power opposite to his own Watery Essence,

the Power that could prevent him from going further anywhere and everywhere.

In actual fact, Water could likewise extinguish Fire,

but he didn’t want to put out this Strange Fire or get himself killed along the process.

“What do water and fire have in common?

How can Opposition become Co-operation so that I can proceed?’, thought Enki frantically.

He dived then into the Essence of his own Being to find where Water could meet Fire and not be consumed by it.

He pressed then the magur boat forward, intoning a Verse that came

from the Bottom of His Questing Mind, Body and Soul like a mantra:

‘I am the Well of Truth that Brings Enlightenment I am the Disperser of the Spirit’s Darkness

I am Form that Transforms Brightness is my Gift to Beings of all Sorts!’

It worked! Out of its own volition, the magur boat started moving,

6fa - Enki in the Abzu (Anu‘s royal descendants working on Earth Colony)

and Enki saw himself going through the blazing column without being hurt.

He couldn’t rejoice much though as a voice boomed in the darkness.

‘Welcome to my realm, Nammu’s son!’

The resonant roaring voice could only belong to Kur.

Enki filled himself with all courage he could summoned and asked:

‘Where is my sister? Where did you take Ereshkigal?

I came to rescue her back to the Worlds Above.’

The answer seemed to come from before him.

Ereshkigal reigns sovereign here, and those who worship her may never leave.

Would you go back now, little Lord?’ ‘ I won’t go back without Ereshkigal.

I’ll fight up to my last breath, but alone I won’t return to the Middleworld.

Not as a loser, not without her.’

Deep inside though Enki’s heart was heavy with terror.

For the first time he contemplated the immensity of Ereshkigal’s loss to him and the Realms Above.

What if Kur was right and she had found a kingdom in the Worlds Below?

Then Ereshkigal would be lost to him and to the worlds above forever.

Never before the Lord of Sweet Waters, the Master of Magic and all Crafts

felt so powerless to Change what perhaps Couldn’t be Changed.

With profound sadness he confronted the Naked Truth:

his was the power to Create and Give Shape to Things, not to Unmake What Already Was.

“No, I can’t go back’, he admitted after some time to himself

with full acceptance of the Choice he had made to continue the Descent. “

Not now that I’ve gone this far. I’ll have to find out where Ereshkigal is.

(Mesopotamian goddess Ereshkigal;  also the Greek goddess Persephone)

It is of my free will that I descended into the Netherworld,

it is my Desire to Know why Ereshkigal has chosen to stay in the Land of Below.

Even if it is likely I may not rejoice at the Truth I’ll find out.”

Enki straightened then his back with a brave attempt at dignity.

             (possibly Kur, Mesopotamian artifacts)

Kur should know where Ereshkigal was.

Kur, who was also his half-brother, fathered as he had been by An the Sky.

‘Take me to Ereshkigal!’, he said to Kur, a command and a request as one.

A mocking laughter greeted him. ‘’Where else? All who enter here must come to her.’

Enki felt the boat steer towards the dark shore,

stopping with a loud bump when it reached the Land of the Netherworld.

Enki drew his mailed clothing tight about him, grasped his spear.

All the time he was being watched by Kur and some wraith-like creatures

his eyes started discerning as he got used to the enfolding darkness.

‘Not like that! Leave any weapon or shield behind!’

Enki looked down at himself and raised despairing eyes to Kur.

‘You must enter the Netherworld as you were born into the Great Above:

naked, carrying no weapons and with a purpose to fulfil’.

Enki tried to proceed, but paralysis took hold of his body, despite the effort he made to move on.

‘Is there any other way?’

‘No. Decide or return. Now!’

In the Worlds Above, his first Breath and Awareness he had shared with Ereshkigal, his Beloved Twin.

For Ereshkigal he had built his magur boat, for Ereshkigal he had come this far.

For Ereshkigal now Enki laid down his shield, mail and spear

in the hope to fulfil his promise to rescue Ereshkigal to the Worlds Above.

‘For you, sister, I came.

If it is the Rule of this Great Place that all come naked, carrying no weapons at all, I bow to its designs.

So be it the Highest Will in me as well.’

  (Enki rides a fish to the Netherworld)

So naked as a new-born Enki set foot upon the shore of the Netherworld.

As soon as his feet touched the coarse, dark sand, Enki was overcome by a powerful feeling of disorientation,

as if every aspect and fragment of his being was being reversed, reviewed and scrutinized.

He felt very vulnerable, with everything he had assumed to be valuable inverted,

challenged, turned upside down and inside out.

The feeling was totally overwhelming: thresholds for a much deeper awareness were being open to him.

2b - Enki2aa - Enki, found in Sin's temple at Khorsabad (Enki small carving; giant Enki as an ancient statue)

Enki braced himself, just hoping he would be able to withstand the mounting pressure from the inner.

‘ Don’t fight the feeling,’

Enki heard a deep voice sounding strangely soothing in the darkness.

‘You will adapt to the Underworld vision in time.

Remember, though, that if your soul is pure, then your contacts here will be harmonious and will make you whole.

But if you come with fear, anger and all that is negative or unbalanced, you will have then t

o confront the shadows left within your heart, mind and soul before you find regeneration and healing ’.

A few more minutes or an eternity later perhaps, Enki could raise his head without feeling it spin.

He let his eyes absorb the new environs.

Below his feet, the dark coarse sand glittered here and there.

Above, the sky had the mystery of twilight.

Enki could not see the source of such subdued brightness.

There were no stars, sun or moon in the Worlds Below.

Instead, the light seemed to come from within the land itself.

Ahead, he could see the outline of a huge lapis lazuli building, a palace or temple under construction.

As for beings, strange ghost-like forms could be seen everywhere in all sizes and shapes,

fleshless, but mobile and, if he could use the term, seemingly alive.

Enki finally turned in the direction of the Voice.

A silent figure cloaked and hooded in a shimmering black robe stood in front of him.

The figure’s visage was hidden.

Tall, slim and very imposing, the Form rendered Enki speechless.

Never before had he seen such aura of authority and seriousness.

The Lord of Sweet Waters swallowed hard before speaking:

‘Perhaps I should first introduce myself to… to the Presence who is greeting me in this Great Place‘, said Enki.

Presence was an ambiguous and more fitting term to address to that fleshless, frame-like Figure standing in front of him.

‘I already know who you are. And why you came too.

You made it very loud and clear that you want to bring your sister

Ereshkigal back to the Worlds Above’, continued the Voice.

‘But how can you be so sure that she wants to return with you?

Time has gone by, she might have found the Depths are her home now, not the Heights Above.’

The cool objectivity of the Presence both shook and impressed Enki.

‘I knew Ereshkigal as I did my own soul’, replied Enki, and stopped short before he spoke his True Mind.

And knowing your soul, you wouldn’t want to live in the Underworld, would you, Lord Enki?’

completed the Presence, saying the words Enki had thought, but stopped himself short from saying.

‘ But all who live come to this realm at the end of their life cycles in the Worlds Above.

All, with no exception.´

With a wide gesture, the Presence pointed at the strange ghostly,

frame-like creatures of all sorts Enki saw roaming about the Underworld.

‘All who live come to this realm at the end of their life cycles…‘, repeated Enki thoughtfully.

‘ So all these… presences, are they all dead?’

He knew this was a rhetoric question as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

The Presence remained silent, but somehow Enki did not find It threatening.

‘I didn’t think about death until now.

I knew that it was something that happened to the living, to humankind, plants and beasts alike.

Not to the Anunnaki though.`

‘What did you experience upon arrival in the Underworld, my lord?’, asked the Presence quietly.

‘Disorientation, challenge, intense scrutiny of everything that I was, believed or did.

But wait! Are you saying that I also died when I set foot upon this land?`

Enki sensed the Presence’s quiet smile.

‘You were also reborn here.

The Underworld is the Inner Reality that Gives Sustenance to Everything There Was, Is and Will Be.

It is the Realm of Essence, where Life and Death meet and merge out of one another.

Here Life and Death are both rhythm and transformation

between Energy and Form so that Healing and Regeneration can take place.

You, my lord, who by your Craft confer to all there is the Knowledge of what they can Become,

must know that this Knowledge is seldom realized in the Middlearth.

Thus, all the living at the end of their life cycles come to the Underworld for Justice and Balance.

Remember, my lord, that out of life comes death, out of death life,

out of the young the old and out of the old the young, out of waking sleep and out of sleep waking.

This way we in the Depths Below are linked to the Worlds Above

as part of the stream of creation and dissolution that never ends.‘

‘And how does this occur?’ ‘ What was Form becomes the Energy of What It Was

while the Essence rebuilds itself in Strength of What It Can and Will for Sure Be,’

the Presence’s tone became at once gentle and positive.

’ Existence is both a Process and a Goal that finds its justification in its Own Evolution and Self-Transcendence.

As such, it is not a pre-established plan, but a Seed of Becoming,

containing Within All Possibilities to be Realized Without.’

Silence followed, and Enki was taken by deep emotion.

A hot, lonely tear streamed down his face, at the same time that he consciously shifted his awareness,

transforming the Energy of What and Who he saw into the Forms of What They Were and Would Be.

The Land of No Return became then the Image of Paradise Restored, the Primal Land that also contains the stars.

He turned to the Presence with deep respect and acknowledged who She actually was.

‘Sister, Ereshkigal, Beloved Twin, I lend you graces.

And I beg you to forgive me for not having recognized you!’

Indeed, who was smiling at him was not the bone-like, skeletal figure and projection of one’s deepest fears,

but a tall, slim, young and serious woman, with long dark hair,

all dressed in black and silver, who Enki knew as well as his own soul.

‘Do you understand now, Enki?

Why my place is here, why I cannot return with you?’ asked softly Ereshkigal.‘

I’ve become one of the Great Guardians now., and my choice to be so.

Father An for the Sky, KiNinhursag of Many Names for the Earth,

Enlil for Air, you for the Sweet, Shape-Forming Waters and myself for the Underworld.

There was a great need for a Presence here.

So many come to this Realm in Pain and Sorrow,

missing so much what they never experienced or accomplished in the Worlds Above.

They need to learn about Balance and Healing.

I am here to ensure that all who look for the Essence beyond Appearances will seek and find it,

if only they are willing to bare and reshape their souls to accomplish this.

Because so many will never see the Underworld as the Land of Balance.

Like yourself upon arrival, who saw this land and Her beings as ghosts, and life here as labor and tears.’

‘O, sister, isn’t it too much for you to balance all pain for the Worlds Above

before Healing and Regeneration can take place?’ asked Enki,

taken aback by the sheer amount of responsibility Ereshkigal had willingly put on her delicate yet strong shoulders.

 (possibly entrance to Under World)

‘You have faced the Underworld initiation upon arrival, brother.

At the deepest level you’ve changed and grown with the experience, I can say.

Gone is your arrogant attitude, your desire to take me back for your sake without asking whether this was my desire too.

And because you know me as you know yourself, I believe you’ve come to realize that although

I may miss the Worlds Above, that I have not known the playing of other girls

or the company of my brothers and sisters of the Heights Above,

there are hidden treasures in the Land of No Return and I’ve become their foremost Guardian.

Many can’t see what and where these treasures are. I can. I am needed here.

As your magic, brother, is needed in the Worlds Above.’

Enki let the tears flow freely.

He was painfully coming to terms with the fact that Ereshkigal was lost to the Worlds Above.

