Inanna

Inanna is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility, also associated with sensuality, divine law, and political power. Originally worshipped in Sumer, she was known by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians as Ishtar. Her primary title is "the Queen of Heaven."

She was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple in Uruk, her main cult center. In archaic Uruk, she was worshipped in three forms corresponding to the phases of Venus. Her prominent symbols include the lion and the eight-pointed star. Her husband is Dumuzid (Tammuz), and her attendant is the goddess Ninshubur.

Inanna was worshipped since the Uruk period (c. 4000 – 3100 BCE), becoming widely venerated after Sargon of Akkad's conquest. Her cult continued through the East Semitic peoples who absorbed Sumerian culture. The Assyrians especially revered her, elevating her above their national god Ashur. Her influence extended to Ugaritic Ashtart and Phoenician Astarte, possibly shaping the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Her cult flourished until declining between the first and sixth centuries CE with Christianity's rise.

Inanna appears in more myths than any other Sumerian deity and possesses numerous epithets. Many myths involve her acquiring domains from other gods, including receiving the mes (aspects of civilization) from Enki and taking the Eanna temple from An. With her twin Utu (Shamash), she enforces divine justice. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar's rejected advances lead to the Bull of Heaven's release and Enkidu's death.

Her most famous myth describes her descent to the underworld ruled by her sister Ereshkigal. After being struck dead by the underworld judges, she is rescued through Enki's intervention. However, her husband Dumuzid is dragged down as her replacement, later permitted to spend half the year above while his sister Geshtinanna spends the other half below, creating the seasonal cycle.