#sumerian myth

[gwydionmisha]

Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old

A recent study by Dr. Jana Matuszak, published in the academic journal Iraq, examines the mythical narrative contained in a tablet (Ni 12501

[loxosceleslolo]

HERE THERE BE MILD SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE SPOILERS SO IF YOU FORGOT TO FILTER OUT THE SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE TAG TURN BACK NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE

“From the great heaven she set her mind on the great below. From the great heaven the goddess set her mind on the great below. From the great heaven Inanna set her mind on the great below. My mistress abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, and descended to the underworld. Inanna abandoned heaven, abandoned earth, and descended to the underworld.”

Here I am with some Elden Ring musings that I am not about to post on Reddit because I learned my lesson last time (I made a post regarding the first DLC trailer's use of the word "shrive" and 90% of the replies were dudes being like "well no shit they used an old word for the dialogue" which was not even the point but anyway)

We're probably not going to see or learn anything about the Gloam-Eyed Queen, but the more I think about her the more I'm reminded of an old Sumerian myth.

The Cliff's Notes version goes like this:

Once upon a time, there were two sister goddesses: Inanna the Queen of Heaven, and Ereshkigal the Queen of the Dead.

Ereshkigal was recently widowed, so Inanna journeyed to the underworld to attend the funeral (or, in some tellings, to expand her own power). At each of its seven gates, she was made to remove an article of clothing. By the time Inanna reached her sister's throne she was naked and laid low.

Ereshkigal overpowered her sister, killing her and hanging the corpse from a hook. (In some tellings, Inanna is flayed).

When Inanna did not return at the expected time, her servant Ninshubur went to the god Enki for help.

Enki sent a pair of servants to rescue Inanna, but she couldn't leave the Underworld as easily as she entered it.

Inanna would have to find a substitute if she wanted to leave. As her followers were mourning her "death", she would not take any of them.

Her husband Dumuzid, however, was found clad in magnificent garments and lounging on a throne, clearly unbothered by his wife's supposed death.

So it was he that was taken to the Underworld to take Inanna's place.

I hesitate to say that the story of Inanna's descent might have inspired Miquella’s character arc because a lot of lorehounds will immediately jump in and insist that a 1:1 retelling of the myth is taking place--and that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that there are some clear parallels between the myth and what we know about Miquella’s arc and it's enough to make me think that the latter drew inspiration from the former.

The Land of Shadows is a place where all manner of death washes up.

Miquella had to shed everything that he is to go there. Furthermore, there are six or seven points between where we enter the Land of Shadows and the Gate of Divinity where Miquella has given up parts of his body. (Don’t ask me how it works I have no idea)

I think it's safe to assume that Miquella may well be naked and laid low when we finally find him. He may even be a corpse!

Are we to be Miquella’s rescuers or his get out of Hell free card, I wonder...

[crimsonkingart]

26° Inanna Inanna is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice and political power. She was originally worshiped in Sumer under the name "Inanna", and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar. She was known as the "Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center.

[five-rivers]

My little bro just looked at a pic of Enki (one of, if not the, most important gods in the ancient Sumerian pantheon) and referred to him as the ‘tentacle-y river guy.’

Which.  Fair.  

[ganymedecatamitus]

Looks like a cinnamon roll, could actually kill you: Ninsun

Looks like they would kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll: Enkidu

Looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll: Shamhat

Looks like they could kill you and would actually kill you: Ishtar

Sinnamon Roll: Gilgamesh

[crimsonkingart]

27° Enki Enki is the Sumerian god of water, knowledge (gestú), mischief, crafts and creation. He was later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. Enki was the keeper of the divine powers called Me, the gifts of civilization. He is often shown with the horned crown of divinity. On the Adda Seal, Enki is depicted with two streams of water flowing into each of his shoulders: one the Tigris, the other the Euphrates. Alongside him are two trees, symbolizing the male and female aspects of nature. He is a very benevolent god.

[crimsonkingart]

29° Astarte Astarte is the Hellenized form of the Middle Eastern goddess Astoreth (Northwest Semitic), a form of Ishtar (East Semitic), worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name is particularly associated with her worship in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians. She was also celebrated in Egypt following the importation of Levantine cults there. The name Astarte is sometimes also applied to her cults in Mesopotamian cultures like Assyria and Babylonia. Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. She has been known as the deified morning or evening star.

[crimsonkingart]

28° Marduk Marduk, son of Ea/Enki and Damkina, he was the patron of Babylon. He is a civilizing god considered creator of the universe who drew from primordial chaos. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of Hammurabi (18th century BC), Marduk slowly started to rise to the position of the head of the Babylonian pantheon, a position he fully acquired by the second half of the second millennium BC. In the city of Babylon, Marduk was worshipped in the temple Esagila. Marduk is associated with the divine weapon Imhullu. His symbolic animal and servant, whom Marduk once vanquished, is the dragon Mušḫuššu.