soldiers hurried out of her way. She didn’t seem to mind that none of them wished to touch her; she’d cultivated her reputation as someone to be feared over many years—a reputation that was completely true from what I’d heard. “I am Ereshkigal,” she said to me. The torchlight around us showed off her long, dark dress, although
soldiers hurried out of her way. She didn’t seem to mind that none of them wished to touch her; she’d cultivated her reputation as someone to be feared over many years—a reputation that was completely true from what I’d heard. “I am Ereshkigal,”
Ereshkigal (Sumerian: "Queen of the Great Earth")
Mesopotamian/Sumerian mythology - goddess of Kur (underworld/land of the dead)
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".
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.
The two main myths involving Ereshkigal are the story of "Inanna's Descent to the Underworld" and the story of Ereshkigal's marriage to the god Nergal. Other myths also associate her with gods such as Ninazu, originally regarded as her husband but later as a son, and Ningishzida.
Abode: Kur or Irkalla
Parents: Nanna and Ningal (implicitly, following the most common genealogy of Inanna)
Siblings: Utu and Inanna (younger siblings according to Inanna's Descent)
Consort: Ninazu, Gugalana, later Nergal
Children: Nungal, Ninazu, Namtar (in only one text)
Equivalents: Greek equivalent - Hecate (only in a late magical papyrus), Hurrian equivalent - Allani, Hittite equivalent - Sun goddess of the Earth, Hattian equivalent - Lelwani
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