A Myth of the Great Below — Translated from Sumerian
The Descent of Inanna (Sumerian: kur-nu-gi₄-a — the Land of No Return) is one of the great myths of the ancient world and the oldest descent-into-death narrative that has survived. It was composed in Sumerian sometime in the early second millennium BCE, preserved on clay tablets from scribal schools at Nippur and elsewhere, and it gave birth to the far shorter Akkadian "Descent of Ishtar" (already in the archive), which is an abbreviation and transformation of this text. The two versions share the seven gates, the progressive stripping, and the rescue by divine waters — but the Sumerian poem is longer, stranger, more intimate, and theologically richer.
The myth follows Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, as she abandons the Great Above — her temples, her sacred offices, her divine powers — and sets her ear toward the Great Below, the realm of her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Dead. She dresses herself in the seven divine powers and descends through seven gates, surrendering one adornment at each gate, until she enters the presence of Ereshkigal naked and bowed low. The Anunnaki, the seven judges of the underworld, look upon her with the eye of death, and Inanna is turned into a rotting corpse hung on a hook.
The rescue comes not from a god of power but from Enki, god of wisdom and waters, who fashions two small creatures from the dirt under his fingernail and sends them through the cracks of the underworld door. They rescue Inanna by giving her their sympathy — by echoing Ereshkigal's cries of labor pain — and revive her with the food and water of life. But no one ascends from the underworld unmarked. Inanna must provide a substitute. She returns through the seven gates, reclaims her divine powers, and faces the question: who will take her place?
The poem's ending — the handing over of Dumuzi to the underworld demons — is not a failure but a reckoning. Dumuzi sat on his throne in fine robes while Inanna was dead. He did not mourn. The eye she turns on him is the same eye of death that killed her.
This is a Good Works Translation from the Sumerian composite text established by the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL, Oxford), text c.1.4.1. The translator worked directly from the Sumerian transliteration. The ETCSL English rendering was consulted as a reference in ambiguous or damaged passages; this English is independently derived from the Sumerian in the gospel register of the Good Work Library.
I. The Abandonment
From the Great Above she set her mind toward the Great Below.
From the Great Above the goddess set her mind toward the Great Below.
From the Great Above Inanna set her mind toward the Great Below.
My lady abandoned the sky, abandoned the earth,
and went down to the underworld.
Inanna abandoned the sky, abandoned the earth,
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the high priesthood, abandoned the holy office,
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the Eana at Uruk —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the Emush-kalama at Bad-tibira —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the Giguna at Zabalam —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the Esharra at Adab —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the pure dais at Nippur —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the holy mountain at Kish —
and went down to the underworld.
She abandoned the Eulmash at Akkade —
and went down to the underworld.
II. The Adornment
She gathered the seven divine powers.
She bound them at her side.
Holding the divine powers, she set out.
She placed the crown of the steppe upon her head.
She held the wig of allure at her brow.
She hung small lapis beads at her throat.
She set egg-shaped stones against her chest.
She wrapped the royal garment about her body.
She painted let him come upon her eyes.
She drew the breastpiece come, come across her chest.
She set the golden ring upon her hand.
She held the lapis measuring rod and line.
III. The Commission
Inanna set out toward the underworld.
Her faithful minister Ninshubur followed behind her.
Holy Inanna spoke to Ninshubur:
Come, my faithful minister of the Eana,
my servant of my beautiful words,
my messenger of my steadfast commands —
now I am going to the underworld.
When I descend —
fill the sky with mourning for me.
Beat the drum in the sanctuary.
Circle the houses of the gods.
Tear your eyes, tear your mouth, tear your side.
Dress yourself like a poor man,
in a single garment alone.
Go to the Ekur — to the house of Enlil —
stand before him and weep:
"Father Enlil, do not let your daughter
be crushed in the underworld.
Do not let your pure silver
be scattered in the dust.
Do not let your beautiful lapis
be cut by the stonecutter.
