Why did Inana Ascend from the Netherworld So Many Times?
The Literary Growth of Inana’s Descent, 282-306
Keywords:
Inana’s Descent to the Netherworld, Related Expansion, HomoearchtonAbstract
Lines 282-306 in the work Inana’s Descent to the Netherworld are the opening lines of the section situated between two literary units: the recounting of Inana’s journey to the netherworld and the recounting of Dumuzi’s descent to the netherworld. These lines are characterized by various textual differences, as well as multiple repetitions of the phrase “Inana ascended from the netherworld,” in both the temporal and indicative clauses. By examining each one of the repetitive phrases and its adjacent paragraph, the article traces the gradual development of that passage from one sentence into a paragraph of ca. 30 lines.
References
Alster, B. 1975. “On the Interpretation of the Sumerian Myth ‘Inanna and Enki’.” In: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 64, 20-34.
Alster, B. 2011. “Variation in Sumerian Myths as a Reflection of Literary Creativity.” In: Hagen, F., Johnston, J., Monkhouse, W. and Piquette, K. (eds.), Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East: Literary and Linguistic Approaches. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 189. Leuven, Peeters, 55-79.
Anbar, M. 1988. “La Reprise.” In: Vetus Testamentum 38, 385-398.
Attinger, P. 2021. “La descente d’Innana dans le monde infernal (1.4.1).” In: Zenodo 1. 10.5281/zenodo.2599618. <https://zenodo.org/record/4603728>.
Ayali-Darshan, N. 2017. “The Formation of the Prayers in the Nabonidus’ Inscriptions Nbn 4 and Nbn 5: Between Lower and Higher Criticism.” In: Baruchi-Unna, A., Forti, T.L., Ahituv, S., Eph’al, I. and Tigay, J.H. (eds.), “Now It Happened in Those Days”: Studies in Biblical, Assyrian, and ANE Historiography Presented to Mordechai Cogan on His 75th Birthday. Vol. 2, Winona Lake, In., Eisenbrauns, 525-535.
Ayali-Darshan, N. 2021. “The Editorial Technique of Resumptive Repetition: The Cosmogony and the Anthropogony in Enūma Eliš.” In: The Israel Oriental Studies Annual 21, 50-70.
Cohen, M.E. 1981. Sumerian Hymnology: The Eršemma. Cincinnati, Hebrew Union College.
Cuperly, B. 2021. “Betrayal, Regrets, Flies and Demons: Philological and Historical Analysis of Dumuzi’s Catabasis in the Sumerian Epic Innana’s Descent to the Netherworld.” PhD Diss., Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
Delnero, P. 2012. The Textual Criticism of Sumerian Literature. Journal of Cuneiform Studies 4 Suppl. 3. Boston, American Schools of Oriental Research.
Ferrara, A.J. 2006. “The Size and Versions of Inanna’s Descent.” In: Guinan, A.K. and Waters, M. (eds.), If a Man Builds a Joyful House: Assyriological Studies in Honor of Erle Verdun Leichty. Cuneiform Monographs 31. Leiden-Boston, Brill, 127-138.
Ferrara, A.J. 2010. “UET 6/1 11. Dumuzi and Geštinanna: A Heuristic Reappraisal.” In: Stackert, J., Porter, N. and Wright, D.P. (eds.), Gazing on the Deep: Near Eastern and Other Studies in Honor of Tzvi Abusch. Bethesda, CDL Press, 27-47.
George, A.R. 2003. The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition, and Cuneiform Texts. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Jacobsen, T. 1976. The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion. New Haven, Yale University Press.
Katz, D. 1996. “How Dumuzi Became Inanna’s Victim: On the Formation of ‘Inanna’s Descent.” In: Acta Sumerologica 18, 93-103.
Katz, D. 2003. The Image of the Netherworld. Bethesda, CDL Press.
Katz, D. 2015. “Myth and Ritual through Tradition and Innovation.” In: Archi, A. (ed.), Tradition and Innovation in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the 57th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale at Rome, 4-8 July 2011. Winona Lake, In., Eisenbrauns, 59-73.