To himself too. ‘Can I ask you about Kur?

I’ve always wanted to know why you left us’, asked Enki.

He finally had asked the question that ate his soul since Ereshkigal had disappeared from the Heights Above.

‘Kur is a Guardian of this realm now.

He was a friend who helped me to understand things I needed to know and learn about.

But this is not what you really want to know, Enki.

Say it, brother. To me, loud and clear.

Once and for all leave the past behind, all you found yourself guilty for and never were.’

Enki took a deep breath before baring finally his soul:

‘Did you leave me and the Worlds Above for Kur? Did we… did I fail you in any way?’

Ereshkigal’s voice became so gentle, yet there was a tenderness made of steel in it:

‘I did not leave the Worlds Above for Kur.

I came to the Underworld because this was the Highest Will in me,

the fulfillment and realization of my very self to be shared in all worlds.

Kur was a friend, a Companion along my path, and now he is bound to me in freedom because

he chose to stay as one of the Guardians of the Underworld.

Never again, I beg you, Brother of my Soul, Best Companion of my Early Days, think you failed me.

Perhaps I failed you and Enlil instead?

But I somehow I don’t think there was any failure on all sides.

We all made our choices, we all became Guardians in our own right.

This way I am bonded to you, Enlil and all the Anunnaki.’

A silence charged with emotion followed Ereshkigal’s words.

Enki felt a heavy load had been lifted off his shoulders, mind, heart and soul.

‘Don’t regret your choice of having descended for me, Enki,’ continued Ereshkigal.

‘Indeed, I knew you would come, and expected you all along.

Our bond was and will always be strong, so whenever you seek me out,

you will find me, if only you know how and where to look.

But before you understood my Life’s Quest I could not say a word.

Somehow you belong to the Heights Above and I to the Depths Below.

By coming to my Realm, I sincerely hope you have learnt to see Everything that Is as Form and Essence.

If the Above is the Realm of Form, where the Essence is within, the Underworld is the domain of Essence,

which encompasses Form only for those whose Insights are True to go beyond Appearances.

This way we are also forever linked to the Worlds Above,

for the Underworld is the Inner Structure that Gives Sustenance to the Realms Above it.

All that is Without is the same to All there Is Within to reveal the Secrets of the One and the Many.’

Enki drank her words, her deep quiet wisdom with his mind, body, heart and soul.

In as swift, graceful movement, Ereshkigal knelt on the ground,

her hands diving into the Solid Foundation of the Worlds Below.

‘ Before you leave, brother, take this.’

Her hand took out of the ground a small, pale oval form and laid it in his palm.

A seed! Enki raised puzzled eyes to her. ‘Plant it. And watch what comes out of it.

If this seed grows into fullness, it will be the gateway to this and many other worlds.

And by Nammu, the Mother who gave birth to me, and the Skyfather An,

I now declare a most auspicious fate: the one who finds my fully grown seed and cares for it

will be the one who will keep the Door to the Worlds Below and Above wide open.

And as I will, so be it!Enki knew the seed she was giving him was a parting gift.

‘Will I ever see you again, Ereshkigal?

Or are you forever lost to the Worlds Above?’ he asked.

Ereshkigal’s lovely laughter filled the air:

‘I don’t think you and the Worlds Above are lost to me, Enki.

Am I forever lost to you, brother? ‘ Enki’s heart wanted to shout “Never!”,

but the words that his soul formed could not be uttered by his mouth.

‘Seek me out and you will find me. Always!

Now, Brother, Companion and Best Friend, I bid you farewell.’’

Next Enki saw himself totally alone by the magur boat.

Hot tears streamed down his face.

He bowed graciously with deep respect to the Great Lady of the Underworld,

and for a brief moment he envied Kur for being free to stay with Her.

But he could not stay. He felt, nevertheless, stronger than ever,

very moved, with an expanded consciousness that could embrace the universe.

Something was growing within his very Self,

and although he could not yet give a Name to it, he new it was important.

At the same time Ereshkigal’s seed seemed to grow warmer in his hand.

As the magur boat left the Land of No Return,

Enki held it high in his hand in a silent and loving farewell to Ereshkigal.

‘May the Light of the Underworld of Regeneration and Growth

that one day shone upon me Crowns all who come to you with their Hearts,

Minds, Bodies and Souls open to All Mysteries, Sister and Best Friend!!

And may you be remembered by the beauties and trials you set upon

all who guided by Truth come to the Underworld!’

 (the great god turns away & climbs out of the Under World, & gets greeted by family)

Enki turned then his back to the Underworld,

with a firm resolve to enter again the Worlds Above, to return to Eridu.

He was truly coming back home! To Ningikuga perhaps?

Enki smiled to himself, his old confidence surfacing again:

‘For sure, and to be more than just a friend this time!’

With this thought, Enki started rowing with renewed energy.

Eridu was certainly harbor, haven and home.

EPILOGUE

Months later, Enki took the magur boat and off he went to the place by the riverbank

where he had planted Ereshkigal’s seed.

Would the Seed of the Great Below have taken root and be reborn in the Middleworld?

Enki had his doubts, but having experienced the power of Ereshkigal,

he knew that out of the Land of No Return life and healing, growth and regeneration could also be found by all.

Anxious, Enki craned his neck to peer ahead.

It took a couple of minutes, but when at last he saw what he had come to look for,

a delighted laughter burst out from the depths of his being.

Not far from the water’s edge, a shoot of leaves had broken through the ground.

5 - Enki lived in the abzu marshes of Eridu (Enki in the reed marshes of the Persian Gulf)

Enki rowed to the shore, stepped out the magur boat and reverently knelt to admire the growing little plant

by the marshland’s edge: ‘Life comes indeed from the Inner’, he said.

‘Seed of Growth, I welcome you into the Middleworld, you who carry within the Bounties of the Worlds Below.

May your roots stay firm in the ground in all Kingdoms, may your trunk grow strong and true,

may your branches, leaves and fruits empower with Knowledge to Share,

showing us the Ways of Becoming in all Worlds and Spheres.

May all those who find you climb to the Highest Heights and Descend to the Lowest Depths for Healing and Fruition.

3a - Inanna & Dumuzi in the Underworld (the Huluppu Tree & the alien gods from Nibiru)

I name you the Most Sacred, the Most Precious of All Trees, the Huluppu Tree.’

Ereshkigal’s Choice, Partial Text to “Before All Befores”

“How Ereshkigal Chose the Underworld”

https://earth-history.com/

Earth’s Ancient History   A Website dedicated to Ancient Times

(Texts: All Artefacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

           (Lord Air Enlil son & heir to King Anu, Anu’s Earth Colony Commander)

       After Ki, Mother Earth and Queen, was separated by Enlil, Lord Air,

          (Skyfather King Anu in his winged sky-disc, father in heaven / planet Nibiru to ruling gods on Earth)

       Master of Winds, their firstborn, from An (Anu), Skyfather and King,

       and the primal Unity of Heaven and Earth was forever lost, in the Heights Above,

       An wept for Ki, longing for her embrace and kiss.

       His heartfelt tears met Nammu the Sea.

       She reached out for the Sky Lord, and Mother and grieving son made for the first time sweet Love.

       From the mingling of their bodies a Boy and a Girl, Divine Twins were born.

       Enki and Ereshkigal, they were called.

         2a - Ereshkigal, Nannar's Daughter3 - Enki, god of the waters (Ereshkigal & Enki, had son Ningishzidda, the builder of pyramids / ziggurats, etc.)

       As time went by, Ereshkigal and Enki grew with the blessings of Creation’s dawn.

       Curious and sometimes wise beyond their years,

       brother and sister played especially in the Watery Deep of Nammu the Sea.

       Enki would float here and there, whereas Ereshkigal swam and dived everywhere.

       ‘Ereshkigal, I can’t see you! Come back to the surface, will you?

       Why do you have to hide within the waters

       when there is so much to see and do without?’ asked Enki with a sigh.

       ‘A rhetoric question, young brother, without doubt’,

       countered Enlil amusedly from the shore, where he kept watch over the Duke,

       the Holy Mound of Creation, and Mother Ki, his eyes gleaming with fond laughter.

       ‘Just let Ereshkigal be for a while.

       At least I could do without her whys and wherefores for a minute or so!’

       ‘I heard you, Big Brother (in this text)!’ replied Ereshkigal.

       She came out to the surface riding a wave,

       and immediately put all her efforts together to raise a mighty wall of splashing water

       towards the rock where Enlil watched over the Earth and Enki’s floating body.

       Both Enlil and Enki ran for cover.

       They were going to succeed and escape Ereshkigal’s watery rage… perhaps this time?

       “Not as yet”, thought Ereshkigal with a satisfied grin,

       dripping with water and as fresh as the purest springs of Mother Urash.

       She sat by Enlil’s and Enki’s feet.

       ‘So I ask too many questions, brothers of mine? Of course I do!

       I want to Know and to Know I must ask first!

       At least this is what I feel it should be!’

       Ereshkigal ignored the resigned amusement of Enlil and Enki and proceeded with confidence:

       ‘ There is a whole world within the Sea and I suspect in everything there is.

       Moreover, there must be things beyond and below I feel I should know, and I will, one day.

       While you, Enlil, devise the Plans of Creation,

       and you, Enki, busy yourself with forms and shapes these plans may take without,

       I am concerned with the power within that binds these plans and images together in combinations of all sorts.

       I don’t know how to explain it, but I simply feel there is a refulgence within,

       there is a Pattern that binds words and shapes together, beings and things,

       and it is this pattern I want to know. I will know. I just need to find out how.‘

       A fleeting shadow crossed Enlil’s smiling face.

        ‘I wish I saw things your way, Ereshkigal, just to understand and explain the unexplained.

       Take Kur, for example, and our dark little brothers and sisters who followed him to the land’s end.

       It is true Kur and the others looked different from us.

       But why did they leave the safety of the Duku, the mound of creation,

       why did they go beyond the Waters of Mother Nammu.’

        ‘You are worrying about Kur and the Dark Guardians again, Enlil.

       Why don’t you take them and Kur for what they are?

       Whatever and wherever they are?’ asked Ereshkigal.

        ‘Had you laid your eyes on Kur, you’d understand my concern.

       He and the others are different from us, from our younger sisters and brothers. ‘

       But why should we all be the same, Older Brother?

       Indeed, I believe we are all very, very different.

       In Form and Essence, despite some Resemblance in Appearance.

       I may be very wrong, Enlil, but I feel that if you keep fixing your eyes on but one thing,

       you’ll miss out what could be the other side of the same thing.

       Or person and being,’ remarked thoughtfully Ereshkigal.

       ‘Wise words, little sister!

       The point is that I take my Guardianship over the Earth too serious’, agreed Enlil.

       ‘But there is something odd I cannot understand about Kur.

       And I for sure wouldn’t like to visit the place where he chose to dwell either,

         4 - door to Ereshkigal's Underworld 4cc - Ninlil follows Enlil to the Underworld (entrance of the Under World, domain of Ereshkigal)

       at the entrance of the Underworld’, countered Enlil.

         ‘I am sort of curious about these unknowable things.

       And I don’t fear what I don’t know.

       Even this Kur you don’t understand, Enlil.

       Indeed, I am curious about Kur,’ replied Ereshkigal.

        ‘And where is this Underworld, by the way?’

