Inanna's Descent Research Articles

Образ престола и загробный мир (Thronosis Деметры, трон Эрешкигаль и престол в апокалипсисах вознесения)

The article investigates the throne imagery in the Homeric hymn "To Demeter", "Inanna's Descent to the Underworld" and in several Judeo-Christian ascent apocalypses: in the First and Second "Books of Enoch", "The Ascension of Isaiah" and "The Apocalypse of Abraham". These texts are united by the theme of transition to another world, death-rebirth, initiation and related revelation of the secrets of another world. It is noteworthy that in all thematically related texts, a significant role in the development of the plot is played by scenes with a fundamentally static image: a solemnly seated Demeter, the throne of the underground goddess Ereshkigal or the throne of God. The article consecutively examines these three images, their variations and their role in the development of the plot. The first part of the article is devoted to the analysis of the role of seated Demeter in the text of the hymn. It is suggested that the significance of the image of the seated goddess in the text about the main myth of Eleusis resulted in its reflection in the ritual practice of the mysteries and, subsequently, in the representation of such practices in the Athenian drama, in the ritual of θρόνωσις and in a parody of it in Aristophanes' comedy "The Clouds", which is briefly discussed in the article. The second part of the research is devoted to the climactic scene of “The Descent of Inanna” in the throne room of Ereshkigal. Approaching the throne becomes the final stage of “anti-initiation”, the immersion of the goddess into the world of the dead and the loss of her earthly and heavenly powers, the logical outcome of which is the death of Inanna and the beginning of a new storyline: the salvation from the world of the dead. The final part of the paper deals with the divine throne acting as a milestone, both requiring and signifying the completion of protagonist’s initiation and rebirth, resulting in them becoming a member of the angelic heavenly host. The latter is shown as a prerequisite for the character’s ability to receive the divine revelation – that is, to reveal the essence of any apocalypse.

Tantric Chakras and the Descent of Inanna: Bridging the Archetypes and the Human Soul

This article illuminates two ways of finding our way home: the Tantric chakra system as expressed by C.G. Jung in The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, and the Sumerian myth of the descent of Inanna. The author touches on points of intersection where the Tantric chakras and the myth of Inanna cross-pollinate and enliven each other. Through story, image, and symbol, these ancient perspectives delve into the core of our being, revealing soul and meeting the urge to realize our true nature and live in a world at peace and fulfilled.

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco

Reviewed by: The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Chupeco, Rin The Never Tilting World. HarperTeen, 2019 [496p] (Never Tilting World) Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-282179-9 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-06-282193-5 $8.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 9-12 In a world literally stopped in its spin and split in two by a failed ritual involving twin goddesses, four teens journey toward the breach in the world. On the night side of the planet are Lan, a healer-warrior, and Odessa, magically gifted daughter of the goddess Asteria; on the daylight side are Arjun, a desert scavenger, and Haidee, mechanical prodigy and daughter of the goddess Latona. Romances blossom and secrets about the failed ritual are uncovered, including revelations about a connection between the long-separated Odessa and Haidee. Chupeco (The Heart Forger, BCCB 4/18) brings her deft horror hand to a full-fledged epic fantasy; the various dangers the teens encounter are by turns terrifying and humorous, and the chapter titles add a wry touch of metacommentary. However, the stalled world and its mythology, inspired by the ancient Sumerian myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld, are fascinating but frustratingly underexplored, as are some characters' ability to manipulate or "gate" elemental patterns in the environment; [End Page 113] additionally, the tactic of delayed or missing exposition is overused. Nonetheless, a sequel promises opportunities to address some of these gaps and resolve tantalizing questions about the fate of the characters and their world. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Journey to the Land of No Return: Alice Notley’s The Descent of Alette and the Sumerian “Descent of Inanna”

The shaman’s song is reflected in epical literature in the theme of the Otherworldly Journey. As recorded by ethnologists, the shaman’s song, a record of as well as engagement with such a journey, summons up a bizarre dreamscape populated by fantastic beings, and engages with a specialized poetics employing linguistic paradox, trance-inducing rhythms, and nonsense words—these last considered by shamans to be a “secret language.” Alice Notley’s contemporary descent myth The Descent of Alette has strong ties to the ancient Sumerian Descent of Inanna as well as to the Gnostic myth of Sophia’s descent into matter to affect the redemption of humankind. I show Inanna’s connection to shamanic praxis and Gnostic mythology, and read Alette’s journey as a crisis vision, in order to argue for the existence of a shamanic poetics, a special way of using language as a healing medium and vehicle of myth. Notley’s post-modern epic placed alongside the extremely ancient Inanna myth-cycle reveals the shaman’s perennial theme of the Otherworldly Journey ever reconfigured according to the artist/healer’s relationship to a specific culture, and that culture’s relationship to the shamanic paradigm.

