The Descent of Ishtar
Historical edition · 1915 · 2,801 words
Ishtar passes through the gates of the land of no return, surrendering her adornments as she descends. This Akkadian underworld poem is distinct from the earlier Sumerian account of Inanna’s descent.
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The goddess Ishtar, as the great mother goddess,79 is the goddess of vegetation in nature, as of fertility among mankind and animals. She is pictured as spend- ing half the year on earth, when nature is in bloom and animals throw off their young, while during the remain- ing half, when nature seems dead, she is imprisoned in the lower world known as Aralu. The story of her de- scent to Aralu is, therefore, a nature myth, symbolizing the change from the summer to the winter season, while her release is the corresponding change from winter to summer. The story, as related in the following poem,80 appears to have had …
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