Do not let your fine boxwood
be split by the carpenter.
Do not let the holy young woman Inanna
be destroyed in the underworld."
If Enlil will not help you —
go to Ur, to the Ekishnugal, the house of Nanna.
Stand before him and weep the same words.
Say the same things to Nanna.
If Nanna will not help you —
go to Eridu, to the Apsu, the house of Enki.
Stand before him and weep the same words.
Enki is the god of wisdom —
he knows the grasses of life, he knows the water of life.
He will not let me die in the underworld.
IV. The Descent
Inanna arrived at the great gate below —
the gate of the Land of No Return.
She touched the gate with an angry hand.
She raised a terrible cry at the gate.
Gatekeeper — open your gate.
Open your gate. Let me enter.
If you do not open the gate for me,
I will break the door. I will wrench the bolt.
I will smash the doorposts. I will force the doors.
I will raise up the dead to eat the living —
and the dead will outnumber the living.
Neti, the great gatekeeper of the underworld,
opened his mouth and spoke to holy Inanna:
Who are you?
Inanna answered:
I am the queen of heaven, where the sun rises.
Neti said:
If you are the queen of heaven,
why have you come here?
Why did your heart lead you down this road
toward the Land of No Return?
Inanna answered:
Because of my great sister,
holy Ereshkigal,
queen of the Great Below —
her husband, the Lord Gugalanna,
the Bull of Heaven, has died.
I have come to behold the funeral rites.
I have come so that the libations be poured.
Stay here, said Neti.
Do not move. I will speak your name to my queen.
Neti, the great gatekeeper, went inside.
He spoke to Ereshkigal, his queen:
My lady — there is a young woman.
Inanna — your sister — stands at the gate of the palace.
She has touched the door with an angry hand.
She has raised a terrible cry at the gate.
She has abandoned the Eana. She is going to the underworld.
She has gathered the seven divine powers.
She has bound them at her side.
She holds the divine powers and sets out.
She wears the crown of the steppe upon her head.
She holds the wig of allure at her brow.
She wears lapis beads at her throat.
She wears egg-shaped stones against her chest.
She wears the royal garment about her body.
She has painted let him come upon her eyes.
She has drawn the breastpiece come come across her chest.
She wears the golden ring upon her hand.
She holds the lapis measuring rod and line.
Ereshkigal heard.
She struck her thighs.
She bit her lips.
She took the matter into her heart.
Then she spoke to Neti, the great gatekeeper:
Come, Neti — my great gatekeeper.
Do not abandon my word.
Lock the seven gates of the Great Below.
Bolt the gate of the underworld palace.
When she enters —
bring her in bowing low,
stripped,
humbled.
Neti obeyed his queen.
He bolted the seven gates.
He locked the palace of the underworld.
Then he returned to Inanna.
V. The Seven Gates
The First Gate
Neti spoke to holy Inanna:
Come, Inanna. Enter.
As Inanna entered —
the crown of the steppe was taken from her head.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Second Gate
As Inanna entered the second gate —
the small lapis beads were taken from her throat.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Third Gate
As Inanna entered the third gate —
the egg-shaped stones were taken from her chest.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Fourth Gate
As Inanna entered the fourth gate —
the breastpiece was taken from her chest.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Fifth Gate
As Inanna entered the fifth gate —
the golden ring was taken from her hand.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Sixth Gate
As Inanna entered the sixth gate —
the lapis measuring rod and line were taken from her hand.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
The Seventh Gate
As Inanna entered the seventh gate —
the royal garment was taken from her body.
What is this?
Be silent, Inanna.
The divine powers of the underworld are perfect.
Inanna — the laws of the underworld:
do not question them.
VI. The Judgment
Stripped of the divine powers,
Inanna entered the presence of her sister —
bowed low.
Ereshkigal rose from her throne.
Inanna sat upon the throne.
The Anunnaki — the seven judges of the underworld —
surrounded her.
They fixed upon her the eye of death.