        ‘None have gone there yet’, answered Enki.

       ‘It is beyond the edge of this world.

       Mother Nammu says that it spreads itself as deep below as the heights of Father An stretch above.’

       ‘This sounds really interesting!

       A whole new realm nobody has been to or knows so much about!’ exclaimed Ereshkigal.

        ‘O, sister, sometimes I wish you showed more respect for what you don’t know.

       Just for safety’s sake’, supplied Enki.

         ‘I am careful. And Inquisitive and Curious.’

       In her mind, Ereshkigal added silently “even about this mysterious Kur and the Underworld.”

       And so it was that Ereshkigal, the daughter of Nammu the Sea,

       born of the bittersweet loss that the Skyfather felt for Ki, twin Sister of Enki,

       grew with the Desire to Know the Unknown and Reveal Patterns Unseen.

       Everyday she would play with Enki, her Companion and Best of Friends, and pester Enlil with countless questions.

       Everyday Ereshkigal would dive into the deep waters of the Mother and swim longer distances

       to resurface energized, with more and more questions in her mind and a deeper resolve forming inside.

       One day, Ereshkigal chose not to return to the Middleworld.

       This was the day she had found Kur (or he had found her perhaps?),

       and the little dark half brothers and sisters of theirs.

       They looked ugly and threatening, scattered over the edge of the world, at the entrance of the Underworld.

       They seemed to be lonely too, for all kept to their spaces, alone and isolated, but looking pretty menacing.

       “So much pain and loneliness, such rage and hunger for what they know not what.

       Such desire to belong, but they know not where or how”, she thought, but didn’t say a word.

          (Ereshkigal, Queen of the Under World, sometimes Anu’s daughter, sometimes Nannar’s)

       Faithful to herself, Ereshkigal didn’t flinch at Kur’s features or at the misshapen faces of the dark little ones.

       Yes, he did not look like any of the other Anunnaki Ereshkigal knew very well, but this didn’t make him threatening to her.

       Kur was… different.

       Indeed, with his huge scaly body and wings, Primeval Snake and Dragon,

       Ereshkigal felt he was like the raw power of Mother Ninhursag-Ki.

       A Beast, but she knew there was beauty within him… or it?

       Still, Ereshkigal l felt no fear for the Unknown and a longing embrace it and make her it own.

         ‘I am not afraid of you. Of any of you’ she said out loud, and she meant it. ‘

       You are my half brother, Kur, and so are the dark little ones.

       And somehow I feel there is beauty within you all, even if you and others don’t have eyes to see. But I have.

       Dive into your Essence, brother, search for the seed that brought you, me and all into being.

       I also came from that seed.

       There you will find what unite us, what make us One of a Kind with the One who is All Kinds.’

       Thus she dived into the immensity of Kur’s anguish and loss, for she accepted Kur for what he was,

       ugliness, pain, rage and loneliness to find out his all whys.

         ‘I vowed to challenge and fight to the very end all who dared to fare to the world’s end’, said Kur.

         ‘And I take up the Challenge’, answered Ereshkigal.

         ‘But I’ve traveled long and far to come to you.

       You are a Challenge to me. I need to understand you.

       And myself along the process.’

       “Why are you doing this?”

       Ereshkigal heard the question in her mind, as she held Kur closer and closer to her own self.

       ‘I myself don’t know very well why, but I simply need to.

       Perhaps to grow in Understanding of who I am, of who and what you and your own are.

       To learn and Share, out of a Desire for Love and Healing

       that comes from the bottom of my heart, mind, body and Soul.

       And may this way, when I am wise about these things,

       may I perhaps earn my crown in a brand new Realm‘, she replied loud and clear.

       Kur’s features must have shown the equivalent to a smile, for his voice sounded also lighthearted and interested.

        ‘You are strange, half sister. I won’t fight you… as yet.

       Tell me about this new realm where you want to conquer your crown’, said Kur, his curiosity stirred.

          ‘How... I still must find out. Where…’

       Ereshkigal turned round pointed at the distance, where the Unknown lied yet unexplored.

        ‘There,’ she said, ’the Unknown, the Underworld, the Depths Within, where Appearances don’t count, just Essence.

       Perhaps I’ll go further by going deeper. Who knows?’

       Kur came closer and closer still. Ereshkigal kept her ground, just waiting.

       So although he might think he was seizing her, indeed it was she who had captured him.

       To stretch his and her boundaries of being.

       Heart pounding, but keeping very still outwards,

       Ereshkigal felt her awareness grow as she experienced the wounds Kur had inside,

       his desire to belong anywhere, to fit in.

       Suddenly, she also realized how different she had always felt.

       Even from Enki and Enlil, whom she loved with all her heart, mind and soul,

       but who could never dive into the depths she longed to thread upon.

       Ereshkigal sighed deeply, and glanced into the distance for a brief moment,

         08-02-12/29 (Enlil & older 1/2 brother Enki carved into ancient city wall)

       in the direction where Enlil and Enki sure were.

       Maybe her Quest was another. She turned to Kur.

       ‘ What I will be from now on, I must discover’, was her cryptic reply to Kur’s unspoken question,

        but she knew he understood what she still was unable to say out loud.

          ‘It may be a long task,’ Kur replied.

         ‘Perhaps if I let each day bring what it has to offer, and see what I can do with what it brings,

       I will be able to accomplish something different.

       To learn something different and grow likewise. Will you do this with me?’

       Thoughtfully, but with an engaging smile, Ereshkigal stretched her hand to hold Kur’s scaly paw.

       Together, they crossed the threshold to the Underworld.

       Ereshkigal had always felt the pull to feel and experience the Unknown.

       Now she chose to go where no one had gone before,

       to stay in the uncharted realms of the Great Below, to fill up its Emptiness with her Being.

       Her voice then resonated loud and clear in all worlds of Creation,

       Heights Above, Middleworld, over the edge of the Earth and, for the first time, echoed in the Depths Below:

         ‘I claim the Realm of the Depths, the Underworld as my domain.’

       She had found her life’s Quest. Not looking back,

         (unidentified & Ninsun; Ereshkigal crossed the threshold & became “Queen of the Under World“)

       Ereshkigal crossed the threshold to the Below, never to come back.

Sumerian tablet of Ereshkigal

“how Ereshkigal chose the Underworld”

Earth’s Ancient History

A Website dedicated to Ancient Times

(Texts: All Artefacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

 

        1ae - Enlil, Babylonian (Enlil)

        After Ki, Mother Earth and Queen, was separated by Enlil, Lord Air,

           3 - Anu, father of the gods on Earth

                         (An / Anu)

        Master of Winds, their firstborn, from An (Anu), Sky father and King,

        and the primal Unity of Heaven and Earth was forever lost,

        in the Heights Above, An (Anu) wept for Ki,

        longing for her embrace and kiss.

        His heartfelt tears met Nammu the Sea.

        She reached out for the Sky Lord, and Mother

        and grieving son made for the first time sweet Love.

        From the mingling of their bodies a Boy and a Girl,

           2aa - Enki, found in Sin's temple at Khorsabad2 - Ereshkigal

        Divine Twins were born. Enki and Ereshkigal, they were called.

        As time went by, Ereshkigal and Enki grew with the blessings of Creation’s dawn.

        Curious and sometimes wise beyond their years,

        brother and sister played especially in the Watery Deep of Nammu the Sea.

        Enki would float here and there, whereas Ereshkigal swam and dived everywhere.

        ‘ Ereshkigal, I can’t see you! Come back to the surface, will you?

        Why do you have to hide within the waters

        when there is so much to see and do without?’ asked Enki with a sigh.

        ‘A rhetoric question, young brother, without doubt’,

        countered Enlil amusedly from the shore,

        where he kept watch over the Duku, the Holy Mound of Creation,

        and Mother Ki, (sometimes Antu, sometimes Ninhursag)

        his eyes gleaming with fond laughter.

        ‘Just let Ereshkigal be for a while.

        At least I could do without her whys and wherefores for a minute or so!’

 

        ‘ I heard you, Big Brother!’ replied Ereshkigal.

        She came out to the surface riding a wave,

        and immediately put all her efforts together

        to raise a mighty wall of splashing water towards the rock

        where Enlil watched over the Earth and Enki’s floating body.

        Both Enlil and Enki ran for cover.

        They were going to succeed and escape Ereshkigal’s watery rage… perhaps this time?

 

        “Not as yet”, thought Ereshkigal with a satisfied grin,

        dripping with water and as fresh as the purest springs

        of Mother Urash (sometimes Nammu, sometimes Ninhursag).

        She sat by Enlil’s and Enki’s feet.

 

        ‘ So I ask too many questions, brothers of mine? Of course I do!

        I want to Know and to Know I must ask first!

        At least this is what I feel it should be!’

        Ereshkigal ignored the resigned amusement of Enlil and Enki

        and proceeded with confidence:

        ‘ There is a whole world within the Sea and I suspect in everything there is.

        Moreover, there must be things beyond and below

        I feel I should know, and I will, one day.

        While you, Enlil, devise the Plans of Creation,

        and you, Enki, busy yourself with forms and shapes these plans may take without,

        I am concerned with the power within that binds these plans

        and images together in combinations of all sorts.

        I don’t know how to explain it, but I simply feel there is a refulgence within,

        there is a Pattern that binds words and shapes together, beings and things,

        and it is this pattern I want to know.

        I will know. I just need to find out how.‘

           2 - Enlil, chief god of All On Earth

        A fleeting shadow crossed Enlil’s smiling face.

          ‘I wish I saw things your way, Ereshkigal,

        just to understand and explain the unexplained.

        Take Kur, for example, and our dark little brothers and sisters

        who followed him to the land’s end.

        It is true Kur and the others looked different from us.

        But why did they leave the safety of the Duku, the mound of creation,

        why did they go beyond the Waters of Mother Nammu.’

 

         ‘ You are worrying about Kur and the Dark Guardians again, Enlil.

        Why don’t you take them and Kur for what they are?

        Whatever and wherever they are?’ asked Ereshkigal.

         ‘ Had you laid your eyes on Kur, you’d understand my concern.

        He and the others are different from us, from our younger sisters and brothers. ‘

         ‘ But why should we all be the same, Older Brother?

        Indeed, I believe we are all very, very different.

        In Form and Essence, despite some Resemblance in Appearance.

        I may be very wrong, Enlil, but I feel that if you keep fixing your eyes on but one thing,

        you’ll miss out what could be the other side of the same thing.

        Or person and being,’ remarked thoughtfully Ereshkigal.

 

        ‘ Wise words, little sister!

        The point is that I take my Guardianship over the Earth too serious,’ agreed Enlil.

        ‘But there is something odd I cannot understand about Kur.

        And I for sure wouldn’t like to visit the place where he chose to dwell either,

        at the entrance of the Underworld,’ countered Enlil.

 

         ‘ I am sort of curious about these unknowable things.

        And I don’t fear what I don’t know.

        Even this Kur you don’t understand, Enlil.

        Indeed, I am curious about Kur,’ replied Ereshkigal.

         ‘And where is this Underworld, by the way?’

 

         ‘ None have gone there yet’, answered Enki.

        ‘ It is beyond the edge of this world.

        Mother Nammu says that it spreads itself as deep below

        as the heights of Father An stretch above.’

 

        ‘ This sounds really interesting!

        A whole new realm nobody has been to

        or knows so much about!’ exclaimed Ereshkigal.

