The Obituary
Ereshkigal was the Mesopotamian queen of the underworld, ruling the land of no return, Irkalla, behind its seven gates. Sister of Inanna, she famously had the love-goddess stripped, killed and hung on a hook when she dared to enter the realm of the dead, and in another myth took the war-god Nergal as her consort. A figure of dread rather than a widely temple-served deity, she lived within the religion of Sumer and Babylonia for over two millennia. When that faith lapsed in the early centuries CE, the queen of the dead was herself forgotten.
Worth remembering
- When her sister Inanna invaded the underworld, Ereshkigal stripped her at each of seven gates and struck her dead, hanging the corpse on a hook to rot.
- In the myth of Nergal, the war-god offends her, descends to the underworld, and ends as her consort and co-ruler of the dead.
Sources
- Ereshkigal was the Mesopotamian goddess who ruled Kur (Irkalla), the underworld, sister of Inanna/Ishtar. Wikipedia
- In 'Inanna's Descent', Ereshkigal has her sister killed at the seventh gate and hangs her corpse on a hook. World History Encyclopedia
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.