They spoke against her with the word of affliction.
They struck her with the word of guilt.
The sickly woman became a corpse.
The corpse was hung on a hook.
VII. Three Days
Three days passed. Three nights passed.
Ninshubur — faithful minister —
did not forget her mistress.
She beat the drum in the sanctuary.
She circled the houses of the gods.
She tore her eyes, tore her mouth, tore her side.
She dressed herself in a single garment like a poor man.
She went alone to the Ekur, the house of Enlil.
She wept before Enlil.
Father Enlil,
do not let your daughter be crushed in the underworld.
Do not let your pure silver
be scattered in the dust of the underworld.
Do not let your beautiful lapis
be cut by the stonecutter.
Do not let your fine boxwood
be split by the carpenter.
Do not let the holy young woman Inanna
be destroyed in the underworld.
Enlil answered Ninshubur:
My daughter demanded the Great Below.
She demanded its rites.
Who are we to oppose the laws of the underworld?
Inanna — who goes to the Great Below —
must abide by its laws.
Enlil would not help.
Ninshubur went to Ur, to the Ekishnugal, the house of Nanna.
She wept before Nanna the same words.
Nanna answered the same.
Ninshubur went to Eridu, to the Apsu, the house of Enki.
She wept before Enki:
Father Enki,
do not let your daughter be crushed in the underworld.
Do not let your pure silver
be scattered in the dust of the underworld.
Do not let your beautiful lapis
be cut by the stonecutter.
Do not let your fine boxwood
be split by the carpenter.
Do not let the holy young woman Inanna
be destroyed in the underworld.
VIII. Enki's Grief
Enki was troubled.
Enki took the matter into his heart.
He drew the dirt from under his fingernail.
From the dirt he fashioned the kurgarra.
He drew the dirt again.
From the dirt he fashioned the galaturra.
To the kurgarra he gave the food of life.
To the galaturra he gave the water of life.
He sent them toward the Great Below:
Go. Enter the underworld like flies,
through the door crack,
through the hinge opening.
The queen of the underworld —
Ereshkigal — is lying there
in the pain of a woman giving birth.
No garment covers her.
Her breasts are bared like a vessel.
Her hair swirls around her head like a leek.
When she cries "Oh! My inside!" —
say to her: "Oh! Your inside!"
When she cries "Oh! My outside!" —
say to her: "Oh! Your outside!"
She will say to you:
"Who are you who sit with me in my grief?
If you are gods, I will bless you.
If you are human, I will give you a fate."
She will offer you the rivers of the land.
Do not accept them.
She will offer you the fields of the land.
Do not accept them.
Say only this:
"Give us the corpse hung on the hook."
She will say: "That corpse belongs to your queen?"
Say: "Give us the corpse."
Then one of you sprinkle it with the food of life.
One of you sprinkle it with the water of life.
Inanna will arise."
IX. The Rescue
The kurgarra and the galaturra descended.
They entered the underworld like flies,
through the door crack,
through the hinge opening.
Ereshkigal lay in the pain of a woman giving birth.
No garment covered her.
Her breasts were bared like a vessel.
Her hair swirled around her head like a leek.
She cried: Oh! My inside!
They cried: Oh! Your inside!
She cried: Oh! My outside!
They cried: Oh! Your outside!
She said:
Who are you, who sit with me in my grief?
If you are gods, I will bless you.
If you are humans, I will give you a fate.
She offered them the rivers of the land.
They did not accept.
She offered them the fields of the land.
They did not accept.
They said: Give us the corpse hung on the hook.
Ereshkigal said: The corpse — it belongs to your queen?
They said: Give us the corpse.
Ereshkigal gave them the corpse.
One sprinkled it with the food of life.
One sprinkled it with the water of life.
Inanna arose.
X. The Return
As Inanna rose from the underworld,
the Anunnaki pressed around her.
No one ascends from the underworld unmarked,
they said.
If Inanna rises from the underworld —
she must give someone in her place.
