Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic

Religion and Humanity in Mesopotamian Myth and Epic
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date: 22 December 2022
The story of 
Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld
(also known from the Akkadian version of 
Ishtar’s 
Journey to the Netherworld
) involves the young goddess of love taking the dangerous journey to the 
underworld, the domain of her sister, the goddess Ereshkigal. Possibly suspecting that Inanna 
intends to usurp her position as queen of the underworld, Ereshkigal, with the help of the divine 
Anuna judges, kills her sister and hangs up her lifeless corpse.
The goddess’s death is a catastrophic event that carries serious supernatural consequences; 
owing to Inanna’s special competence with love and sexuality, her death causes the cessation of 
the desire for intimacy in all earthly creatures. Enki responds by creating special beings to rescue 
the goddess, who is returned to life. The temporary nature of Inanna’s death and the death’s 
widespread damaging consequences present a deity experiencing a universally human event, yet 
in a uniquely supernatural manner. The death of the leader of the rebellion of the lesser gods 
against the greater ones in 
Atrahasis
similarly results in an unusual outcome linked to creation—
the genesis of humanity.
The importance of community bonds features in literature involving both divine and human 
deaths. As with mortals, Inanna’s experience of death is heavily influenced by the strength of her 
social ties; it is her close bond with Enki that leads to her revival. For the humans in the 
netherworld, witnessed by Enkidu, the presence or absence of descendants, the treatment of 
family members by the deceased during life (particularly the deceased’s mother and father), 
expressions of religious piety while living, and also the manner of death hold great significance in 
terms of the improvement or deterioration of the position of the deceased.
Epic
The epics noted here (by no means a comprehensive survey) feature the activities of legendary 
Mesopotamian heroes such as Gilgamesh, Enmerkar, Lugalbanda, and Etana. The word “epic” is 
used in the sense of “a story with a hero as a protagonist.” Heroes inhabit a special role that sits 
in-between the human and divine spheres. The ability to span the extremes of human experience, 
and also to reach toward the other world, gives heroes unique importance for the consideration of 
humanity and religion in Mesopotamian literature. Heroes in literature are capable of some 
supernatural deeds and have the ability to access divine assistance, qualities that are most in line 
with the capacities of deities rather than humans. Yet even quasi-divine heroes, such as 
Gilgamesh, remain mortal, and their mortality leads them to contend with the limits of the 
human condition. The mortality of heroes combined with their extraordinary abilities means that 
their appearance in Mesopotamian literature often involves the exploration of themes of 
humanity, divinity, and mortality.
The legendary heroes of epic are not the only literary protagonists to exist in between the mortal 
and divine spheres. Mesopotamian rulers are at times presented in literature as capable of 
achievements of exaggerated scale on the battlefield and other areas of expertise, or as having 
adventures containing a supernatural element. Like heroes, Mesopotamian kings could present 
themselves as having special and unusually close bonds with the divine, and even belonging to 
the immediate family of the primary deities. The special role of Mesopotamian kings has been 

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