         ‘ O, sister, sometimes I wish you showed more respect for what you don’t know.

        Just for safety’s sake’, supplied Enki.

 

         ‘ I am careful. And Inquisitive and Curious.

         ’ In her mind, Ereshkigal added silently

       ” even about this mysterious Kur and the Underworld”.

 

        And so it was that Ereshkigal, the daughter of Nammu the Sea,

        born of the bittersweet loss that the Sky father felt for Ki (Ninhursag),

        twin Sister of Enki, (Ninhursag is Enki’s twin)

        grew with the Desire to Know the Unknown and Reveal Patterns Unseen.

        Everyday she would play with Enki, her Companion and Best of Friends,

        and pester Enlil with countless questions.

 

        Everyday Ereshkigal would dive into the deep waters of the Mother

        and swim longer distances to resurface energized,

        with more and more questions in her mind and a deeper resolve forming inside.

 

        One day, Ereshkigal chose not to return to the Middle world.

        This was the day she had found Kur (or he had found her perhaps?),

        and the little dark half brothers and sisters of theirs.

        They looked ugly and threatening, scattered over the edge of the world,

        at the entrance of the Underworld.

        They seemed to be lonely too, for all kept to their spaces,

        alone and isolated, but looking pretty menacing.

 

        Little dark half brothers and sisters ?,

        So this must be a “wrong” and other creation of her mother Nammu with another God,

        but maybe a experimental creation of the Gods.

 

        ” So much pain and loneliness, such rage and hunger for what they know not what.

        Such desire to belong, but they know not where or how” ,

        she thought, but didn’t say a word.

 

        Faithful to herself, Ereshkigal didn’t flinch at Kur’s features

        or at the misshapen faces of the dark little ones.

        Yes, he did not look like any of the other Anunnaki Ereshkigal knew very well,

        but this didn’t make him threatening to her.

        Kur was… different.

        Indeed, with his huge scaly body and wings, Primeval Snake and Dragon,

        Ereshkigal felt he was like the raw power of Mother Ninhursag-Ki (Ninhursag).

        A Beast, but she knew there was beauty within him…

        Still, Ereshkigal l felt no fear for the Unknown

        and a longing embrace it and make her it own.

 

         ‘ I am not afraid of you. Of any of you’ she said out loud, and she meant it.

        ‘ You are my half brother, Kur, and so are the dark little ones.

        And somehow I feel there is beauty within you all,

        even if you and others don’t have eyes to see. But I have.

        Dive into your Essence, brother,

        search for the seed that brought you, me and all into being.

        I also came from that seed.

        There you will find what unite us,

        what make us One of a Kind with the One who is All Kinds.’

 

        Thus she dived into the immensity of Kur’s anguish and loss,

        for she accepted Kur for what he was, ugliness, pain,

        rage and loneliness to find out his all whys.

 

         ‘ I vowed to challenge and fight to the very end

        all who dared to fare to the world’s end,’ said Kur.

 

          ‘ And I take up the Challenge,’ answered Ereshkigal.

          ‘But I’ve travelled long and far to come to you.

        You are a Challenge to me. I need to understand you.

        And myself along the process.’

 

        ” Why are you doing this?”

        Ereshkigal heard the question in her mind,

        as she held Kur closer and closer to her own self.

 

        ” I myself don’t know very well why, but I simply need to.

        Perhaps to grow in Understanding of who I am,

        of who and what you and your own are.

        To learn and Share, out of a Desire for Love and Healing

        that comes from the bottom of my heart, mind, body and Soul.

        And may this way, when I am wise about these things,

        may I perhaps earn my crown in a brand new Realm, ‘ she replied loud and clear.

 

        Kur’s features must have shown the equivalent to a smile,

        for his voice sounded also light-hearted and interested.

 

         ‘ You are strange, half sister. I won’t fight you… as yet.

        Tell me about this new realm

        where you want to conquer your crown,’ said Kur, his curiosity stirred.

 

         ‘ How… I still must find out. Where…’

        Ereshkigal turned round pointed at the distance,

        where the Unknown lied yet unexplored.

           4 - door to Ereshkigal's Underworld

         ‘ There,’ she said, ’the Unknown, the Underworld, the Depths Within,

        where Appearances don’t count, just Essence.

        Perhaps I’ll go further by going deeper. Who knows?’

 

        Kur came closer and closer still.

        Ereshkigal kept her ground, just waiting.

        So although he might think he was seizing her,

        indeed it was she who had captured him.

        To stretch his and her boundaries of being.

        Heart pounding, but keeping very still outwards,

        Ereshkigal felt her awareness grow as she experienced the wounds Kur had inside,

        his desire to belong anywhere, to fit in.

        Suddenly, she also realized how different she had always felt.

        Even from Enki and Enlil, whom she loved with all her heart, mind and soul,

        but who could never dive into the depths she longed to thread upon.

 

        Ereshkigal sighed deeply, and glanced into the distance for a brief moment,

        in the direction where Enlil and Enki sure were.

        Maybe her Quest was another. She turned to Kur.

 

         ‘ What I will be from now on, I must discover’,

        was her cryptic reply to Kur’s unspoken question,

        but she knew he understood what she still was unable to say out loud.

 

         ‘ It may be a long task,’ Kur replied.

 

         ‘ Perhaps if I let each day bring what it has to offer,

        and see what I can do with what it brings,

        I will be able to accomplish something different.

        To learn something different and grow likewise.

        Will you do this with me?’

 

        Thoughtfully, but with an engaging smile,

        Ereshkigal stretched her hand to hold Kur’s scaly paw.

        Together, they crossed the threshold to the Underworld.

 

        Ereshkigal had always felt the pull to feel and experience the Unknown.

        Now she chose to go where no one had gone before,

        to stay in the uncharted realms of the Great Below,

        to fill up its Emptiness with her Being.

        Her voice then resonated loud and clear in all worlds of Creation,

        Heights Above, Middle world, over the edge of the Earth and,

        for the first time, echoed in the Depths Below:

         ‘ I claim the Realm of the Depths, the Underworld as my domain.’

          4d - Ninlil followed Enlil to Ereshkigal's Underworld (Ereskigal in the Underworld)

        She had found her life’s Quest.

        Not looking back, Ereshkigal crossed the threshold to the Below, never to come back.

Namtar Quotes From Texts

Namtar = Ereshkigal‘s son

Gatekeeper to the Underworld, Messenger God for the Goddess Ereshkigal

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

(Enki‘s & Ninhursag’s creation = Enkidu)

 

At each of the seven gates, one of Inanna’s accoutrements and weapons was from her removed, Then, unclothed and powerless before Ereshkigal’s throne, Of scheming an heir by Nergal, Dumuzi’s brother, she was accused! Trembling with fury, Ereshkigal to her sister’s explanations would not listen.

         “Let loose against her the sixty diseases!

         Ereshkigal her vizier, Namtar, in anger ordered …”

 

To Namtar (Ereshkigal‘s son & vizier), who decrees all the fates,

in his palace, the shepherd Ur-Namma offered perfectly wrought jewelery,

a golden ring cast (?) as a …… barge, …”

 

To Hucbisag, the wife of Namtar, in her palace, …”

 

When before Ereshkigal they came, Ereshkigal by their appearance was puzzled:

Are you Anunnaki? Are you Earthlings?

With bewilderment she asked them.

Namtar the magical weapons of power against them directed, but unharmed the two were.

To the lifeless body of Inanna he took them, hanging from a stake she was …”

 

         “SukkalNamtar, the young woman from the Worlds Above requests to be seen by the Great Queen,’

         provided Neti. Namtar nodded and appraised Ninlil with cold  assurance …”

 

         “Follow me,’ Namtar answered after a time that looked like eternity. …”

 

         “is it your will to get into the domains of the Great Queen Ereshkigal?’ asked quietly Namtar …”

 

        “Ninlil followed Namtar across the silent courtyard, countless passageways, chambers and staircases.

        Finally, they stopped in the Grand Hall. Namtar bowed deeply.

        Ninlil wisely imitated him before raising her eyes and to see what laid before her eyes. …”

 

        “Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake, she addressed her words to her vizier Namtar,

        ‘O Namtar my vizier, I shall send you to the heaven of our father Anu.

        Namtar, go up the long stairway of heaven.

        Take from the table and accept a present for me.

        Whatever Anu gives to you, you must present to me.’ …”

 

        “The evil demons and the evil demonesses who beset mankind,

        Dim-me and Dim- mea who enter by night, Namtar and Asag who will not leave a man alone, …”

 

         “But Enkidu answered Gilgamesh:

She the tallest who discriminates not,

She Namtar, awful Fate,

She will devour.

          Namtar knows no distinctions. …”

Minor Gods Related to Ereshkigal Quotes From Texts

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal)

 

Neti Quote From Text

Neti = Ereshkigal’s Gatekeeper in the Under World

 

        “Sooner than Ninlil expected, a stern gate towered over her,

          opened by an even sterner gatekeeper holding a torch upright.

         He was Neti, she was told, Ereshkigal’s guardian of the Underworld thresholds.

         This time, she was sure, the Guardian had not been Enlil in disguise.

         Eyes were not light of color, there were no emotions on sight, just impartiality and efficiency.

         Six other gates succeeded the first with a speed she found difficult to believe,

         for a feeling of disorientation took hold of her,

          as if she were going deeper and deeper within layers and layers of existence, her own and many others.

          The strong, soul-baring feeling only subsided when she crossed the seventh gate,

          when another even more serious face greeted her and Neti.

Sukkal Namtar (Ninlil), the young woman from the Worlds Above

requests to be seen by the Great Queen,’ provided Neti.

Namtar (Ereshkigal’s son) nodded and appraised Ninlil with cold assurance.

She felt like shrinking before such knowing gaze, but held her ground.

‘Since you’ve come this far, it is fitting that you are given the chance to see Queen …

and see whether you can conquer her graces!

Follow me,’ Namtar answered after a time that looked like eternity …”

 

Namtar Quotes From Texts

Namtar = Ereshkigal’s Son & Vizier

Gatekeeper to the Under World, Messenger God for Ereshkigal

 

At each of the seven gates, one of Inanna’s accoutrements and weapons was from her removed, Then, unclothed and powerless before Ereshkigal’s throne, Of scheming an heir by Nergal, Dumuzi’s brother, she was accused! Trembling with fury, Ereshkigal to her sister’s explanations would not listen.

         “’Let loose against her the sixty diseases!’

         Ereshkigal her vizier, Namtar, in anger ordered …”

 

         To Namtar, who decrees all the fates,

         in his palace, the shepherd Ur-Namma offered perfectly wrought jewelery,

         a golden ring cast (?) as a …… barge,..

         To Hucbisag, the wife of Namtar, in her palace,

         the shepherd Ur-Namma offered a chest (?) with a lapis-lazuli handle,

         containing (?) everything that is essential in the underworld,

         a silver hair clasp adorned with lapis-lazuli, and a comb of womanly fashion …”

 

         “When before Ereshkigal they came, Ereshkigal by their appearance was puzzled:

         Are you Anunnaki? Are you Earthlings?

         With bewilderment she asked them.

         Namtar the magical weapons of power against them directed, but unharmed the two were.

         To the lifeless body of Inanna he took them, hanging from a stake she was …”

 

         Sukkal Namtar, the young woman from the Worlds Above

         requests to be seen by the Great Queen,’ provided Neti.

