Inanna is a Sumerian goddess of love. She is known as the Queen of Heaven and is part of a well known Descent to the Underworld myth. Like Kore/Persephone, Inanna traveled to the underworld and by doing so, caused radical changes in the environment.
Inanna lived and ruled from the city of Uruk with her husband Dumuzi. Their courtship and marriage form the basis of a Sacred Marriage ceremony in the Sumerian religion. The high priestess of the cult would invoke Inanna, while a young man of the congregation would stand in for Dumuzi. This would be performed in the spring, to promote fertility of the fields.
One day, she decides to visit her sister, Erishkegal, who is the Queen of the Underworld. To reach her, Inanna must pass through each of seven gates, and at each the gatekeeper demands payment. She gives up her necklace, earrings, rings, crown, scepter, gown, and hair before reaching her destination. Finally, she comes before her sister naked. She has given up her sovereignty and her beauty and is now nothing more than any other soul who reaches the underworld.
Erishkegal hates her sister, and is jealous of her looks and power. Apparently, Queen of Heaven beats Queen of the Underworld every time. Now that she is finally in a position of power over Inanna, Erishkegal calls her demons, who rip the skin from Inanna’s body and hang her on a hook.
It’s interesting to compare this story to the descent myth in the Eleusian Mysteries. Besides being much (MUCH) gorier, Inanna’s story contains an element of judgement that Kore’s does not. Demeter does not know what happened to her daughter, but Inanna has the foresight to alert her servant Ninshubur to what she was planning to do.
When Inanna did not return, Ninshubur enlisted the help of the Enki, the god of creativity. He convinced Erishkegal to let her go and return to the world of the living. However, her demons chased Inanna back, demanding that someone be taken in her place. That someone turns out to be Dumuzi, who has barely noticed his wife’s absence, so absorbed by his leisurely royal life. Furious, Inanna demands the demons take him, and they do.
Inanna is often linked to Ishtar, who is a Babylonian love goddess. The Ishtar vase, found in Uruk and currently in the British Museum, is one of the best surviving images of the ladies.
In her capacity as the Queen of Heaven, Inanna personifies Venus. Some historians call her Descent myth an explanation of the transit of Venus across the skies and transformation from the morning to the evening star. For all was not lost for Dumuzi after all. His sister, Gesthinanna, offered to take his place for half the year, so while she is in the underworld, Inanna is happy to have her husband back, and the fertility of the warm months flows. But when Gesthinanna returns and it is Dumuzi’s turn in the underworld, Inanna mourns and the world is plunged into winter.
Lucina's Cauldron 