Geshtinanna was a
Mesopotamian goddess best known due to her role in myths about the death of
Dumuzi, her brother. It is not certain what functions did she fulfill in the Mesopotamian pantheon, though her association with the scribal arts and dream interpretation is well attested. She could serve as a scribe in the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
, where according to the myth ''
Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
's Descent'' she had to reside for a half of each year in place of her brother.
Evidence for the worship of Geshtinanna is mostly available from
Early Dynastic state of
Lagash, where she had her own cult center, Sagub. She was also present in the pantheons of other cities, for example in
Uruk
Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
and
Tell al-Rimah
Tell al-Rimah is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq). Its ancient name may have been either Karana or Qattara. It is located in Nineveh Province (Iraq), roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar re ...
. She ceased to be venerated after the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...
, though even later on she was still mentioned in god lists and in literary texts, some of which were still copied during the period of
Seleucid rule over
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
.
Name
The oldest writing of Geshtinanna's name was Amageshtin or Amageshtinanna, as attested in documents from
Lagash from the
Early Dynastic period. There is no agreement over whether Amageshtin was a shortened form of Amageshtinanna or if the
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
-''anna'' was added to a pre-existing name, but Manfred Krebernik argues the latter is more likely, as Amageshtin is attested as an ordinary personal name in the Early Dynastic period. In later sources, the form "Geshtinanna" was the most commonly used one. It might have developed due to the prefix ''ama'' (
Sumerian
Sumerian or Sumerians may refer to:
*Sumer, an ancient civilization
**Sumerian language
**Sumerian art
**Sumerian architecture
**Sumerian literature
**Cuneiform script, used in Sumerian writing
*Sumerian Records, an American record label based in ...
: "mother") being considered an
epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
. In
Emesal, a dialect of Sumerian, the name was rendered as Mutinanna. The conventional translation of the standard form of the name is "
grapevine of heaven," though it is possible that the word ''geštin'' also had the metaphorical meaning "sweet" or "lovely."
A further variant of the name was Ningeshtinanna. The
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
sign
NIN can be translated as "lady," "queen" or "mistress" when used in the names of female deities, and it could sometimes be added as a prefix to names of established goddesses, in addition to Geshtinanna for example
Aruru or
Aya. This form of Geshtinanna's is attested for example in the ''Canonical Temple List'' and in the name of a skin disease, hand of Ningeshtinanna. A shorter form also including the sign NIN, Ningeshtin ("lady of the vine") is known from inscriptions on seals from the
Kassite period
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...
.
It has additionally been pointed out that Ninedina, a direct Sumerian equivalent of the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
name
Belet-Seri
Belet-Seri was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as a scribe in the court of the underworld goddess Ereshkigal. She could be regarded as the Akkadian counterpart of Sumerian Geshtinanna, but the name could also function as a title of Ašratum, the ...
, which designated a goddess who corresponded to Geshtinanna, can be found in the early
Fara god list already, but it is unknown if this goddess was one and the same as Geshtinanna.
Andrew R. George
Andrew R. George (born 1955) is a British Assyriologist and academic best known for his edition and translation of the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''. Andrew George is Professor of Babylonian language, Babylonian, Department of the Languages and Cultures ...
argues that in
Bad-tibira, the cult center of
Dumuzi, Geshtinanna was known under the name Ninsheshegarra. He points out the existence of a reference to such a goddess being worshiped in the temple Esheshegarra ("house established by the brother") in this city.
Character
Geshtinanna's functions remain unclear. It is known that she was the ''dubsar-mah aralike'', "chief scribe of the
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld.
...
." This role is described in detail in one of the ''
Udug-hul
The udug (), later known in Akkadian as the utukku, were an ambiguous class of demons from ancient Mesopotamian mythology who were sometimes thought of as good and sometimes as evil. In exorcism texts, the "good udug" is sometimes invoked agai ...
'' incantations. She was believed to be responsible for keeping track of the dead, and for permitting them to enter the underworld. However, it is possible her association with the underworld was only a secondary development. Her association with scribal arts and surveying is also attested in other contexts, where she is a heavently, rather than underworld, deity. The myth ''Dumuzi's Dream'' describes her as the "scribe proficient in tablets" and "singer expert in songs" and highlights her wisdom. Similar associations are present in various poems from the reign of
Shulgi.
She was also associated with dream interpretation, though this function could generally be assigned to female deities. Tonia Sharlach additionally argues that she was connected with vegetation, but it is not known if her name has any relation to her role.