         Namtar nodded and appraised Ninlil with cold assurance …”

 

         “’Follow me,’ Namtar answered after a time that looked like eternity …

         ‘is it your will to get into the domains of the Great Queen Ereshkigal?’ asked quietly Namtar …”

         

         Ninlil followed Namtar across the silent courtyard, countless passageways, chambers and staircases.

         Finally, they stopped in the Grand Hall. Namtar bowed deeply.

         Ninlil wisely imitated him before raising her eyes and to see what laid before her eyes …”

 

         Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake, she addressed her words to her vizier Namtar,

         ‘O Namtar my vizier, I shall send you to the heaven of our father Anu.

         Namtar, go up the long stairway of heaven.

         Take from the table and accept a present for me.

         Whatever Anu gives to you, you must present to me’ …”

 

         Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake,

         Addressed her words to Namtar her vizier, ‘Go, Namtar, you must speak to Anu, Ellil, and Ea!

         Set your face towards the gate of Anu, Ellil, and Ea,’ …”

 

       “The evil demons and the evil demonesses who beset mankind,

       Dim-me and Dim-mea who enter by night, Namtar and Asag who will not leave a man alone, …”

 

         Enkidu went down to retrieve them but the nether world has seized him.

         Namtar did not seize him, the Asag did not seize him; but the nether world has seized him.

         The udug demon of Nergal, who spares nobody,

         did not seize him, but the nether world has seized him …”

 

         Namtar with no hands or feet takes away …….”

 

         Ninazu Quotes From Texts

Ninazu – Son to Ereshkigal Some Texts, Son to Enlil Some Texts

Spouse to Ninsutu

 

As Ereshkigal’s son:

         To Ereckigala (Ereshkigal), the mother of Ninazu, …”

 

         “Praise be to Enki. Ninjiczida (Ningishzidda), son of Ninazu! …”

 

         “’She who lies there, she who lies there, Ninazu’s (Ereshkigal’s son) mother who lies there —

         her pure shoulders are not covered with a garment, and no linen is spread over her pure breast.

         She has fingers like a pickaxe, she plucks her hair out like leeks.’ …”

 

As Enlil’s son:

         “made love with her, kissed her; and at his lovemaking, at his first kiss,

        he poured into the womb for her the sperm, germ of Ninazu, owner of the temple manor Egida! ..”.

 

         Ninazu dines on your platform.

       Your sovereign, the great lord, the son of Enlil,…

         The true seed born of the Great Mountain and Ninlil,

         your sovereign, the warrior Ninazu, has erected a house in your precinct,

         O E-sikil, O Ešnunna, and taken his seat upon your dais, the house of Ninazu in Ešnunna …”

 

         Ninazu of the words of prayer, has erected a house in your precinct,

         O house Enegir, and taken his seat upon your dais, the house of Ninazu in Enegir …”

 

         (Culgi speaks:)

         Seed placed by the prince in the holy womb, born on the bright mountain,

         Ninazu, who like a wild bull which lows in its drinking,’

         8 lines missing or unclear

         (Ninazu speaks:)

         ‘…… like syrup …… ghee …….

         You, the hero, coming from the rebel land …….

         O king, the lord of prayers and supplications has chosen you in his heart;

         shepherd Culgi, the lord of prayers and supplications has chosen you in his heart.

         Who can rival (?) a king to whom Enlil has given strength?’ …”

 

         Then Ninazu ……, and said to his brother Ninmada:

         ‘Let us go to the mountain, to the mountain where barley and flax grow;

         …… the rolling river, where the water wells up from the earth.

         Let us fetch the barley down from its mountain, let us introduce the innuha barley into Sumer.

         Let us make barley known in Sumer, which knows no barley.’

         Ninmada, the worshiper of An (Anu), replied to him:

         ‘Since our father has not given the command,

         since Enlil has not given the command, how can we go there to the mountain?’ …”

Cultivated cereals by Ninmada in Sumer, they genetically altered grains from Nibiru (hemp, wheat, barley), mountain strains to valley strains, etc.

 

         Ninazu deposited his weapon in a corner in the E-gida …”

 

         “’Lay with me, lady Air (Ninlil), and share a night of passion by the cataract.

         I need your care to guide me through this lonely night.’…

         ‘Will you carry me afterwards, as you did… to Enlil?’

         Yes’. ‘This seed of yours, I’ll call him Ninazu, the Water-Knower, Lord of the Depths that Heal.

         His will be the knowledge to wound too, because healing and wounding are two sides of the same coin’ …”

 

         Let Ninsutu marry Ninazu; …”

 

         Ningiriudu shall marry Ninazu, …”

         

Ninsutu Quotes From Texts

Ninsutu / Ningiriudu /Ninjirida / Ningirida = Enki & Ninhursag’s daughter via Uttu

Ninazu’s spouse

 

As Ninsutu:

       “’Where else do you hurt, dearest (Enki)?’

       ‘My tooth hurts me.’

       ‘To the goddess Ninsutu

       I (Ninhursag) have given birth for you to set your tooth free’ …”

 

       “Let Ninsutu marry Ninazu; …”

 

As Ningirida / Ningiriudu:

          “Ninjiczida (Ningishzidda), who brings together giant snakes and dragons!

          Great wild bull who, in the murderous battle, is a flood that ……!

          Beloved by his mother, he to whom Ningirida gave birth from her luxurious body,

          who drank the good milk at her holy breast, who sucked in lion’s spittle, who grew up in the abzu! …’

            ‘Praise be to Enki. Ninjiczida, son of Ninazu!’ …”

 

Lady Ningirida, say to you: ‘Your house, your city!’

as she steps before you in prayer, god of the Land, my lord Ninazu! …“

 

Enegir lay ahead of the offerings, Urim lay behind them

She brought out of the house what should not come out of the house, what should not come out of the house —

Ningirida (Ninazu’s spouse) brought out of the house what should not come out of the house:

‘Welcome, welcome, welcome o boat!

O boat of Suen, welcome, welcome o boat!’

She laid out flour before the barge and spread bran.

At her feet stood a covered bronze gakkul vat.

(1 ms. adds 1 line:With her fingers she pulled out the boxwood bung (?) for him (declaring):)

‘I shall rub precious oil on this peg.

May ghee, syrup and wine be abundant in your midst,

may the suhur carp and the ectub carp rejoice at the prow of your boat!’

         But the boat did not give her its cargo: ‘I am going to Nibru!’ …”

        

        Ningiriudu shall marry Ninazu, …”

 

(Ninhursag speaking:) “‘My brother, what part of you hurts you?’

(Enki) ‘My nose (giri) hurts me.’

         She gave birth to Ningiriudu out of it …”

 

Nimada Quotes From Texts

Nimada = Enlil’s Son in Some Texts

Nimada = Ereshkigal’s Son in Some Texts

 

         “Then Ninazu (son of Enlil sometimes, son of Ereshkigal sometimes)……, and said to his brother Ninmada:…

         ‘Let us fetch the barley down from its mountain, let us introduce the innuha barley into Sumer.

         Let us make barley known in Sumer, which knows no barley’. …”

        

         “Ninmada, the worshipper of An (Anu), replied to him:

‘Since our father has not given the command, since Enlil has not given the command,

how can we go there to the mountain?

         How can we bring down the barley from its mountain?’ …”

 

         “Let Ninmah (Ninhursag) act as your assistant;

         and let Ninimma, Cu-zi-ana, Ninmada, Ninbarag, Ninmug,

         …… and Ninguna stand by as you give birth …”

 

Belit-Seri Quote From Text

Belit-SeriEreshkigal’s Scribe


And also Ereshkigal, who is the Queen of the Underworld.

Belit-Seri, her scribe, kneels before here.

And she reads out from a tablet to her.

She, the scribe, lifts her head, sees me and says:

‘Who brought this one? ‘…”

Ninĝišzida’s Journey to the Nether World

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breeds in teal)

1-3. “Arise and get on board, arise, we are about to sail, arise and get on board!” —

Woe, weep for the bright daylight, as the barge is steered away! —

“I am a young man! Let me not be covered against my wishes by a cabin,

as if with a blanket, as if with a blanket!”

4-10. Stretching out a hand to the barge, to the young man being steered away on the barge,

stretching out a hand to {my young man Damu (Bau‘s son)

2 - Ningishzidda, younger son to Enki, son to Ereshkigal (Ningishzidda, son to Enki & Ningiridu, god of knowledge)

{(1 ms. has instead:) Lord Ninĝišzida} (Ningishzidda) being taken away on the barge,

  (thousands of artifacts discovered in Lagash, Ninurta‘s patron city)

stretching out a hand to Ištaran (Ninurta) of the bright visage being taken away on the barge,

2a-utu-shamash-twin-to-inanna  (Utu / Alla, Sun god, son to Nannar the moon crescent god of Biblical Abraham in Ur)

stretching out a hand to Alla (Utu), master of the battle-net, being taken away on the barge,

stretching out a hand to Lugal-šud-e (unidentified?) being taken away on the barge,

stretching out a hand to Ninĝišzida (Ningishzidda) being taken away on the barge —

his younger sister was crying in lament to him in {the boat’s cabin}

{(1 ms. has instead:) the cabin at the boat’s bow}.

11-12. His older sister removed the cover (?) from {the boat’s cabin}

{(1 ms. has instead:) the cabin at the boat’s stern}:

“Let me sail away with you, let me sail away with you, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

{(2 mss. add 1 line:)

My brother, let me sail on your barge with you, my brother, let me sail away with you.

{(1 ms. adds 1 further line:)

Let me sail on your splendid barge with you, my brother, let me sail away with you.}}”

13-14. She was crying a lament to him at the boat’s bow: ”

{Brother} {(1 ms. has instead:) My brother}, let me sail away with you.

Let me …… for you in your boat’s stern, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.”

{(1 ms. adds 2 lines:) “The gudug priest sits in the cabin at your boat’s stern.”

She was crying a lament to him:

“Let me sail away with you, my brother, let me sail away with you.”}

2-bau-gives-medical-attention  (Dr. Damu, his patient, & Damu‘s mother Bau with her guard dog)

15-19. “My young man Damu (Bau‘s son), let me sail away with you, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

  (Ninurta, son to Enlil & Ninhursag, born of the Anunnaki “double seed” law of royal succession)

Ištaran (Ninurta) of the bright visage, let me sail away with you, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

5b-utu-ur-nammu-law-code  (giant alien god Utu & his wheel of justice, the alien way)

Alla (Utu), master of the battle-net, let me sail away with you, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

Lugal-šud-e, let me sail away with you, {brother}

{(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

{(1 ms. adds 1 line:) Lugal-ki-bura (unidentified?), let me sail away with you,

my brother, let me sail away with you.}

2a - Ningishzidda, Master Builder, foundation peg  (giant Ningishzidda laid the foundation pegs to the ziggurats & pyramids found everywhere on Earth)

Ninĝišzida, let me sail away with you, {brother} {(1 ms. has instead:) my brother}, let me sail away with you.

{(1 ms. adds 2 lines:)

My brother, let me sail on your barge with you, my brother, let me sail away with you.

Let me sail on your splendid barge with you, my brother, let me sail away with you.}”

20-28. The evil demon who was in their midst called out to {Lugal-ki-suna} {(2 mss. have instead:) Ninĝišzida}:

{Lugal-ki-suna} {(1 ms. has instead:) Lugal-ki-bura}, look at your sister!”

