Ereshkigal

Queen of The Underworld Irkalla

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Ereshkigal: The Mighty Mesopotamian Goddess of the Underworld

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/ereshkigal-mighty-mesopotamian-goddess-underworld-0010004

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“Namtar made his voice heard and spake, addressed his words to Ereshkigal,

"Send me to Anu your father, and let me arrest the god!

Let me take him to you, that he may kiss you again!"

Excerpt from ‘Nergal and Ereshkigal’

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Ereshkigal is a chthonic goddess that is found in the mythology of ancient Mesopotamia. She is believed to have been the Queen of the Underworld and a very powerful deity. This may be seen in the myth known as Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld, where Ereshkigal emerges triumphant after a confrontation with her younger sister, Inanna, who was a formidable goddess in her own right. Another myth in which Ereshkigal plays an important role is that of her marriage to Nergal.

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Ereshkigal’s Realm

The ancient Mesopotamians believed in life after death and that the souls of the dead traveled to the Underworld. To the Sumerians, this place was known as Kur, whilst the Akkadians referred to it as Irkalla.

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This was a dark, gloomy place, where the dead were believed to drink from muddy puddles and eat dust. The ruler of the Mesopotamian Underworld was Ereshkigal, whose name means ‘Queen of the Great Below’, or ‘Lady of the Great Place’. ‘Great’ in this instance is a reference to the vastness of her realm.

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In some myths, Ereshkigal is said to have been the daughter of Anu, the supreme god of the Mesopotamian pantheon and the personification of the sky. According to one myth, when Anu’s tears, which were shed for his separated sister-lover Ki (the personification of the earth), mingled with the salty water of the primeval sea goddess Nammu, Ereshkigal was born.

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This goddess became the Queen of the Underworld after she was abducted by the dragon Kur, who was the half-brother of Ereshkigal. The dragon brought the goddess to the Underworld, and although the gods tried to rescue her, they were not able to do so, as no one, not even the gods, were able to return from the realm of the dead.

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Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld

Ereshkigal plays a prominent role in the myth known as Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld. The main character of this myth is Inanna, the Queen of Heaven, Ereshkigal’s younger sister. In the myth, Inanna journeyed to the Underworld to observe the funeral rites of Gugalanna, Ereshkigal’s husband.

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Although Inanna was allowed to pass through the seven gates of the Underworld, Ereshkigal instructed her gatekeeper, Neti, to remove a piece of clothing or jewelry from her sister as each gate was opened. This may be interpreted as the gradual removal of Inanna’s power as she progressed deeper into the realm of her sister. Finally, when Inanna reached Ereshkigal’s throne room she was completely naked and therefore powerless.

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After the Annuna of the Dead passed judgment on her, Inanna was killed by Ereshkigal and her corpse was hung from a hook on the wall. The gods, however, succeeded in rescuing her, and brought her out of the Underworld alive.

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Marriage to Nergal

Another myth in which Ereshkigal appears is that of her marriage to Nergal, her fourth consort. In this tale, the gods held a banquet which Ereshkigal was not able to attend. Thus, the Queen of the Underworld sent her son, Namtar, as her representative. As Namtar arrived, all the gods, except Nergal, the war god, stood up out of respect for Ereshkigal. Namtar felt insulted, and when he returned to the Underworld, he complained about this to his mother.

Read More Namtar God of Death click

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Enraged, Ereshkigal demanded that Nergal be handed over to her so that she could kill him. The gods complied with this demand, though Nergal was given 14 demons to aid him at each of the seven gates. Ereshkigal instructed that the gates be shut after Nergal passed through each of them and when the war god arrived in the throne room she would kill him.

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Nergal, however, posted a pair of demons at each gate to keep it open. When the war god reached Ereshkigal, he overpowered her and her son. As Nergal prepared to decapitate Ereshkigal with his axe, the goddess pleaded for mercy, promising to be his wife and to share her power with him.

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Nergal appeared to have felt sorry for what he had done, and spared Ereshkigal. Although Nergal remained with Ereshkigal in the Underworld, he only did so for half a year, as he was the war god, and war is a feature of human existence that cannot be removed permanently.

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NERGAL AND ERESHKIGAL, RE-ENCHANTING THE MESOPOTAMIAN UNDERWORLD

By Lishtar

Source: https://www.gatewaystobabylon.com/religion/nergalereshkigal2000.htm

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This is one of the deepest mysteries embedded in this great myth. Nergal and Ereshkigal need to come fully into themselves first and then to awaken to each others' presence so that love can blossom in all levels. The impossibility to grasp the immensity of the implications of Nergal's surrender to Ereshkigal are immense, as well as Ereshkigal's acceptance of Nergal goes beyond words.

