The Sumer Poem Inanna
The Sumer poem of Inanna is a metaphoric tale of a woman who surreptitiously acquires her
birthright, an inheritance of dominance and provision for her people. Inanna, Queen of Heaven and
Earth possess seductive powers of persuasion, uses her wits and prowess to rejoin the heavens and
earth with the underworld. The poem begins with the story of creation ... and when heaven had moved
away from the earth, and the earth separated from heaven (P 4) so were the gods separated from the
underworld. A deep desire arose within Inanna s grandfather Enki, the God of Wisdom and the Waters.
Enki missed his granddaughter Ereshkigal, who was deigned to reign over the underworld. Ereshkigal
was also imprisoned by her kingdom and could not leave. When ... Show more content on
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Inanna must arm herself with powers and she chose the following me: a crown, lapis beads, a royal
robe, she anointed her eyes, bound a breastplate around her chest, slipped a gold ring over her wrist
and took the lapis measuring rod and line in her hand (P 53). Inanna is not sure if she has chosen the
correct me for this task, so she instructs her sukkal as to a backup plan in case she does not return.
When Inanna is at the gates of the underworld, she is asked why she has come. She says she wants to
witness the funeral rites of her dead brother in law, however, she is not coming to her sister Ereshkigal
in truth. The aspects of the me are a mix of tangible and intangible concepts. The crown, the robe, the
colorful garment , are all physical tangible aspects of her superiority. Inanna chose not to use the art of
lovemaking, the art of the elder or the art of power (P 17). She carefully selected seven me to take on
her journey to the underworld. All were tangible aspects of her status in life, a ruler, a lawmaker,
seductive and fertile all things her sister was not. He sister is dismayed (P 57) at the display, and
orders that each of the seven gates to the underworld be bolted, until Inanna agrees to strip off another
of her garments, so that by the seventh gate, Inanna will appear before her sister naked and completely
exposed, naked and bowed low (P 60). Truth was not one of the gifts Inanna brought with her. As
Inanna
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