Inanna
Sign in to saveInanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and sex. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is "the Queen of Heaven".
AI overview
Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, sex, and political power, who was worshipped across multiple civilizations under different names—as Ishtar by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. She matters as a major religious figure in one of humanity's earliest civilizations, representing a complex deity connected to both conflict and fertility, and was revered as the "Queen of Heaven" with influence over divine law and human procreation.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Deity.equivalent1_type
- Elamite
- Deity.equivalent1
- Pinikir
- Deity.equivalent2_type
- Hurrian
- Deity.equivalent2
- Shaushka
- Deity.equivalent3_type
- Mandaean
- Deity.equivalent3
- Libat
- Deity.Canaanite_equivalent
- Astarte
- Deity.Roman_equivalent
- Venus
- Deity.Greek_equivalent
- Aphrodite
- Deity.equivalent4_type
- Egyptian
- Deity.equivalent4
- Isis
- Deity.caption
- Goddess Ishtar on an Akkadian seal, 2350–2150 BCE. She is equipped with weapons on her back, has a horned helmet, places her foot in a dominant posture upon a lion secured by a leash and is accompanied by the star of Shamash.
Article
37 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Origins and development
- Worship
- Iconography
- Symbols
- As the planet Venus
- Character
- Family
- Sukkal
- Syncretism and influence on other deities
- Specific examples
- Sumerian texts
- Origin myths
- Conquests and patronage
- Justice myths
- Inanna as a goddess of sex
- Descent into the underworld
- Sumerian version
- Akkadian version
- Interpretations in modern assyriology
- Other interpretations
- Later myths
- ''Epic of Gilgamesh''
- ''Song of Agushaya''
- Other tales
- Later influence
- In antiquity
- Modern relevance
- In Neopaganism and Sumerian reconstructionism
- In popular culture
- Dates (approximate)
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, love, and sex. She is also associated with political power, divine law, sensuality, and procreation. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is "the Queen of Heaven".
She was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, her early main religious center. In archaic Uruk, she was worshipped in three forms: morning Inanna (Inana-UD/hud), evening Inanna (Inanna sig), and princely Inanna (Inanna NUN), the former two reflecting the phases of her associated planet Venus. Her most prominent symbols include the lion and the eight-pointed star. Her husband is the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz), and her (attendant) is the goddess Ninshubur, later conflated with the male deities Ilabrat and Papsukkal.