Inanna: The Powerful Goddess of Ancient Mesopotamia

Inanna was the most important goddess in ancient Sumer. She controlled love, sensuality, fertility, and war. Later, the Akkadians and Assyrians called her Ishtar. She was similar to the Hittite goddess Sauska, the Phoenician Astarte, and the Greek Aphrodite. People saw her as the bright star Venus, which appeared in the morning and evening. Some believe she is the subject of the Burney Relief, also known as The Queen of the Night. This terracotta relief dates from the reign of Hammurabi of Babylon, between 1792 and 1750 BCE. However, her sister Ereshkigal is the goddess most likely depicted in that artwork.

Her family tree changes in different myths. Some stories say she is the daughter of Enki, the god of wisdom and fresh water. Others say she is the daughter of Nanna, the moon god. Most often, she is shown as the granddaughter of Enlil and the niece of Enki. As the daughter of Nanna, she was the twin sister of the sun god Utu-Shamash. In some poems, such as Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Netherworld, she is the sister of the hero Gilgamesh. Her power and boldness are key traits in every story about her.

Inanna rose to high status through the work of Enheduanna. Enheduanna was an Akkadian poet and high priestess who lived around 2300 BCE. She was the daughter of Sargon of Akkad, who ruled from 2334 to 2279 BCE. Enheduanna changed Inanna from a local vegetation deity into the Queen of Heaven. This made her the most popular goddess in all of Mesopotamia. Under Sargon’s rule, she became associated with Ishtar. Scholar Gwendolyn Leick explains her early importance:

Inanna was the foremost Sumerian goddess, patron deity of Uruk. Her name was written with a sign that represents a reed stalk tied into a loop at the top. This appears in the very earliest written texts from the mid-fourth millennium B.C. She is also mentioned in all the early god lists among the four main deities, along with Anu, Enki, and Enlil. In the royal inscriptions of the early Dynastic Period, Inanna is often invoked as the special protectress of kings. Sargon of Akkad claimed her support in battle and politics. It appears that it was during the third millennium that the goddess acquired martial aspects that may derive from a syncretism with the Semitic deity Ishtar. Inanna's main sanctuary was the Eanna ('House of Heaven') at Uruk, although she had temples or chapels in most cities. (89)

Inanna appears in myths where she brings knowledge and culture to Uruk. Notable stories include Inanna and the Huluppu-Tree, Inanna and the God of Wisdom, The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi, and The Descent of Inanna. In Inanna and the God of Wisdom, she takes the meh, or gifts of civilization, from Enki while he is drunk. The Descent of Inanna tells of her journey to the underworld. Enheduanna also wrote longer hymns like Inninsagurra, Ninmesarra, and Inninmehusa. These works elevated her status from a local deity to a supreme one.

Inanna was highly ambitious. Scholar Jeremy Black writes:

Violent and lusting after power, she stands beside her favourite kings as they fight. In a Sumerian poem, Inanna campaigns against Mount Egih. Her journey to Eridu to obtain the meh and her descent to the underworld are both described as intended to extend her power. (108)

This ambition is clear in the Huluppu Tree story. When pests infest the tree, Inanna cannot handle the problem. She fails to get help from her brother Utu-Shamash. Instead, she attracts Gilgamesh, who clears the tree. She gifts him magical objects, possibly a sacred drum. This gift leads Enkidu to retrieve them in the underworld. His journey brings back descriptions of the afterlife.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Inanna appears as Ishtar. She is promiscuous, jealous, and spiteful. When she tries to seduce Gilgamesh, he lists her past lovers who suffered bad ends. Enraged by his rejection, she sends the Bull of Heaven to destroy his realm. Gilgamesh’s friend Enkidu kills the bull. The gods condemn Enkidu to death. His death drives Gilgamesh to seek the meaning of life. Inanna is central to this great epic.

Inanna is often shown with a lion, symbolizing courage. She sometimes rides the lion to show supremacy over the king of beasts. As a war goddess, she wears male armor and carries a quiver and bow. She is identified with the Greek goddess Athena Nike. She is also linked to Demeter as a fertility deity and to Persephone as a dying and reviving figure. These links come from her origins as a rural agricultural goddess.

One aspect of [Inanna's personality] is that of a goddess of love and sexual behaviour, but especially connected with extra-marital sex and - in a way which has not been fully researched - with prostitution. Inanna is not a goddess of marriage, nor is she a mother goddess. The so-called Sacred Marriage in which she participates carries no overtones of moral implication for human marriages. (108)

She was an independent woman who acted without regard for consequences. She manipulated, threatened, or seduced others to solve her problems. No legends portray her as a mother.

Her genealogy varies by era. She is the daughter of the supreme god Anu, or the moon god Nanna. She is also the daughter of Enki and sister of Ereshkigal. Her husband Dumuzi suffers for her rash choices. He later transforms into the dying and reviving god Tammuz. People celebrated the sacred marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi at the autumn equinox. They believed this ritual brought life to the land. The marriage was reenacted by the king and a priestess at festivals like Akitu.

Inanna’s clergy included men, women, and a third group defined as transgender in modern terms. Her temple at Uruk was the central cult center. Temples and shrines existed throughout Mesopotamia. Sacred prostitutes of both genders may have worked there to ensure fertility. Male transgenders, called kurgarra, castrated themselves. Females who identified as males were galatur. Both groups were thought to be created by Enki to rescue Inanna from the underworld.

Scholar Colin Spencer comments:

Sacred prostitution was the central part of the ritual in the Temple. The priestess performed a sacred marriage to ensure the fertility of the country and the great fortune of the new king, for the king copulated with the holy priestess at the beginning of his reign. There were lesser priestresses who were also musicians, singers, and dancers, certainly some of these were men who also copulated with both men and women. The goddess Ishtar had turned these men into women as a demonstration of her awesome powers. Yet though Ishtar was an all-powerful presence and through prostitution was revered and was also an important economic factor in the running of the Temple, women's role in society began to be secondary to that of men. (29)

Inanna remained powerful until Hammurabi’s reign. This period saw a decline in female deity prestige and women’s rights. As Ishtar, she continued to be venerated by Assyrians. She inspired similar deities in the Near East.

Inanna is one of the oldest deities recorded in Sumer. She is listed among the first seven divine powers. These powers included Anu, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna. They formed the basis for later gods. Inanna inspired deities in many cultures.

Inanna was brash and independent. She was impulsive yet calculating. She was kind but careless with others’ feelings. Black writes:

The fact that in no tradition does Inanna have a permanent male spouse is closely linked to her role as the goddess of sexual love. Even Dumuzi, who is often described as her 'lover', has a very ambiguous relationship with her and she is ultimately responsible for his death. (108)

The existence of such a goddess shows the Sumerian value of femininity. Women were highly regarded in Sumerian culture. The pantheon included significant female deities like Gula, Ninhursag, and Nisaba. Over time, male deities replaced many goddesses. Hammurabi’s reign accelerated this shift. Nisaba, the scribe of the gods, was assimilated into the god Nabu. Inanna survived because she was accessible. Both men and women served her. She inspired devotion through her character, not just her gifts. She is linked to Venus. Even at the time of Hammurabi, few remembered her Sumerian name, but her celestial link remained.