Her iconography is unknown, but it is possible that the depictions of a goddess accompanied by a
mushussu known from Lagash can be identified as her, with the mythical beast serving as a representation of
Ningishzida, her husband in the local tradition. The mushussu was portrayed looking at the goddess in such works of art.
Worship
The worship of Geshtinanna is attested for the first time in the
Early Dynastic period. However, she was a goddess of minor importance overall. An early center of her cult was Sagub, a settlement located near
Lagash. At least two references to ''gudu'' priests connected to her cult in the state of Lagash are known. Under the name Amageshtin, she appears in an inscription of
Urukagina. She had a temple in
Girsu
Girsu ( Sumerian ; cuneiform ) was a city of ancient Sumer, situated some northwest of Lagash, at the site of modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq.
History
Girsu was possibly inhabited in the Ubaid period (5300-4800 BC), but sign ...
, built by
Ur-Baba
, title=Ruler of Lagash
, image=Diorite Statue of Ur-Ba'u, Prince of Lagash, c. 2130 BC.jpg
, image_size=250
, caption=Diorite Statue of Ur-Ba'u (Ur-Baba), Prince of Lagash. Louvre Museum, AO 9.
, spouse=
, reign=c. 2100 BC
, father=
, predecessor= ...
. It is possible that another temple dedicated to her, the Esagug, was located in Sagub. It was rebuilt by
Enannatum I, and subsequently desecrated during a raid of
Lugalzaggesi. He reportedly plundered the precious metals and
lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
the statue of Geshtinanna was decorated with, and then threw it into a well. A later ruler of Lagash, Gudea, dedicated multiple statues to Geshtinanna. While he invoked many members of the Mesopotamian pantheon in his inscriptions, three of them - Geshtinanna,
Nanshe
Nanshe ( sux, ) was a Mesopotamian goddess in various contexts associated with the sea, marshlands, the animals inhabiting these biomes, namely bird and fish, as well as divination, dream interpretation, justice, social welfare, and certain admin ...
and
Ningirsu - were singled out as those who "turned their ''zi'' gaze" to him, a term apparently normally referring to the way they looked at other deities.
Geshtinanna was also worshiped around
Uruk
Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
as one of the deities associated with
Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
and
Dumuzi. However, her connection with this city was not as pronounced as that between her and the territory of Lagash. It is possible that the temple Esheshegarra in
Bad-tibira was dedicated to her. It was built by
Ur-gigir
Ur-gigir (, ''ur-gigir'') was the son of Ur-nigin and a Governor ( ensi) of Uruk who lived in 22nd century BCE.
According to the Sumerian King List, Ur-gigir's father Ur-nigin destroyed the Akkadian Empire, which had probably already be weakened ...
of Uruk, son of
Ur-nigin
Ur-nigin, also Ur-nigina (, ''ur-niŋin'') or Ur-nigar (, ''ur-ni-gar'') was a Governor ( ensi) of Uruk who lived in 22nd century BCE.
According to the Sumerian King List, Ur-Nigin destroyed the Akkadian Empire, which had probably already be wea ...
. A temple dedicated jointly to her and Dumuzi, the Eniglulu, "house of teeming flocks," is also attested, but its location is unknown. The Sumerian term ''niglulu'' often appears in compositions about Dumuzi and refers to his herds.
Later sources show that Geshtinanna continued to be worshiped through the
Ur III period
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
, as attested in documents from Girsu,
Puzrish-Dagan
Puzrish-Dagan (modern Drehem) is an important archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate (Iraq). It is best-known for the thousands of clay tablets that are known to have come from the site through looting during the early twentieth century ...
and
Umma. Those from the last of these cities identify the center of her local cult as KI.AN
ki, a nearby town which was associated with
Shara. The Puzrish-Dagan texts indicate she was worshiped in one of the royal palaces, though not necessarily in a fixed location, with
Ur, Uruk and
Nippur
Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
all being possibilities. One of the royal celebrations dedicated to her might have been related to the funerary cult and involved a visit of the goddess in the palace. A single document mentions offerings made to her alongside those to
Ninisina
Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
,
Dagan and
Ishara. A references to Geshtinanna being celebrated in the temple of
Ninsun
Ninsun (also called Ninsumun, cuneiform: dNIN.SUMUN2; Sumerian: ''Nin-sumun(ak)'' "lady of the wild cows") was a Mesopotamian goddess. She is best known as the mother of the hero Gilgamesh and wife of deified legendary king Lugalbanda, and appea ...