The Heroine in the Underworld: An Ecopsychological Perspective on the Myth of Inanna

Abstract Inanna's relational Heroine's Journey in The Descent of Inanna offers an alternative to the separation between Earth and its inhabitants, as it does not focus on the broken relationship between them. Rather, the foundation of the myth is their ubiquitous relationship that cannot cease because it fuels Inanna's journey. From an ecopsychological perspective, Inanna is healed and saved from her underworld experience through her connection to the Earth and her community. The relational Heroine's Journey in Inanna's myth can be used by ecopsychologists and therapists as a template for positive communication and relationship building in couples and family therapy during times of crisis. When told to clients, Inanna's myth may deepen the ecopsychological therapeutic process by demonstrating how to use relationships to the Earth and community for healing and transformation. The relational Heroine's Journey belongs to both genders and relies on proactivity, feminine problem-solving (that is creative inste...

On Not Passing the Acid Test: Bad Trips and Initiation

Most psychedelic explorers have had a bad trip at one point or another. Leary and Metzner have discussed bad trips as the result of the wrong “set and setting,” and bad trips are sometimes treated as evidence of personal failure. In contrast, from a shamanic perspective, bad trips are to be expected as part of the territory of acquiring knowledge. The energy of the dark side of human nature and one's own culture arises on bad trips, and no one seeking knowledge from plant allies can avoid confronting these shadows. By immersing people in the dark side of self and culture, bad trips do what initiation always does: bring people to a state in which they do not think they can handle the situation and have to call on spiritual resources for help. In this essay, I use the myth of Inanna's descent to the Underworld as a metaphor for psychedelic journeys and shamanic dismemberment. I discuss protecting oneself, with an emphasis on the importance of community and allies when taking psychedelic journeys, using examples from my own experiences. I conclude by discussing the wisdom and healing that I believe one can bring back from the darker side of the psychedelic experience.

Tristan : On Being the Contemporary of Gottfried von Straßburg

Tristan: On Being the Contemporary of Gottfried von StraBburg ROY WISBEY The Presidential Address of the Modern Humanities Research Association read at i Carlton House Terrace, London, on 14 March 2003 In March 1965, an important year for the MHRA, I attended an exhibition of etchings and engravings arranged at the Heffer Gallery, Cambridge, by W. J. Strachan, poet, translator of works of modern French, German, and Italian literature, connoisseur and ambassador1 of the French livre d'artiste at a time when it was little known in this country. Increasingly, he became the friend and chronicler of the artists, writers, and typographers who collaborated in the design and printing of such works.2 In view of the abundance of his other achievements, it is difficult to believe it, yet Walter Strachan's primary avocation was that of head of Modern Languages at Bishop's Stortford College in Hertfordshire. It was there, in the dark days of the war, that his enthusiasm for French poetry opened my eyes to an exciting new world, and eventually led me to choose the study of literature over science. On one of his many expeditions of discovery to Paris he had been introduced by Jean Frelaut to the artist Terry Haass. Born in Czechoslovakia (1923), she had studied art in Paris before emigrating to the USA in 1941, where she became associated with William Hayter's Atelier 17m New York, returning to Paris only in 1951. In the following years she combined work in the studio founded by Roger Lacouriere with the study of Mesopotamian and Near Eastern archaeology.3 Impressed by her prints, and particularly by the way these two directions came together in the coloured etchings to which she had been inspired by the Sumerian myth ofthe goddess Inanna (Akkadian Ishtar), Strachan could not understand why, despite her reputation in Europe and in America, the work of Haass had not yet been displayed in this country. It was thus that he came to arrange an exhibition for her in Cambridge, which, largely out of pietas towards my former mentor, my wife and I attended. By a happy chance, in an attempt to broaden my knowledge of the origins of the heroic epic, I had been reading translations of the Sumerian Gilgamesh poems, and was so captivated that I went on to other Sumerian texts, particularly to one which likewise incorporated the motif of an Otherworld journey, 'Inanna's Descent' ('Inanna abandoned 1 The latterword derivesfroma tributeby Giles Barber,of the Taylor Institution,Oxford, deliveredat a celebrationofthelifeofWalterStrachan,held at theVictoriaand AlbertMuseum on 3 July1994. 2 W. J.Strachan, The Artistand theBook in France: The Twentieth-Century 'Livre d'Artiste' (London: Owen, 1969). 3 TerryHaass: Etchings and Engravings, HefferGallery,March 6th-20th1965, exhibitioncata? logue compiled by Roy Turner Durrant,withan introd.byW. J.Strachan(Cambridge: Heffer Gallery,1965), 8 cols. xxxii 'Tristan' and Gottfried von Strafiburg heaven, abandoned earth, to the nether world she descended').4 Not knowing in advance how the exhibition had come to be mounted, or what its content would be, it was with amazement, in my turn, that I found myself looking at the series of colour prints with which Terry Haass had illustrated, or rather interpreted, the work. For her too, perhaps, it was not an everyday occurrence, outside the circle of her archaeologist friends, to meet at one of her exhibitions someone whose personal encounter with 'Inanna', ifnot as profound as her own, had at least been deeply felt. We talked our way through the prints together. It was one of those meetings of minds and sensibilities such as I had experienced at least once before, when, in February 1956, after years during which I had worked on the medieval Alexander legend in Germany, I was introduced to D. J. A. Ross of Birkbeck College by A. T. Hatto, himself uniquely alert to privileged moments in the epic. With characteristic generosity, David Ross gave me access to the treasure house of knowledge and insight which he had accumulated over a lifetime of research into the texts embodying the Alexander legend, and into the depiction of events from it in illustrated manuscripts, answering with confidence and precision queries which had...