Kramer, S.N. 1950. “‘Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World’ Continued and Revised.” In: Journal of Cuneiform Studies 4, 199-214.
Kramer, S.N. 1980. “Sumerian Literature and the British Museum: The Promise of the Future.” In: American Philosophical Society 124, 295-312.
Kuhl, C. 1952. “Die Wiederaufnahme: Ein literarkritisches Prinzip?” In: Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 64, 1-11.
Peterson, J. 2019. “The Literary Sumerian of Old Babylonian Ur: UET 6/3 in Transliteration and Translation with Select Commentary Part 1/3”. Cuneiform Digital Library Preprints 2019 (15.0). <https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/articles/cdlp/15.0>.
Polak, F. 1999. Biblical Narrative: Aspects of Art and Design. The Biblical Encyclopaedia Library 11. Jerusalem, Mosad Bialik (in Hebrew).
Rofé, A. 2011. “Studying the Biblical Text in the Light of Historico-Literary Criticism: The Reproach of the Prophet in Judg 6:7-10 And 4QJUDGa.” In: Lange, A., Tov, E. and Weigold, M. (eds.), The Dead Sea Scrolls in Context: Integrating the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Study of Ancient Texts, Languages, and Cultures. VT Suppl. 140/1. Leiden-Boston, Brill, 111-123.
Seeligmann, I.L. 1962. “Hebraische Erzahlung und biblische Geschichtsschreibung.” In: Theologische Zeitschrift 18, 312-324.
Ska, J.-L. 2006. Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch (trans. by Dominique, P.). Winona Lake, In., Eisenbrauns.
Sladek, W.R. 1974. “Inanna’s Descent to The Netherworld.” PhD Diss., John Hopkins University.
Wilcke, C. 1973. “Politische Opposition nach sumerischen Quellen: der Konflikt zwischen Königtum und Ratsversammlung. Literaturwerke als politische.” In: Finet, A. (ed.), La voix de l‘opposition en Mesopotamie: colloque organisé par l‘Institut des Hautes Etudes de Belgique, 19 et 20 mars 1973. Bruxelles, Institut des hautes etudes de Belgique, 37-65.
Wilcke, C. 1993. “Politik im Spiegel der Literatur, Literatur als Mittel der Politik im Alteren Babylonien.” In: Raaflaub, K. (ed.), Anfänge politischen Denkens in der Antike: die nahostlichen Kulturen und die Griechen. Munich, R. Oldenburg Verlag, 29-75.
Worthington, M. 2012. Principles of Akkadian Textual Criticism. Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Records 1. Boston-Berlin, De Gruyter.
Zakovitch, Y. 1979. “Review of: Rofé, Alexander. Book of Balaam.” In: Ḳiryat Sefer 54, 785-789 (in Hebrew).
Zgoll, A. 2020a. “Condensation of Myths. A Hermeneutic Key to a Myth about Innana and the Instruments of Power (Me), Incorporated in the Epic Inana’s Descent.” In: Sommerfeld, W. (ed.), Dealing with Antiquity: Past, Present & Future. RAI Marburg. Alter Orient Und Altes Testament 460. Münster, Ugarit Verlag, 475-494.
Zgoll, A. 2020b. “Durch Tod zur Macht, selbst über den Tod.” In: Zgoll, A. and Zgoll, C. (eds.), Mythische Sphärenwechsel: Methodisch neue Zugänge zu antiken Mythen in Orient und Okzident. Mythological Studies 2. Berlin-Boston, De Gruyter, 83-160.
Zgoll, A. and Zgoll, C. 2020. “Innana-Ištars Durchgang durch das Totenreich in Dichtung und Kult. Durch Hylemanalysen zur Erschließung von Spuren mythischer Stoffvarianten in kultischer Praxis und epischer Verdichtung.” In: Arkhipov, I., Kogan, L. and Koslova, N. (eds.), The Third Millennium: Studies in Early Mesopotamia and Syria in Honor of Manfred Krebernik and Walter Sommerfeld. Cuneiform Monographs 50. Leiden-Boston, Brill, 749-801.