Having looked at his sister, {Lugal-ki-suna} {(1 ms. has instead:) Lugal-ki-bura} said to her:

“He sails with me, he sails with me.

Why should you sail {(1 ms. adds:) to the underworld}?

Lady, the demon sails with me.

Why should you sail {(1 ms. adds:) to the underworld}?

The thresher sails with me.

Why should you sail {(1 ms. adds:) to the underworld}?

The man who has bound my hands sails with me.

Why should you sail?

The man who has tied my arms sails with me.

Why should you sail?”

29-37. “The river of the nether world produces no water, no water is drunk from it.

{(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?}

The fields of the nether world produce no grain, no flour is eaten from it.

{(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?}

The sheep of the nether world produce no wool, no cloth is woven from it.

{(1 ms. adds:) Why should you sail?}

As for me, even if my mother digs as if for a canal,

I shall not be able to drink the water meant for me.

The waters of springtime will not be poured for me as they are for the tamarisks;

I shall not sit in the shade intended for me.

The dates I should bear like a date palm will not reveal (?) their beauty for me.

I am a field threshed by my demon — you would scream at it.

He has put manacles on my hands — you would scream at it.

2a-dumuzi-the-shepherd-adam-eve  (Dumuzi the Shepherd with manacles on his hands & feet)

He has put a neck-stock on my neck — you would scream at it.”

38-44. Ama-šilama (Ninĝišzida‘s sister) said to Ninĝišzida:

“The ill-intentioned demon may accept something — there should be a limit to it for you.

My brother, your demon may accept something, there should be a limit to it for you.

For him let me …… from my hand the ……, there should be a limit to it for you.

For him let me …… from my hand the ……, there should be a limit to it for you.

For him let me …… from my hips the dainty lapis lazuli beads, there should be a limit to it for you.

For him let me …… from my hips the …… my lapis lazuli beads, there should be a limit to it for you.”

45-49. “You are a beloved ……, there should be a limit to it for you.

How they treat you, how they treat you! — there should be a limit to it for you.

My brother, how they treat you, how haughtily they treat you! — there should be a limit to it for you.

“I am hungry, but the bread has slipped away from me!” — there should be a limit to it for you.

“I am thirsty, but the water has slipped away from me!” – there should be a limit to it for you.”

50-54. The evil demon who was in their midst,

the clever demon, that great demon who was in their midst,

called out to the man at the boat’s bow and to the man at the boat’s stern:

“Don’t let the mooring stake be pulled out, don’t let the mooring stake be pulled out,

so that she may come on board to her brother, that this lady may come on board the barge.”

55-62. When Ama-šilama had gone on board the barge,

a cry approached the heavens, a cry approached the earth,

that great demon set up an enveloping cry before him on the river:

Urim (Ur), at my cry to the heavens lock your houses, lock your houses, city, lock your houses!

3d - Nannar's Ziggourat-Temple in Ur (Nannar‘s ziggurat temple residence in Ur)

Shrine Urim, lock your houses, city, lock your houses!

Against your lord who has left the ĝipar, city, lock your houses!”

1 line fragmentary

approx. 1 line missing

64-69. 2 lines fragmentary

…… a holy scepter.

…… a holy robe of office.

…… a holy crown.

…… a lapis-lazuli scepter.

70-75. He …… to the empty river, the rejoicing (?) river:

“You (addressing Ama-šilima) shall not draw near to this house, …….

…… to the place of Ereškigala (Ereshkigal).

My mother …… out of her love.

As for you (addressing the demon), you may be a great demon ……,

…… your hand against the nether world‘s office of throne-bearer.”

76-81. “My king will no longer shed tears in his eyes.

The drum will …… his joy in tears.

Come! May the fowler utter a lament for you in his well-stocked house, lord, may he utter a lament for you.

How he has been humiliated!

May the young fisherman utter a lament for you in his well-stocked house,

lord, may he utter a lament for you.

How he has been humiliated!

May the mother of the dead gudug priest {utter a lament for you in her empty ĝipar}

{( 1 ms. has instead:) , on whom the house of the palace looked with envy (?)},

utter a lament for you, lord, may she utter a lament for you.

How he has been humiliated!

May the mother high priestess utter a lament {for you who have left the ĝipar}

{(1 ms. has instead:) for you, now dead, who used to be in your ĝipar}, lord, may she utter a lament for you.

How he has been humiliated!”

82-89. “My king, bathe with water your head that has rolled in the dust.

…… in sandals your feet defiled from the defiled place.”

The king bathed with water his head that had rolled in the dust.

…… in sandals his feet defiled from the defiled place.

“Not drawing near to this house, ……. …… your throne …… to you “Sit down”.

May your bed …… to you “Lie down”.”

He ate food in his mouth, he drank choice wine.

       Great holy one,

         (Ereshkigal, Queen of the Under World)

       Ereškigala, praising you is sweet.

Nergal and Ereshkigal

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

3a - Anu in flight  (Sky Father Anu in his winged sky-disc;  Enlil, father King Anu, & brother Enki in another disc)

Anu made his voice heard and spoke, he addressed his words to Kakka,

Kakka, I shall send you to Kurnugi.

You must speak thus to Ereshkigal,

Saying, ‘It is impossible for you to come up.

In your year you cannot come up to see us

And it is impossible for us to go down.

In our months we cannot go down to see you.

Let your messenger come

And take from the table, let him accept a present for you.

I shall give something to him to present to you.'”

Kakka went down the long stairway of heaven.

4 - door to Ereshkigal's Underworld (“stairway of heaven”; gate to domain of Ereshkigal, the Under World / Nether World)

When he reached the gate of Ereshkigal, he said,

“Gatekeeper, open the gate to me!”

Kakka, come in, and may the gate bless you.”

He let the god Kakka in through the first gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the second gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the third gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the fourth gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the fifth gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the sixth gate,

He let the god Kakka in through the seventh gate.

He entered into her spacious courtyard,

He knelt down and kissed the ground in front of her.

He straightened up, stood and addressed her,

Anu your father sent me

To say, ‘It is impossible for you to go up;

In your year you cannot go up to see us,

And it is impossible for us to go down;

In our month we cannot go down to see you.

Let your messenger come

And take from the table, let him accept a present for you.

I shall give something to him to present to you,”‘

2a - Ereshkigal, Nannar's Daughter (Ereshkigal seated upon her throne, Queen of the Under World)

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake, she addressed her words to Kakka.

“O messenger of Anu our father, you who have come to us,

6-anu-above-enlil-enki (eagle-headed & winged Apkulla / pilot, son Enki, father in heaven King Anu in his sky-disc, son Enlil, the 3 main giant gods ruling Earth Colony, & another Apkulla, minor god & pilot)

May peace be with Anu, Ellil (Enlil), and Ea (Enki), the great gods.

May peace be with Nammu (Bau‘s mother) and Nash (Bau / Guda), the pure Goddesses.

1c - Gula, Anu's daughter, Ninurta's spouse (Royal Princess Bau / Nash, daughter to King Anu, medical doctor, prison warden, etc.)

May peace be with the husband of the Lady of Heaven.

May peace be with Ninurta, champion in the land.”

Kakka made his voice heard and spake, he addressed his words to Ereshkigal,

“Peace is indeed with Anu, Ellil, and Ea (Enki), the great gods.

Peace is indeed with Nammu (Bau’s mother) and Nash the pure.

Peace is indeed with the husband of the Lady of Heaven.

 (Ninurta, son to Enlil & Enlil‘s 1/2 sister Ninhursag, “double seed” heir to Enlil)

Peace is indeed with Ninurta, champion in the land.”

Kakka made his voice heard and spake, he addressed his words to Ereshkigal,

“[ ] may be well with you.”

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake, she addressed her words to her vizier Namtar,

“O Namtar my vizier, I shall send you to the heaven of our father Anu.

2l - Uruk as Was  (re-creation of Anu‘s ziggurat residence in Uruk, stairway to god)

Namtar, go up the long stairway of heaven.

Take from the table and accept a present for me.

Whatever Anu gives to you, you must present to me.”

(about 26 lines missing)

(Ea addresses Nergal)

“[ ]

[ ] path [ ]

The gods are kneeling together before him.

The great gods, the lords of destiny.

For it is he who controls the rites, controls the rites of [ ]

The gods who dwell within Erkalla (Ereshkigal‘s temple residence in Under World).

Why do you not kneel before him?

I keep winking at you,

But you pretend no to realize,

And…”

(6 lines missing)

(Nergal addresses Ea– apparently expressing a wish to visit Ereshkigal)

“[ ] I will rise to my feet

[ ] you said.

[ ] will double it.”

3b - Enki image (Ea / Enki, King Anu‘s eldest & wisest son, 1st to land on Earth with his crew of 50)

When Ea heard this he said to himself, “[ ]”

Then Ea made his voice heard and spake, he addressed his words to Nergal.

“My son, you shall go on the journey you want to make, … grasp a sword in your hand.

Go down to the forest of mesu trees.

Cut down mesu trees, tiaru trees, and juniper!

Break off kanaktu trees and simberru trees.”

2b - Nergal, god of the Underworld (Nergal, Enki‘s son, Anunnaki Lord of the Under World, nuclear destroyer of mountains, cities, etc.)

When Nergal heard this, he took an ax up in his hand,

Drew the sword from his belt,

Went down to the forest of mesu trees,

Cut down mesu trees, tiaru trees, and juniper,

Broke off kanaktu trees and simberru trees, [ ] he made a throne for far-sighted Ea.

He painted it with [ ] as a substitute for silver,

Painted it with yellow paste and red paste as a substitute for gold,

Painted it with blue glaze as a substitute for lapis lazuli.

The work was finished, the chair complete.

Then he (Ea) called out and laid down instructions for him,

My son (of Enki‘s), about the journey which you want to make: from the moment you arrive,

Follow whatever instructions I give you.

From the moment they bring a chair to you,

Do not go to it, do not sit upon it.

When the baker brings you bread, do not go to it, do not eat the bread.

When the butcher brings you meat, do not go to it, do not eat the meat.

When the brewer brings you beer, do not go to it, do not drink the beer.

When they bring you a foot bath, do not go to it, do not wash your feet.

 (Ereshkigal, some texts daughter to Anu, some texts daughter to Nannar)

When she (Ereshkigal) has been to the bath

And dressed herself in a fine robe,

Allowing you to glimpse her body…

You must not do that which men and women do.”

Nergal set his face toward Kurnugi,

To the dark house, dwelling of Erkalla’s god,

To the house which those who enter cannot leave,

On the road where traveling is one way only,

To the house where those who enter are deprived of light,

Where dust is their food, clay their bread.

They are clothed, like birds, with feathers.

They see no light, the dwell in darkness.

They moan like doves.

          The gatekeeper opened his mouth and addressed his words to Nergal,

“I must take back a report about the god standing at the door.”

  (Eeshkigal, naked sister Inanna, & gatekeeper Namtar)

The gatekeeper entered and addressed his words to Ereshkigal,

“May lady, a [ ] has come to see us.

[ ] will identify him.”

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake to Namtar, “[ ]”

(Namtar replies)

“Let me identify him,

Let me … him at the outer gate.

Let me bring back to my lord a description of him.”

2f - Nergal (Nergal, alien who teamed up with Ninurta to nuclear strike Marduk & sons)

Namtar went and looked at Erra (Nergal) in the shadow of the door.