in
Kuara
The Bulgar god of thunder and the son of Tangra the Bulgar supreme deity. Kuara (also known as Kvara) was held in particular reverence by the early Danube Bulgars. This Oghur Turkic deity corresponds to Common Turkic Kayra who was believed to be ...
is also known. An unusual phenomenon attested in this period was the apparent identification of
Shulgi's mother SI.A-tum (reading uncertain) as a manifestation of Geshtinanna. No other queen from the
Third Dynasty of Ur
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century Common Era, BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians c ...
was deified in any way, nor was
Ur-Nammu, its founder and Shulgi's father.
In the
Old Babylonian period
The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynasty ...
, Geshtinanna was worshiped in
Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past.
History of archaeological research
Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited b ...
, Nippur, Uruk and
Tell al-Rimah
Tell al-Rimah is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq). Its ancient name may have been either Karana or Qattara. It is located in Nineveh Province (Iraq), roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar re ...
(Qattara). References to her are known from personal letters from this period, though they are uncommon. The frequency of her appearances in them is lower than that of popular deities, such as Ishtar,
Annunitum,
Aya,
Ninsianna
Ninsianna ( Sumerian: "Red Queen of Heaven") was a Mesopotamian deity considered to be the personification of Venus. This theonym also served as the name of the planet in astronomical texts until the end of the Old Babylonian period. There is evid ...
or
Gula, and comparable to
Ninmug
Ninmug or Ninmuga was a Mesopotamian goddess. She was associated with artisanship, especially with metalworking, as evidenced by her epithet ''tibira kalamma'', "metalworker of the land." She could also be regarded as a goddess of birth and assist ...
's,
Ninkarrak
Ninkarrak ( akk, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒋼𒀀𒊏𒀝, '' dnin-kar-ra-ak'') was a goddess of medicine worshiped chiefly in northern Mesopotamia and Syria. It has been proposed that her name originates in either Akkadian or an unidentified substrate langua ...
's or
Ninegal
Ninegal (also spelled Ninegalla) or Belat Ekalli (Belet-ekalli) was a Mesopotamian goddess associated with palaces. Both her Sumerian and Akkadian name mean "lady of the palace."
From Mesopotamia the worship of Ninegal spread to Elam in the e ...
's.
Only a few
theophoric name
A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...
s invoking Geshtinanna are known. Examples include Gu-Geshtinannaka, Geme-Geshtinanna, Lu-Geshtinanna and Ur-Geshtinanna. Only a single attestation of one of them, specifically Ur-Geshtinanna, occurs in documents from Early Dynastic Lagash.
Active worship of Geshtinanna ceased after the Old Babylonian period, but she continued to appear in god lists and especially in literary texts about Dumuzi as late as in the
Seleucid period.
Associations with other deities
Geshtinanna's brother was
Dumuzi. It has been argued that she was imagined as older than him, since she could be referred to with epithets such as ''ama'' ("mother") and ''umma'' ("old woman" or "wise woman"). Their mother was
Duttur. An alternate tradition, attested in a hymn of
Shulgi, refers to
Anu
Anu ( akk, , from wikt:𒀭#Sumerian, 𒀭 ''an'' “Sky”, “Heaven”) or Anum, originally An ( sux, ), was the sky father, divine personification of the sky, king of the gods, and ancestor of many of the list of Mesopotamian deities, dei ...
and his wife
Urash
Uraš or Urash ( sux, 𒀭𒅁), in Sumerian religion, is a goddess of earth, and one of the consorts of the sky god Anu. She is the mother of the goddess Ninsun and a grandmother of the hero Gilgamesh.
However, ''Uras'' may only have been anot ...
as Geshtinanna's parents.
Belili
Belili was a Mesopotamian goddess. This name refers both to a sister of Dumuzi known from some of the texts pertaining to his death, and to a primordial deity paired with Alala and listed in enumerations of ancestors of Anu. There is no consensus ...
was regarded as a sister of Geshtinanna and Dumuzi. It has been suggested that she could be viewed as an equivalent of Geshtinanna. However, Manfred Krebernik discusses Belili and Gesthinanna as two independent goddesses each of whom could be described as Dumuzi's sister. They also both appear in the myth ''Dumuzi's Dream'', each in a separate role.
