THEORY
IN THEORY: INANNA,
THE QUEEN OF THE
EARTH AND SKY
Article By Devon | Artwork By Michele Trocchia
T
hough now somewhat forgotten, Inanna was
became the sacred marriage of Sumerian culture,
a prime deity of the ancient Sumerians, one
ritually embodied every year by the current king of
of the oldest cultures of the world, dating almost
men to cement his status and maintain tradition.
as far back as the ancient Egyptian dynasties. As
To not do so would have put the world of man out of
culture flourished in the Mesopotamian region,
favor with the gods--and Inanna in particular. It was
so too did Inanna, the Lady of Heaven. She was
her will that filled the land with bountiful crops, and
originally consigned to be worshipped as a young
to break this accord would have been unthinkable.
fertility goddess under the thumb of a patriarchal
Her ambition granted her free expression of
priesthood, but ever the ambitious and complicated
love and let her delight in warfare, but went further,
goddess, Inanna would never settle. Instead, she
beyond her physical conquests of both kinds, to
rose to great prominence and a rather unique
culture itself. As the patron deity of the city-state
place in all of mythology, carving out her own place
of Uruk, Inanna is seen as the driving force behind
as the divine bringer of both love and war, of both
its rise to prominence in written history. Once, she
life and death. And in each of her twin roles she
tricked Enki, god of the waters of life, into getting
immersed herself fully, holding nothing back.
drunk. In his stupor he let her escape with hundreds
“
Young Inanna was
far simpler, mindful
of her elders and
her family, but she
was still headstrong
and quite willful.
”
Young Inanna was far simpler, mindful of her
of Me tablets, containing the very written laws of
heaven and earth, the blueprints for life and culture.
Even her city of Uruk and her temple there, Eanna or
‘the house of heaven’, were trophies to her; after a
conversation with her brother about it, she marched
across the land to Eanna herself and claimed it
from her father Anu, the king of heaven. Despite
his surprise at her journey and at her arrogance in
claiming the temple for herself, he was impressed,
elders and her family, but she was still headstrong
and Uruk remained Inanna’s seat of power thereafter.
and quite willful. When betrothed to her husband,
This all brought her from a simple mother goddess,
Dumuzi, she first insisted he prove himself a man
the aspect of Venus, to being the very spirit of love and
deserving, and only agreed to the forced marriage
war, and one of the chief gods of the Sumerian people.
when he had done so, and pledged his love to her. This
28 The Official SMITE Magazine Issue #19
Then, if any still doubted her strength, there’s
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