Observations on a Passage of "Inanna's Descent"

Previous articleNext article No AccessObservations on a Passage of "Inanna's Descent"A. R. GeorgeA. R. George Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Cuneiform Studies Volume 37, Number 1Spring 1985 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1359964 Views: 11Total views on this site Copyright 1985 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The Death of Dumuzi: a New Sumerian Version

As of today there are several variant versions of the myth relating to the death of Dumuzi, the more important of which are: “Inanna's Descent to the Nether World”, “Dumuzi's Dream”, “Dumuzi and the galla.” The text here edited, inscribed on a hitherto unpublished tablet, BM 100046, consists of an account of Dumuzi's death that parallels to some extent the hitherto known versions, but includes a number of rather unusual themes and intriguing motifs not found in any of them. It is a pleasure and a privilege to dedicate this study to Oliver Gurney with whom I collaborated in preparing a volume of Sumerian literary texts in the Ashmolean Museum (OECT V), and who moreover published in the year 1962 an exemplary summary of what was then known about Dumuzi and his tragic death.

Dumuzi's Annual Resurrection: An Important Correction to "Inanna's Descent"

Previous articleNext article No AccessDumuzi's Annual Resurrection: An Important Correction to "Inanna's Descent"S. N. KramerS. N. Kramer Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 183October 1966 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1356459 Views: 13Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

"Inanna's Descent to the Nether World" Continued and Revised. Second Part: Revised Edition of "Inanna's Descent to the Nether World"

Previous articleNext article No Access"Inanna's Descent to the Nether World" Continued and Revised. Second Part: Revised Edition of "Inanna's Descent to the Nether World"Samuel Noah KramerSamuel Noah Kramer Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Cuneiform Studies Volume 5, Number 11951 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/1359570 Views: 17Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article: Harry A. Hoffner, Jr. Birth and Name-Giving in Hittite Texts, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 27, no.33 (Oct 2015): 198–203.https://doi.org/10.1086/371964 F. R. Kraus Altmesopotamisches Lebensgefühl, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 19, no.22 (Oct 2015): 117–132.https://doi.org/10.1086/371572

"Inanna's Descent to the Nether World" Continued and Revised

The following revised edition of the entire extant text of the myth Inanna's Descent to the Nether World was prepared primarily in order to incorporate the numerous additions, corrections, and. clarifications resulting from the new material published in the first part of this study.1 The tablets and fragments on which the new reconstructed text is based are:2 Ni 368 + CBS 9800 (A), CBS 13932 (B), CBS 12368 + 12702 + 12752 (C), Ni 2279 (D), CBS 13908 (E), Ni 4034 (F), CBS 11064 + 11088 (G), Ni 9685 (H), PBS V 24 (I), CBS 15212 (J), Wi 4200 (K), Wi 2762 (L), YBC 4621 (M), CBS 13902 (N), CBS 15162 (O). Line by line the text is reconstructed as follows:

Sumerian Mythology. A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B. C.

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction. The Sources: The Sumerian Literary Tablets I. THE SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SUMERIAN MYTHOLOGY II. MYTHS OF ORIGINS -The Creation of the Universe -The Organization of the Universe -Enlil and Ninll: the Begetting of Nanna -The Journey of Nanna to Nippur -Emesh and Enten: Enlil Chooses the Farmergod -The Creation of the Pickax -Cattle and Grain -Enki and Ninhursag: the Affairs of the Watergod -Enki and Sumer: the Organization of the Earth and Its Cultural Processes -Enki and Eridu: the Journey of the Water-god to Nippur -Inanna and Enki: the Transfer of the Arts of Civilization from Eridu to Erech -The Creation of Man III. MYTHS OF KUR -The Destruction of Kur: the Slaying of the Dragon -Inanna's Descent to the Nether World IV. MISCELLANEOUS MYTHS -The Deluge -The Marriage of Martu -Inanna Prefers the Farmer V. REFERENCES AND NOTES Supplementary Notes to Revised Edition Index