Namtar‘s face went as livid as cut tamarisk.

His lips grew dark as the rim of a kuninu vessle.

Namtar went and addressed his lady,

“My lady, when you sent me to your father,

When I entered the courtyard of Anu

All the gods were kneeling, humbled before him,

All the gods of the land were kneeling humbled before him.

The gods rose to their feet in my presence.

Now ‘they’ (Nergal) have gone down to Kurnugi.”

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake, she addressed her words to Namtar,

“My dear Namtar, you should not seek Ellil power,

Nor should you desire to do heroic deeds.

What, come up and sit on the throne of the royal dais?

You, perform the judgments of the broad Earth?

  (alien Anunnaki King Anu in his winged sky-disc, father in heaven / planet Nibiru to Royal Prince-Leaders Enki & Enlil, tasked by Anu to colonize the Earth, generations of them were then born on Earth, each wanting controls over earthlings)

Should I go up to the heaven of Anu my father?

Should I eat the bread of the Anunnaki?

Should I drink the water of the Anunnaki?

Go and bring the god into my presence!”

Namtar went and let in ‘the Gods’, Erra (Nergal).

He let Nergal in through the first, the gate of Nedu.

He let Nergal in through the second, the gate of Enkishar.

He let Nergal in through the third, the gate of Endashurimma.

He let Nergal in through the fourth, the gate of Enuralla.

He let Nergal in through the fifth, the gate of Endukuga.

He let Nergal in through the sixth, the gate of Endushuba.

He let Nergal in through the seventh, the gate (Earth is 7 planets away from Anunnaki planet Nibiru) of Ennugigi.

He came into the broad courtyard,

And he knelt down, kissed the ground in front of her.

He straightened up, stood and addressed her,

Anu your father sent me to see you,

Saying, ‘Sit down on that throne,

Judge the cases of the great gods,

The great gods who live within Erkalla!'”

As soon as they brought him to a throne

He did not go to it, and did not sit on it.

When the baker brought him bread, he did not go to it, and did not eat the bread.

When the butcher brought him mean, he did not go to it, and did not eat the meat.

When the brewer brought him beer, he did not go to it, and did not drink the beer.

When they brought him a footbath, he did not go to it, and did not wash his feet.

When she went to the bath,

And dressed herself in a fine robe,

And allowed him to catch a glimpse of her body,

He resisted his heart’s desire to do what men and women do.

(about 13 lines missing)

Nergal [ ]

She went to the bath

And dressed in a fine robe, and allowed him to catch a glimpse of her body.

He gave in to his heart’s desire to do what men and women do.

The two embraced each other

And went passionately to bed.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a first day and a second day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a third day and a fourth day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a fifth day and a sixth day.

When the seventh day arrived,

Nergal, without [ ]

Took away after him [ ] “let me go, and my sister [ ]

Do not make tremble [ ]

Let me go now, and I will return to Kurnugi later.”

Her mouth turned dark with rage [ ]

inergal001p1 (warrior god Nergal, some texts Enlil‘s son, some texts Enki‘s son)

Nergal went and made his voice heard and spake.

He addressed his speech to the gatekeeper,

Ereshkigal your lady sent me,

Saying, ‘I am sending you to the heaven of Anu our father’

So let me be allowed out! The message [ ].”

Nergal came up along the long stairway of heaven.

4a - Anu flanked by Enki & Enlil (gate of heaven with King Anu on his throne over entire planet of Nibiru)

When he arrived at the gate of Anu, Ellil (Enlil), and Ea (Enki), Anu, Ellil, and Ea saw him and said,

The son of Ishtar (Inanna) has come back to us,

She (Ereshkigal) will search for him and [ ].

Ea his father must sprinkle him with spring water, and bareheaded,

Blinking and cringing let him sit in the assembly of the gods.”

Ereshkigal [ ]

To the bath [ ]

Her body [ ]

She called out [ ]

“The chair [ ]

Sprinkle the room with the water of [ ]

Sprinkle the room with the water of [ ]

Sprinkle the room with the water of [ ]

              (Lamatsu / Lamashtu, alien demon)

The [ ] of the two daughters of Lamashtu (demon) and Enmesharra (Enmecara, Enlil’s uncle),

Sprinkle with the waters of [ ].

The messenger of Anu our father who came to see us

Shall eat our bread and drink our water.”

Namtar made his voice heard and spake,

Addressed his words to Ereshkigal his lady,

“The messenger of Anu our father who came to see us-

Before daylight he disappeared!”

Ereshkigal cried aloud, grievously,

Fell from the throne to the ground,

Then straightened up from the ground.

Her tears flowed down her cheeks.

Erra (Nergal), the lover of my delightI did not have enough delight with him before he left!

Erra, the love of my delight- I did not have enough delight with him before he left.”

Namtar made his voice heard and spake, addressed his words to Ereshkigal,

“Send me to Anu your father, and let me arrest the god!

Let me take him to you, that he may kiss you again!”

Ereshkigal made her voice heard and spake,

Addressed her words to Namtar her vizier,

“Go, Namtar, you must speak to Anu, Ellil (Enlil), and Ea!

3b-anu-of-planet-nibiru1ae-enlil-babylonian 2aa-enki-found-in-sins-temple-at-khorsabad (King Anu, son & heir Prince Enlil, & eldest son Prince Enki)

Set your face towards the gate of Anu, Ellil, and Ea,

To say, ‘Ever since I was a child and a daughter,

I have not known the playing of other girls,

I have not known the romping of children.

That god whom you sent to me and who has impregnated me- let him sleep with me again!

Send that god to us, and let him spend the night with me as my lover!

I am unclean, and I am not pure enough to perform the judging of the great gods,

The great gods who dwell within Erkalla.

If you do not send that god to me

According to the rites of Erkalla (Ereshkigal‘s residence in Under World) and the great Earth

I shall raise up the dead, and they will eat the living.

I shall make the dead outnumber the living!'”

Namtar came up the long stairway of heaven.

When he arrived at the gate of Anu, Ellil, and Ea,

Anu, Ellil, and Ea saw him and said,

“What have you come for, Namtar?”

“Your daughter sent me,

To say, ‘Ever since I was a child and a daughter,

I have not known the playing of other girls,

I have not known the romping of children.

That god whom you sent to me and who has impregnated me- let him sleep with me again!

Send that god to us, and let him spend the night with me as my lover!

I am unclean, and I am not pure enough to perform the judging of the great gods,

The great gods who dwell within Erkalla.

If you do not send that god to me

According to the rites of Erkalla and the great Earth I shall raise up the dead, and they will eat the living.

I shall make the dead outnumber the living!'”

2a - Enki keeper of the MUs-knowledge disks (Enki, wisest god who could save Anunnaki lives, could enter & safely leave the Under World)

Ea made his voice heard and spake, addressed his words to Namtar,

“Enter, Namtar, the court of Anu,

Search out your wrongdoer and bring him!”

When he entered the court of Anu,

All the gods were kneeling humbly before him,

All the gods of the land were kneeling humbled before him.

1f-gods-in-procession  (alien Anunnaki royal descendants of King Anu on Earth)

He went straight up to one, but did not recognize that god,

Went straight up to a second and a third, but did not recognize that god either.

Namtar went, and addressed his words to his lady,

“My lady, about your sending me up to the heaven of Anu your father:

May lady, there was only one god who sat bareheaded, blinking, and cringing at the assembly of the gods.”

“Go, seize that god and bring him to me!

Ea his father sprinkled him with spring water,

And he is sitting in the assembly of all the gods bareheaded, blinking, and cringing.”

Namtar came up the long stairway of heaven.

4-anus-abode-on-nibiru-heaven  (gate of King Anu, Apkulla / pilots, & many symbols of certain gods)

When he reached the gate of Anu, Ellil, and Ea, Anu, Ellil, and Ea saw him and said,

“What have you come for, Namtar?”

“Your daughter sent me,

To say, ‘Seize that god and bring him to me.'”

“Then enter, Namtar, the courtyard of Anu, and search out your wrongdoer and take him.”

He went straight up to one god, but did not recognize him,

Went straight up to a second and third, but did not recognize him either.

Then [ ] made his voice heard and spake, addressed his words to Ea,

“Let Namtar, the messenger who has come to us,

Drink our water, wash, and anoint himself.”

(15 lines missing)

“He is not to strip off [ ] Erra,

[ ] I shall [ ]”

Namtar made his voice heard and spake, addressed his words to Erra,

Erra, [ ]

All the rites of the great Underworld [ ]

When you go from [ ]

You shall carry the chair [ ]

You shall carry [ ]

You shall carry [ ]

You shall carry [ ]

You shall carry [ ]

You shall carry [ ] [ ]

Do not grapple with him lest he bind your chest.”

4d - Nergal & sky-chariot 1600 B.C. (Anunnaki warrior god Nergal in his sky-chariot)

Erra took to heart the speech of Namtar.

He [ ] oiled his strap and slung his bow.

Nergal went down the long stairway of heaven.

When he arrived at the gate of Ereshkigal he said, “Gatekeeper, open [ ]!”

2bb - Nergal & 2 lion heads weapon (Nergal with his high-tech alien weaponry)

He struck down Nedu, the doorman of the first gate, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the second doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the third doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the fourth doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the fifth doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the sixth doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He struck down the seventh doorman, and did not let him grapple with him.

He entered her wide courtyard,

And went up to her and laughed.

He seized her by her hairdo,

And pulled her from the throne.

He seized her by her tresses [ ].

The two embraced each other

And went passionately to bed.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra (Nergal), for a first day and a second day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a third day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a fourth day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a fifth day.

They lay there, queen Ereshkigal and Erra, for a sixth day.

When the seventh day arrived, Anu made his voice heard and spoke,

Addressed his words to Kakka, his vizier, Kakka, I shall send you to Kurnugi (Under World ziggurat),

To the home of Ereshkigal who dwells within Erkalla (Under World),

To say, “That god, whom I sent you,

Forever [ ]

Those above [ ]

Those below [ ]

(about 20 – 25 lines missing at end)

Ereshkigal Quotes From Texts, Etc.

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue….semi-divine mixed-breeds in teal)

 

Ereckigala / Ereshkigal Quotes From Texts

Ereckigala / Ereshkigal = Nannar‘s eldest daughter

Queen of the Netherworld, spouse to Gugulanna (Nergal)

 

Ereshkigal As Erickigala:

when An (Anu) had taken the heavens for himself, when Enlil had taken the earth for himself,

when the nether world had been given to Erec-kigala as a gift; …”

 

         Neti, the chief doorman of the underworld, entered the house of his mistress Erec-ki-gala and said:

         ‘My mistress, there is a lone girl outside.

         It is Inanna, your sister, and she has arrived at the palace Ganzer’ …”

 

           Erec-ki-gala slapped the side of her thigh.

           She bit her lip and took the words to heart.

           She said to Neti, her chief doorman:

           ‘Come Neti, my chief doorman of the underworld, don’t neglect the instructions I will give you.

            Let the seven gates of the underworld be bolted.

           Then let each door of the palace Ganzer be opened separately.

           As for her, after she has entered, and crouched down

         and had her clothes removed, they will be carried away’ …”

           

         “I (Nungal / Bau) am the daughter of An (Anu).