Due to Dumuzi's marriage to
Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
, Geshtinanna was the
sister-in-law of this goddess. She is directly referred to as her "beloved sister-in-law" in the composition labeled as ''Inanna D'' in modern literature, though she is only listed after the members of her immediate family (
Ningal,
Suen
Nanna, Sīn or Suen ( akk, ), and in Aramaic ''syn'', ''syn’'', or even ''shr'' 'moon', or Nannar ( sux, ) was the god of the moon in the Mesopotamian religions of Sumer, Akkad, Assyria, Babylonia and Aram. He was also associated with ...
,
Utu
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
, Dumuzi) and
Ninshubur, addressed as the "beloved
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
."
A network of
syncretic relations existed between Geshtinanna,
Azimua,
Belet-Seri
Belet-Seri was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as a scribe in the court of the underworld goddess Ereshkigal. She could be regarded as the Akkadian counterpart of Sumerian Geshtinanna, but the name could also function as a title of Ašratum, the ...
and, by extension, with
Ashratum (also known under the Sumerian name Gubarra). From the reign of
Gudea
Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a'') was a ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled circa 2080–2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144-2124 BC (middle chronology). He probably did not come from the city, but had marr ...
of Lagash to the
Ur III period
The Third Dynasty of Ur, also called the Neo-Sumerian Empire, refers to a 22nd to 21st century BC (middle chronology) Sumerian ruling dynasty based in the city of Ur and a short-lived territorial-political state which some historians consider t ...
, it was common for Geshtinanna to be identified with
Azimua, who the wife of
Ningishzida. In a tradition originating in Lagash, Geshtinanna came to be viewed as Ningishzida's spouse herself. However, in
Old Babylonian god list she is kept apart from Ningishzida. From the same period onward, Belet-Seri started to be recognized as the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
counterpart of Geshtinanna. However, Belet-Seri also functioned as an epithet of Ashratum. In a handful of cases Geshtinanna is therefore listed as the wife of
Amurru Amurru may refer to:
* Amurru kingdom, roughly current day western Syria and northern Lebanon
* Amorite, ancient Syrian people
* Amurru (god)
Amurru, also known under the Sumerian name Martu, was a Mesopotamian god who served as the divine perso ...
instead of her. Julia M. Asher-Greve cites two examples of
cylinder seals from Old Babylonian
Sippar where Geshtinanna is paired with
dMAR.TU (Amurru).
In the myth ''Dumuzi's Dream'', Geshtinanna is assisted by the goddess Geshtindudu, described as her "adviser and girlfriend." The relationship between Geshtinanna and Geshtindudu is regarded as unique due to being based on friendship. It has been suggested that some works of art showing a pair of goddesses stands side by side might represent Geshtinanna and Geshtindudu.
In the
Weidner god list, Geshtinanna is placed near the circle of deities associated with
Ishkur
Hadad ( uga, ), Haddad, Adad (Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm and rain god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions.
He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. ...
, after his wife
Shala
Shala (Šala) was a Mesopotamian goddess of weather and grain and the wife of the weather god Adad. It is assumed that she originated in northern Mesopotamia and that her name might have Hurrian origin. She was worshiped especially in Karkar an ...
, their son
Misharu,
Ishara and the deity
dMAŠ''-da-ad''. Daniel Schwemer based on a later text assumes
dMAŠ''-da-ad'' was a form of the weather god himself worshiped in the city of Pada, but Manfred Krebernik argues it should be read as Pardat, "the dreadful," the name of a sparsely attested goddess also known from the god list ''
An = Anum
''An = Anum'', also known as the Great God List, is the longest preserved Mesopotamian god list, a type of lexical list cataloging the deities worshiped in the Ancient Near East, chiefly in modern Iraq. While god lists are already known from the ...
''. He proposes that she, Ishara and Geshtinanna were placed one after another because of their shared association with the underworld. The association between Geshtinanna and Ishkur is not attested in any later god lists, but they are invoked together in some blessing formulas in letters from
Tell al-Rimah
Tell al-Rimah is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Nineveh Province (Iraq). Its ancient name may have been either Karana or Qattara. It is located in Nineveh Province (Iraq), roughly west of Mosul and ancient Nineveh in the Sinjar re ...
. There is however no indication that they were regarded as a couple, and it is likely Geshtinanna appears in these texts due to being the personal deity of one of the writers.
