ERESHKIGAL
ERESHKIGAL: translation
Goddess of the underworld. Her name, “Lady of the Great Place,” refers euphemistically to the Land of the Dead, which the Mesopotamians also dubbed “Land of No Return.” According to the myths, she was the older sister of Inanna, the “Lady of the Heavens,” who desired to extend her influence “below.” Ereshkigal punishes Inanna’s incursion into her domain with death but is tricked to surrender her corpse to the flattery of some transsexual creatures. In the Old Babylonian period, Ereshkigal lost her sovereignty to the male deity Nergal. A myth describes how the lonely goddess gladly surrendered her old independence to rule the underworld with Nergal. Her main sanctuary, and also that of Nergal, was at Kutha.