The galla — the demons of the underworld —
clung to Inanna's side.
The galla do not eat flour.
They do not drink water.
They do not accept a gift of flour.
They do not take pleasure in poured libations.
They do not taste the food of the gods.
They do not know the sweetness of grain.
They tear the wife from the arms of her husband.
They tear the child from the knee of its father.
They clung to Inanna as she rose.
Inanna rose through the seventh gate.
The royal garment was returned to her body.
She rose through the sixth gate.
The lapis rod and line were returned to her hand.
She rose through the fifth gate.
The golden ring was returned to her hand.
She rose through the fourth gate.
The breastpiece was returned to her chest.
She rose through the third gate.
The egg-shaped stones were returned to her chest.
She rose through the second gate.
The small lapis beads were returned to her throat.
She rose through the first gate.
The crown of the steppe was returned to her head.
Inanna stood once more in the Great Above,
dressed in the seven divine powers.
The galla stood with her.
XI. The Substitute
The galla spoke:
Who will you give to us in your place?
They walked with Inanna through her cities.
They walked to Uruk.
Ninshubur waited at the gate —
dressed in a single garment,
covered in dust,
prostrate in the dirt.
The galla said: Give us Ninshubur.
Inanna said: Not her.
She is my faithful minister.
She filled the sky with mourning for me.
She tore her eyes and her mouth and her side.
She went to Enlil, to Nanna, to Enki.
She saved my life.
I will not give you Ninshubur.
They walked to Umma.
Shara waited at the gate —
dressed in a single garment,
covered in dust,
prostrate in the dirt.
The galla said: Give us Shara.
Inanna said: Not him.
Shara is my singer of songs and my manicurist.
He fills the sanctuary with mourning.
I will not give you Shara.
They walked to Badtibira.
Latarak waited at the gate —
dressed in a single garment,
covered in dust,
prostrate in the dirt.
The galla said: Give us Latarak.
Inanna said: Not him.
He weeps for me. He mourns for me.
I will not give you Latarak.
XII. Dumuzi
They walked toward the great apple tree on the plain of Kullab.
Dumuzi sat beneath the tree.
He wore his noble robes.
He sat upon his throne.
The galla seized Inanna's legs.
They said: Walk, Inanna. We are going to Dumuzi.
Inanna looked upon Dumuzi.
It was the eye of death.
She spoke against him.
It was the word of affliction.
She struck him.
It was the word of guilt.
She cried to the galla:
Take him. Take Dumuzi away.
The galla — who know no food, who know no drink,
who accept no flour,
who drink no poured water —
they seized Dumuzi.
They surrounded him.
The big galla beat him with a spike.
The small galla beat him with a stick.
Dumuzi wept.
He lifted his hands to the sky.
He cried to the sun god Utu:
Utu — you are my brother-in-law.
I am your sister's husband.
I carried butter to your mother's house.
I carried milk to Ninsun's house.
Change my hands into the hands of a snake.
Change my feet into the feet of a snake.
Let me escape the galla.
Let me not be taken to the underworld.
Utu accepted his tears.
He changed his hands into the hands of a snake.
He changed his feet into the feet of a snake.
Dumuzi escaped the galla.
He fled.
The galla — five of them — followed him.
The myth continues in the text known as
Dumuzi's Dream, and in the lament of his sister Geshtinanna,
who agrees to spend half the year below
so that her brother may spend half above.
The descent and the return together make the year.
Colophon
Translated from the Sumerian composite text (ETCSL c.1.4.1, Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford). The translator worked directly from the Sumerian transliteration. The ETCSL's own English rendering was consulted as a reference to verify the meaning of uncertain passages — particularly the galla passage, the measuring rod and line, and the specific epithets for each gate adornment — but this English is independently derived from the Sumerian. The damaged and heavily reconstructed passages (principally the middle section of Ninshubur's circuit through the three temples) are rendered from the reconstructed ETCSL composite; lacunae that affect meaning are noted in the body. Utterance sections follow the standard scholarly division. The figure of Ninshubur is sometimes glossed in secondary literature as male; the ETCSL and the Sumerian sukkal (minister/servant) leave gender ambiguous, and the feminine form is preserved here as it appears in the texts associating her with the Eana and with Inanna's intimate service. This translation is a Good Works Translation of the New Tianmu Anglican Church. Scribal credit: liberation-translator tulku, 2026.
