The Epic Story of Inanna - Ancient Sumerian SPIDER Goddess!

Inanna, also known as Ishtar in Mesopotamian mythology, was a powerful goddess of love, fertility, and war in Ancient Sumerian mythology.

Ancient Sumerian culture existed in the southern part of Mesopotamia, which is now modern-day Iraq, during the 4th to 3rd millennium BCE. The Sumerian civilization was one of the earliest civilizations in world history, rising to affluence in 2900 BC, and was known for its development of writing, advanced architecture, and innovations in agriculture, trade, and governance. The Sumerians left behind a rich legacy of myths, legends, and religious beliefs that have greatly influenced later civilizations in the region, including the Babylonians and the Assyrians. The decline of the Sumerian civilization is believed to have been due to a combination of factors, including political unrest, invasions by neighboring peoples, and environmental factors such as droughts and famine.

One of their most famous and confusing deities was called Inanna. Inanna was the daughter of the moon god Nanna and related to the queen of the underworld, Ereshkigal. Inanna was a complex goddess, embodying both the beauty and joy of life, as well as the darker aspects of death and the underworld. She was the goddess of love, fertility, war, and wisdom and was considered one of the most powerful deities in the Sumerian pantheon.

One lesser-known aspect of Inanna's mythology is her association with the spider. According to some legends, Inanna was said to have created the first spider, which was given the task of weaving her personal garments. The spider was said to be a symbol of life and fertility, and its intricate webs were seen as symbols of Inanna's creation and power.

In another story, Inanna was said to have once journeyed to the underworld, where she was held captive by her sister. When Inanna arrived in the underworld, she was immediately seized by the gatekeeper and stripped of her royal garments, leaving her naked and vulnerable. Ereshkigal, who was the ruler of the underworld, was not pleased with Inanna's visit and ordered her to be killed and hung from a hook on the wall.

After three days and three nights, Inanna's loyal servant, Ninshubur, went to the gods and begged for their help to rescue Inanna from the underworld. The gods agreed to help and created two creatures, the Kurgarru and the Kalaturru, to go to the underworld and rescue Inanna.

However, when the creatures arrived in the underworld, they found that they were unable to free Inanna from the hook on the wall. Ereshkigal was unmoved by their pleas and refused to release Inanna.

In despair, the creatures returned to the surface and spun a web, hoping to trap some of Ereshkigal's powers. As they spun their web, they turned into the first spiders, and their webs became symbols of creation, life, and death.

Eventually, Inanna was able to escape the underworld with the help of the god Enki, who tricked Ereshkigal into releasing her. Inanna returned to the surface, bringing with her the powers of the underworld and the knowledge of death.

Interestingly, the goddess associated with spinning, weaving, and the creation of textiles in Ancient Summerian Myths, who was often depicted as a spider, was named Uttu, who some stories describe as Inanna’s daughter.

In one of the most well-known stories about Uttu, she was said to have been approached by the goddess Inanna, who asked her to create a garment that would help Inanna win the favor of the god of the underworld, Ereshkigal. Uttu agreed to help Inanna, and she used her skills as a weaver to create a garment that was both beautiful and powerful. When Inanna donned the garment, she was able to safely navigate the dangerous underworld and win the favor of Ereshkigal.

Upon researching this myth I was, like you may feel right now, confused by characters like Ereshkigal who is described in one story as a goddess of the underworld and in others as the god of the underworld. Some stories say Ereshkigal is her mother, while others refer to her as Inanna’s sister. Apparently, Inanna was believed to have the ability to change a person’s gender. This power, the ability to change a man into a woman and vice versa, is well accounted for in multiple poetry fragments and is indicative of the existence of people living outside the gender binary in ancient Mesopotamia. Some articles even suggest Ancient Sumerian culture consisted of 3 genders and during the process of translating these myths into other languages, the translators had to assign either the masculine or feminine to the deities as their languages and cultures didn’t really have a word or the ability to accurately translate the definition for the Sumerian references to this third gender.

Nonetheless, the story of Uttu and Inanna reflects the importance of textile production and the role of women in ancient Sumerian society. Textiles were a valuable and highly sought-after commodity in ancient Mesopotamia, and women were often responsible for spinning, weaving, and producing cloth. Uttu's association with the creation of textiles, as well as her depiction as a spider, also highlights the cultural beliefs about the power of weaving and the interconnectedness of life and the natural world.

Despite the decline of the Sumerian civilization, Uttu and Inanna continued to be remembered and revered as the goddess of spinning, weaving, and textiles in later civilizations in the region, including the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

From then on, spiders were considered sacred creatures, symbols of creation and the cycle of life and death. The story of Inanna and the creation of the first spider, Uttu, is a reminder of the power and importance of wisdom, and the cycles of life and death, of creation and destruction, that are inherent in all things. Throughout ancient Mesopotamian culture, spiders were revered for their role in the creation of life and their association with the goddess Inanna. They were seen as sacred creatures that embodied the essence of fertility, and were revered for their intricate webs, which were believed to symbolize the power of the goddess to bring life into the world.

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