| Ereshkigal | |
|---|---|
 The "Queen of Night Relief", which dates to the Old Babylonian Period and might represent either Ereshkigal or Ishtar | |
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Real Name |
Ereshkigal, Irkalla |
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First Appearance |
Mesopotamian Myth |
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Created by |
Mesopotamian Myth |
Origin[]
In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (lit. "Queen of the Great Earth") was the goddess of Kur, the land of the dead or underworld in Sumerian mythology. In later myths, she was said to rule Irkalla alongside her husband Nergal and in texts of the 3rd millennium bc wife of the god Ninazu (elsewhere accounted her son. Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to the way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler, and sometimes it is given as Ninkigal, lit. "Lady of the Great Earth".
Ereshkigal was only one of multiple deities regarded as rulers of the underworld in Mesopotamia. The main temple dedicated to her was located in Kutha, a city originally associated with Nergal, and her cult had a very limited scope. No personal names with "Ereshkigal" as a theophoric element are known. Her offspring and servant was Namtar, the evil demon, Death. Her power extended to earth where, in magical ceremony, she liberated the sick possessed of evil spirits.
In the ancient Sumerian poem Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, Ereshkigal is described as Inanna's older sister. However, this is a cultural artifact since the Sumerians used terms such as sister as a way to place each other on the same level in hierarchy.
The two main myths involving Ereshkigal are the story of Inanna's descent into the Underworld and the story of Ereshkigal's marriage to the god Nergal. Other myths also associate her with gods such as Ninazu and Ningishzida.
The Hurrian underworld goddess Allani was conflated with Ereshkigal in Mesopotamia, and with the Sun goddess of the Earth among the Hittites and Luwians. While Allani was originally introduced in Mesopotamia as an independent figure, receiving offerings in Ur during Shulgi's reign under the name Allatum (alongside other foreign deities such as Ishara and Belet Nagar), she gradually became little more than a title of Ereshkigal.
The Hattian death god Lelwani, originally described as a male deity with the masculine title of katte (king), started to be viewed as a goddess instead due to conflation with Allani and Ereshkigal. In later times, the Greeks appear to have applied the name Ereshkigal (Ερεσχιγαλ) to their own goddess Hecate.
The myth of Persephone is similar to the Ereshkigal´s Marriage to Nergal, because in both myths a deity were capture by the ovelords of the underworld, and later the captured married the ruler. But also have much diferents. In the Ugarit mythology exist a underworld goddess call Arsay, who have many similar to Ereskigal.
When Kramer translated a fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh Lilith is mentioned, in 1937 both Henri Frankfort like Emil Kraeling identified a Babylon relief as Lilith, however the nexts sources would deny this, and affirm that the relief could be a represetation of Inanna/Isthar or Ereshkigal.
But her role in the Inanna´desent is is similar to some extent to that of the Abrahmics Lucifer, Satan, Iblis and Mephistopheles, other deities similar to Ereshkigal are the Japanese Izanami, the hindues Yama and Yamuna, The estrucan Aita, the egyptians Anubis and Anput, the greco-egiptian Serapis, the gnostic Prince of Darkness, the germanic Hel, the celtic Arawn, the slavics Veles and Nyaja. By her role as twin/equivalent of a heavenly deity, Ereshkigal was compared with the Zoroastrian Ahriman.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Ereshkigal from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Inanna's Descent to the Underworld
Notes[]
- The enemies and bosses named Ereshkigal from the Final Fantasy franchise were named after of the Mesopotamian goddess Ereshkigal.