Pagan Portals - Ishtar and Ereshkigal: The Daughters of Sin

by Scott Irvine

Ishtar and Ereshkigal are the daughters of the Moon God Sin and sisters of the Sun God Shamash and members of a family of deities called the Anunnaki who arrived from the heavens to the earth many thousands of years ago. Ishtar, as Inanna, was the original goddess of love and the forerunner to all of the fertility goddesses that followed. Ereshkigal was the original ruler of the underworld and the goddess of death. As the queens of heaven and the underworld, Ishtar and Ereshkigal represent the opposing forces that allow life, death and rebirth to occur in the world.

Genres: Mythology

107 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 27, 2020

Reviews

[Haliation · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy crap this is so poorly written and hard to follow. I tried to power through, but I should have known by the disjointed intro that it was not going to be worth my time.

I got to the page that describes (some of the world’s first ever known) writings about Inanna’s vulva as “raunchy stuff even for the 21st century” and calls her the “world’s first pin up girl”.

Gag. You can tell this is written by a dude.

You are better off reading academic texts, even as a beginner. Because this is so disjointed, even if you have to trudge through academic lingo, at least it will have citations and not cringe inducing personal commentary like above.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written

[Ro Capriles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very sloppy scholarship. Gets really basic stuff wrong (Loki shapeshifted into a mare in the story of the Wall Builder, not a stallion). Lots of conflation of deities, going back and forth between their Babylonian and Sumerian names. First chapters are strongest, and by the end he just gave up and started talking about different pantheons.

[Taylor Ellwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ended up being more of a cross culture mythological jaunt than an exploration of Ishtar and Ereshkigal. The author spent a lot of time on other mythologies, trying to connect those mythologies to the myths of Ishtar and Ereshkigal, but it would have been nice if the focus had stayed on the actual topic. He explored the topic some, but a lot of the time the book just didn’t come together the way it could have, if there had been more focus on the actual mythology the book is supposed to be about.

[Ernesto I. Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both a deeper look into the nature of Ishtar, Ereshkigal, and the other Annunaki god's from Sumeria and Assyria, and how they relate with later myths (the Greek, the Norse, the Indian, and even the Celts) both directly and indirectly and how the trip of Ishtar to the Underworld to confront her sister can be related to the chakras of the body and the space on our reality.

Good material, everything I need for what I am working on, thanks!

[Karen Plummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing

I had high expectations of this book but was very disappointed. It is badly written (needs a good editor) and unfocused. I expected more information about Ishtar and Ereshkigal and the stories about them. Instead, the author seemed more focused on how other cultures adapted them into their own religions (the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, etc.)

I gave it 2 stars because I did gain some interesting information but even 2 stars feels too generous.

[EIJANDOLUM · Rating 2 out of 5]

One the goddess of love,
the other Queen of night.