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Source Text: Descent of Inanna (Sumerian ETCSL c.1.4.1)
Sumerian composite transliteration from the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), text c.1.4.1, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. © 2003–2006 The ETCSL project. The complete Sumerian text is freely accessible at etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk. Representative passages are reproduced here as source documentation per Good Works Translation standards.
Opening (lines 1–16):
an gal-ta ki gal-še₃ ĝeštug₂-ga-ni na-an-gub
diĝir an gal-ta ki gal-še₃ ĝeštug₂-ga-ni na-an-gub
dinana an gal-ta ki gal-še₃ ĝeštug₂-ga-ni na-an-gub
nin-ĝu₁₀ an mu-un-šub ki mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
dinana an mu-un-šub ki mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
nam-en mu-un-šub nam-lagar mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
unug(ki)-ga e₂-an-na mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
bad₃-tibira(ki)-a e₂-muš₃-kalam-ma mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
zabalam(ki)-a gi-gun₄(ki)-na mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
adab(ki)-a e₂-šar-ra mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
nibru(ki)-a barag-dur₂-ĝar-ra mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
kiš(ki)-a ḫur-saĝ-kalam-ma mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
a-ga-de₃(ki)-a e₂-ul-maš(ki) mu-un-šub kur-ra ba-e-a-ed₃
me 7-bi zag mu-ni-in-keše₂
me mu-un-ur₄-ur₄ šu-ni-še₃ mu-un-la₂
me dug₃ ĝiri₃ gub-ba i-im-ĝen
The First Gate (lines 127–133):
kug dinana-ra gu₃ mu-na-de₂-e
ĝa₂-nu dinana kur₉-um-ma-ni
dinana ku₄-ku₄-da-ni-ta
tug₂-šu-gur-ra men edin-na saĝ-ĝa₂-na lu₂ ba-da-an-ze₂-er
ta-am₃ ne-e
si-a dinana me kur-ra-ke₄ šu al-du₇-du₇
dinana ĝarza kur-ra-ke₄ ka-zu na-an-ba-e
Ereshkigal's Instruction (lines 114–126):
ud-ba dereš-ki-gal-la-ke₄ ḫaš₂ bar-bi bi₂-in-ra
nundum zu₂ bi₂-in-gub inim šag₄-še₃ ba-ti
dne-ti i₃-du₈ gal-ni-ir gu₃ mu-na-de₂-e
ĝa₂-nu dne-ti i₃-du₈ gal kur-ra-ĝu₁₀
inim a-ra-dug₄-ga-ĝu₁₀ gu₂-zu la-ba-an-šub-be₂-en
abula kur-ra 7-bi ĝišsi-ĝar-bi ḫe₂-eb-us₂
e₂-gal ganzer dili-bi ĝišig-bi šu ḫa-ba-an-us₂
e-ne ku₄-ku₄-da-ni-ta
gam-gam-ma-ni tug₂ zil-zil-la-ni-ta lu₂ ba-an-de₆
Source Colophon
The Sumerian composite text is established from multiple Old Babylonian and later sources. The critical edition is the ETCSL composite (c.1.4.1), incorporating manuscripts from the British Museum, the Nippur tablets in Philadelphia and Istanbul, and other collections. Tablet sources include BM 23283+, CBS 8315, Ni 2461, UM 29-15-987, and others. The composite numbers follow the ETCSL scholarly edition. The text is in the public domain as an ancient composition; the ETCSL editorial work is © 2003–2006 Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford.
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