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Our soul ancestors knew of these truths, as we unconsciously grasp them. The moment Ereshkigal and Nergal become a presence to each other, they accept their own needs for the Beloved, and as such they honor and heal the soul-hurts of past loneliness and lack of connection both had endured to re-enchant the Underworld for the first time to the fullest in world religion by bringing love and fulfillment to it.

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The passionate dimension of their lovemaking sacralizes (to treat as or make sacred, sacralization) the Underworld, a major healing to the realm of the Dead and Ultimate Justice yet to be accomplished in the fundamentalist religions of our days, which see the Underworld as the realm of hell fires and suffering. It does not need to be always so if one is willing to make amends and bow to the designs of Ereshkigal and Nergal and connect to the Land of Memories of our own and heal them.

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I would add that coming into the body is just fully achieved when the Spirit ensouls matter. When Ereshkigal and Nergal fall for each other, it is the Spirit of Love that fills them up, and as such, they become an enduring Presence to last in Wholeness for time immemorial.

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"The two embraced each other and went passionately to bed". The wording of these two lines is significant: the use of each other implies a mutual and egalitarian sexual relationship between the two gods. The term passionately comes from the verb to surge, to become spirited, excited, to rage and is frequently used to describe water, horses, lions, storms and warfare.

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It denotes the intensity and high pitch of the gods' encounter. The details of their sexual intimacy are few; more is conveyed indirectly than explicitly. For six days the two lay in bed. Each time Ereshkigal is named, she is referred to as queen; significantly, no epithet precedes Nergal's name, but he is referred to by his other name, Erra.

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Thus, it is Ereshkigal who is always in charge as the mighty goddess and Nergal who surrenders to her, but it must be understood that there is in fact no surrender in sacred lovemaking, but a blending of selves, or the victory of mind, heart, body and soul in connection.

Read More Namtar God of Death click

DANTALIAN - Dark Empress -Chant To Ereshikigal

Lyrics:

Oh grand thunders in the darkest night

Wake her up from eternal sleep

Dark Empress is rise in the night

And guides me to the moon empire

Your secrets are the magic of the night

Between the whispers of the lost soul

Your eyes are fire shining in darkness

You are beast of Satan, the most powerful creation

Dark Empress seduce me

I desire to sleep eternally

Dark empress open the gates of hell

I give you the blood

Of children in your hands

Take my soul, fill it with hate

And baptize me in blasphemies

She is Dark Empress, her name is Ereshkigal!

Oh Ereshkigal

You have triumphed over your sister Isthart

Oh Ereshkigal

You're mother of earth, mother of Irkalla

The Anu's daughter returns from hell...

The dark forest is her empire

Her ghost walks into the night

In the darkness of this ritual

Finally hear her mystic call

You pertain to the other side of portal

Your presence will be forever immortal

Pictures, Videos, Music and Additional Reading

Herbst9 Ereškigal, Rise from your throne. Enchantment Ambient

Ereshkigal

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereshkigal

In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal (Sumerian: 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒆠𒃲 DEREŠ.KI.GAL, 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. 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".

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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. 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.

The woman depicted in the relief is acknowledged to be a goddess as she wears the horned headdress of a deity and holds the sacred rod-and-ring symbol in her raised hands. Not only is the woman winged but her legs taper to bird talons (which seem to grip the lion's backs) and she is shown with a dew claw on her calves.

Along the base of the plaque runs a motif which represents mountains, indicating high ground. Who the winged woman is, however, has not been agreed upon though scholars generally believe her to be either Inanna (Ishtar), Lilith, or Ereshkigal. The piece is presently part of the collection of the British Museum, Room 56, in London.

Source: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/658/the-queen-of-the-night/#google_vignette

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/ereshkigal-mighty-mesopotamian-goddess-underworld-0010004

Black Omen - Nergal And Ereshkigal

Lyrics

The controller of summer and heat

To the world of underground hath he come on the command of the Gods

In order to apologize to Ereshkigal,

The queen of the dead and cold

But at last he was seduced by the infernal beauty of her body

And after Nergal left, Ereshkigal cried her eyes out

She got frantic with his love and sent Namtar the herald

To catch and bring him to Hell

In order to be able to hug him again

If he didn't come back, she would resurrect the dead

And they would gnaw the alive

The dead would outnumber the alive

Nergal hath to knuckle under to desires of the “great anger”

Through the stairway to Hell ascended he from the sky

Beat the guards of 7 gates and reached to the throne saloon

Catching Ereshkigal, he threw her down the throne

By grabbing her hair and dragged her

Ereshkigal, crying, begged for marrying

She would leave him the kingdom of prime lands

She would give him the wisdom tablets

Nergal gave out and embracing his dark lover

Accepted to share his throne with her.

Source: https://www.ssense.com/en-me?utm_source=polyvore.com&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=301_Redirect

Ugarit - Chant of Ereshkigal

Djilia Phralengo - Ereshkigal

Photo by Борис Баширов

Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/40887635/Ereshkigal