Mythology
![Mythe du dieu dumuzi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Mythe_du_dieu_dumuzi.jpg)
Geshtinanna commonly appears in compositions about the death of
Dumuzi, where she is one of the three most frequently recurring mourning goddesses, next to
Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
and
Duttur. Occasionally she also appears in texts about the death of other similar gods, for example
Damu, normally mourned by his mother
Ninisina
Ninisina ( Sumerian: "Mistress of Isin") was a Mesopotamian goddess who served as the tutelary deity of the city of Isin. She was considered a healing deity. She was believed to be skilled in the medical arts, and could be described as a divine ph ...
and sister
Gunura instead.
''Dumuzi's Dream''
In ''Dumuzi's Dream'', Geshtinanna interprets the eponymous dream and informs Dumuzi that it foretells his death. She refers to the assailants as bandits, indicating that in this composition belonged to the tradition in which Dumuzi's death was caused by an attack of evil men, rather than any events pertaining to Inanna. However, Geshtinanna also identifies the attackers as ''
galla''. It is possible she uses the term in its historical, rather than mythical, sense, which is supported by the description of the assailants as inhabitants of specific Mesopotamian cities, though it is also possible that a secondary source used by the compiler belonged to a tradition involving demons of the underworld. The historical ''galla'' were most likely officials of the judiciary, possibly analogous to
policemen
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
or
deputies
A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
, but in literary texts they can be described not only as agents of law, as bandits and finally as demons. While Dumuzi is in hiding, Geshtinanna and her adviser Geshtindudu wait for the ''galla'' to arrive to warn him. Later the ''galla'' try to bribe her to offer them information about Dumuzi's whereabouts, but she refuses. They leave her alone and instead approach Dumuzi's unnamed friend instead. While with the help of
Utu
Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...
and
Belili
Belili was a Mesopotamian goddess. This name refers both to a sister of Dumuzi known from some of the texts pertaining to his death, and to a primordial deity paired with Alala and listed in enumerations of ancestors of Anu. There is no consensus ...
Dumuzi manages to escape them for a time, they eventually catch him when he returns to Geshtinanna's sheepfold.
''Dumuzi and Geshtinanna''
Another myth involving Geshtinanna is ''Dumuzi and Geshtinanna'', though Dina Katz remarks that despite its conventional title this text focuses chiefly on the ''galla'' and the roles of Geshtinanna, Dumuzi, and Inanna are passive. Dumuzi hides in Geshtinanna's dwelling after being offered as a substitute to the ''galla'' by Inanna, who in this case was apparently approached by the demons in Uruk and handed her husband over out of fear. The ''galla'' torture Geshtinanna, but she refuses to disclose her brother's location. Katz points out that some elements of this myth overlap with Inanna's Descent'', but the similarity is limited, because the "journey to the netherworld is twisted and presented as a conspiracy of the ''galla'' to dispatch
nanna
Nanna may refer to:
*Grandmother
Mythology
* Sin (mythology), god of the moon in Sumerian mythology, also called Suen
* Nanna (Norse deity), goddess associated with the god Baldr in Norse mythology
* Nana Buluku, Fon/Dahomey androgynous deity cre ...
there against her will." Furthermore, the account of Geshtinanna's torture finds no parallel in any other text.
Other myths
In ''Inanna's Descent to the Underworld'', Geshtinanna is not addressed by name, but it is assumed that she eventually replaces Dumuzi for half of each year in the underworld, where he was himself placed as a replacement for Inanna.
Geshtinanna also appears in the fragmentary myth ''Dumuzi and his sisters'', which has been compared to various compositions focused on
Ningishzida. It involves two sisters, one younger and one older, mourning Dumuzi, who was seized by demons. Geshtinanna, the younger sister, mentions her attempts at confronting one of the captors and pours a funerary libation for her brother, though she eventually concludes this is in vain because he will not be able to receive it.
According to
Wilfred G. Lambert
Wilfred George Lambert FBA (26 February 1926 – 9 November 2011) was a historian and archaeologist, a specialist in Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology.
Early life
Lambert was born in Birmingham, and, having won a scholarship, he was edu ...
, it is possible that a goddess named Ningestinna known from the late myth ''
Theogony of Dunnu'' corresponds to Geshtinanna. The name of the deity she is paired with is not preserved, and due to the unusual nature of this text it is possible that he was not one of the gods usually associated with her.
References
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External links
Compositions about Geshtinanna and Dumuziin the
Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
{{Sumerian mythology
Mesopotamian goddesses
Mesopotamian underworld
Scribes
Wisdom goddesses