            Enlil too has provided me with an eminent fate, for I am his daughter-in-law (Enlil‘s 1/2 sister, & spouse to Enlil‘s son Ninurta).

           The gods have given the divine powers of heaven and earth into my hands.

           My (Nungal / Bau) own mother, Ereckigala, has allotted to me her divine powers.

           I have set up my august dais in the nether world, …”

 

            “To Ereckigala, the mother of Ninazu

            in her palace, the shepherd Ur-Namma offered a …… which he filled with oil,

            a cajan bowl of perfect make, a heavy garment, a long-fleeced garment,

          a queenly pala robe, …… the divine powers of the nether world …”

 

As Ereshkigal:

            Ereshkigal reigns sovereign here, and those who worship her may never leave.

          Would you go back now, little Lord?’

          ‘ I won’t go back without Ereshkigal.

          I’ll fight up to my last breath, but alone I won’t return to the Middleworld.

          Not as a loser, not without her.’

          Deep inside though Enki’s heart was heavy with terror.

          For the first time he contemplated the immensity of Ereshkigal’s loss to him and the Realms Above. …”

 

          “In the Worlds Above, his first Breath and Awareness he had shared with Ereshkigal, his Beloved Twin.

For Ereshkigal he had built his magur boat, for Ereshkigal he had come this far.

For Ereshkigal now Enki laid down his shield, mail and spear in the hope to fulfill his promise

to rescue Ereshkigal to the Worlds Above. …”

 

         “’I already know who you are. And why you came too.

You made it very loud and clear that you want to bring your sister

Ereshkigal back to the Worlds Above’, continued the Voice. ‘

But how can you be so sure that she wants to return with you?

Time has gone by, she might have found the Depths are her home now, not the Heights Above.’ …”

 

           “’She who lies there, she who lies there, Ninazu‘s mother (Ereshkigal) who lies there —

           her pure shoulders are not covered with a garment, and no linen is spread over her pure breast.’ …”

 

         “’Do you understand now, Enki?

Why my place is here, why I cannot return with you?’ asked softly Ereshkigal.

I’ve become one of the Great Guardians now., and my choice to be so.

Father An for the Sky, Ki-Ninhursag of Many Names for the Earth,

Enlil for Air, you for the Sweet, Shape-Forming Waters and myself for the Underworld.’ …”

 

         “’Don’t regret your choice of having descended for me, Enki,’ continued Ereshkigal.

Indeed, I knew you would come, and expected you all along.

         Our bond was and will always be strong, so whenever you seek me out, you will find me,’ …”

 

         “’Ever since I (Ereshkigal) was a child and a daughter, I have not known the playing of other girls,

I have not known the romping of children.

That god whom you sent to me and who has impregnated me- let him sleep with me again!

Send that god to us, and let him spend the night with me as my lover!

I am unclean, and I am not pure enough to perform the judging of the great gods,

The great gods who dwell within Erkalla.

If you do not send that god to me

According to the rites of Erkalla and the great Earth I shall raise up the dead, and they will eat the living.

I shall make the dead outnumber the living!'”

 

          Ereshkigal, saw Enlil‘s wrongdoing and heard the lament of the Maiden:

           the Lady of the Great Below heeded the Maiden’s words.

           She knew a door had been opened for Justice,

           Growth and Regeneration in the Underworld if only Enlil submitted to the Laws of the Land of No Return.

           In Nippur, Ki, Mother Earth, also known as Urash, Ninmah, and Ninhursag

           felt strongly that Enlil should suffer the hardest of all punishments for his conduct.

           Never before had the Anunnaki taken to trial one of their own.

         Shocked and circumspect, they gathered, and were forty-nine, not the usual fifty in number,

         because Enlil was counted out for the first time.

In the lower platform sat 46 judges, in the higher was An, who presided all judgments,

sided by Ki (Ninhursag) on his right and Enki on his left.

Father, Mother and Brother to Enlil they were, but also the Guardians of the Attributes of Civilization, Law and Order.

The fourth high seat was empty.

It belonged to Enlil, the defendant.

Red-eyed Ninlil, sided by the healer goddess Gula (Bau, Enlil‘s 1/2 sister), sat quiet and dignified on the right.

On the left and opposite to her was Enlil, whose discomfort was evident for all to see …”

 

Ereshkigal´s face.

Not the lioness-headed goddess or the projection of one’s worst nightmares.

Instead, the radiant beauty of a dark-haired goddess looked at Ninlil.

The Lady of the Great Place was older, yet young and Ageless, a Woman in Her own right, tall and slim …”

 

Ninlil found herself smiling back at Ereshkigal.

Hers and Enlil‘s baby would indeed have a most splendid fate.

A child whose Light would wax and wane in a never-ending cycle,

out of Darkness towards Light and back again from Brightness to Dark.

‘Great Lady, I lend you graces.’

Ereshkigal smiled at Ninlil, and then Great Goddess’ voice turned gentle and direct at once.

Ninlil suspected that this right balance of inquisitiveness, prodding and humor was Ereshkigal’s trademark: …”

 

Allat Quotes From Texts

Allat = Ereshkigal, Nannar & Ningal‘s daughter

           “Within, O goddess! Allat (Ereshkigal) thee receives!

           Tis thus to thee our Queen her welcome gives.”

 

           “Within the next gate he her earrings takes,

           And goddess Ishtar now with fury shakes, …

           And thus he strips the goddess at each gate,

           Of ornaments upon her breast and feet

           And arms; her bracelets, girdle from her waist,

           Her robe next took, and flung the Queen undrest

           Within a cell of that dark solitude.

           At last, before Queen Ishtar Allat stood,

           When she had long remained within the walls

           And Allat mocked her till Queen Ishtar falls

           Humiliated on the floor in woe;

           Then turning wildly, cursed her ancient foe.

           Queen Allat furious to her servant cries:

           ‘Go! Naintar (Namtar)! with disease strike blind her eyes!

           And strike her side! her breast and head and feet;

           With foul disease her strike, within the gate!’ …”

 

           “At last obedient doth Allat speak:

           ‘Go, Namtar (Ereshkigal’s son)! and the iron palace strike!

           O’er Asherim1 adorned let the dawn break!

           And seat the spirits on their thrones of gold!

           Let Ishtar Life’s bright waters then behold,

           And drink her fill, and bring her then to me;

           From her imprisonment, I send her free’ …”

 

Irkalla, The Under World Ziggurat

Irkalla = Ereshkigal’s residence

           To the Land of No Return, the realm of Ereshkigal,

           Ishtar (Inanna), the daughter of the Moon (Nannar), set her mind.

           To the dark house, the abode of Irkalla (Ereshkigal’s palace residence in the Netherworld),

           To the house which none leave who have entered it, …”

Ereshkigal Quotes From Zecharia Sitchen Books

SEE SITCHIN’S EARTH CHRONICLES, ETC.:

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

 

Descent into the underworld:

One of the most famous myths about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. In this myth, Ishtar approaches the gates of the underworld and demands that the gatekeeper open them:

         “If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,

         I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,

         I will smash the door-posts,

         I will force the doors.

         I will bring up the dead to eat the living.

         And the dead will outnumber the living …”

 

The gatekeeper hurried to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Ereshkigal told the gatekeeper to let Ishtar enter, but “according to the ancient decree”.

The gatekeeper lets Ishtar into the underworld, opening one gate at a time. At each gate, Ishtar has to shed one article of clothing. When she finally passes the seventh gate, she is naked. In rage, Ishtar throws herself at Ereshkigal, but Ereshkigal orders her servant Namtar to imprison Ishtar and unleash sixty diseases against her.

After Ishtar descends to the underworld, all sexual activity ceases on earth. The god Papsukal reports the situation to Ea, the king of the gods. Ea creates an intersex creature called Asu-shu-namir and sends him-her to Ereshkigal, telling him-her to invoke “the name of the great gods” against her and to ask for the bag containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal is enraged when she hears Asu-shu-namir’s demand, but she has to give him-her the water of life. Asu-shu-namir sprinkles Ishtar with this water, reviving her. Then Ishtar passes back through the seven gates, getting one article of clothing back at each gate, and is fully clothed as she exits the last gate.

Here there is a break in the text of the myth. The text resumes with the following lines:

         “If she (Ishtar) will not grant thee her release,

         To Tammuz (Dumuzi), the lover of her youth,

         Pour out pure waters, pour out fine oil;

         With a festival garment deck him that he may play on the flute of lapis lazuli,

         That the votaries may cheer his liver. [his spirit]

         Belili (Geshtinanna) [sister of Tammuz (Dumuzi)]

         (Geshtinanna) had gathered the treasure,

         With precious stones filled her bosom.

         When Belili heard the lament of her brother, she dropped her treasure,

         She scattered the precious stones before her,

         ‘Oh, my only brother, do not let me perish!

         On the day when Tammuz plays for me on the flute of lapis lazuli,

         playing it for me with the porphyry ring.

         Together with him, play ye for me, ye weepers and lamenting women!

         That the dead may rise up and inhale the incense …”

Formerly, scholars believed that the myth of Ishtar’s descent took place after the death of Ishtar’s lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar’s descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna can only return from the underworld if she sends someone back in her place. Demons go with her to make sure she sends someone back.

However, each time Inanna runs into someone, she finds him to be a friend and lets him go free. When she finally reaches her home, she finds her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna has the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement.

Dumuzi’s sister Geshtinanna is grief-stricken and volunteers to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi can go free. The Ishtar myth presumably has a comparable ending, Belili being the Babylonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.

Ereshkigal Overview

(gods in blue)

        Cylinder seal and imprint, period of the Assyrian merchant settlements in Cappadocia, 19th-18th BCE. The naked goddess under her arcade, surrounded by guardians and mythological animals. Serpentine, H: 4, 1 cm AO 22420                                                                                               Ereshkigal  Inanna       Namtar

         . Ereshkigal = Mesopotamian

         . Persephone = Greek

         . Proserpine = Roman

 

         . in some texts Ereshkigal is daughter to Nannar and Ningal

                . in some texts she is daughter to Anu & Nammu

         . in some texts Ereshkigal is older sister to twins Utu and Inanna

                . in some texts she is as if Ninhursag, the twin & lover to Enki

 

         . espoused Nergal, Enki‘s & Inanna’s son in some texts

                . in some texts Nergal is Enlil‘s & Ninlil’s son

 

         . Queen of the Lower World / Under World / Netherworld / Irkalla / Hades / Hell

         . Irkalla / Erkalla = Akkadian for the Under World realm of Ereshkigal & Nergal

                       “I shall send you to Kurnugi,  To the home of Ereshkigal who dwells within Erkalla,…”

 

         . Ganzer Ereshkigal’s ziggurat residence in the Under World, a fully-functioning world below

         . Kur / Kurnugi = Sumerian for the Under World Palace of Ereshkigal & Nergal

 

Ereshkigal’s Sons:

         . (in some texts) son Ningishzidda with Enki

                . (in some texts) Ningishzidda is son to Ninazu & Ningirida / Ninsutu

 

         . Namtar with Enlil, gatekeeper of the Under World

         . Ninmada with Enlil

         . Ninazu, with Gugalana / Nergal,

                . in some texts Ninazu is son with Enlil

                       . Ninazu is spouse to Ningirida

 

Ereshkigal’s Daughters:

          . Nungal / Bau with King Anu in a few texts only

                 . Bau is daughter to King Anu & Nammu in all other texts