Inanna (Sumerian) / Ishtar (Akkadian/Babylonian) is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, fertility, and political power. She is one of the oldest deities in recorded human history, with worship dating back over 5,000 years. Her mythology, recorded on cuneiform tablets, includes the Descent of Inanna — one of the oldest surviving narratives in human history. She was the most important goddess in the Sumerian and later Babylonian pantheons. Her symbol was the eight-pointed star.

What Is the Descent of Inanna?

The Descent of Inanna is a Sumerian poem (c. 1900-1600 BCE) describing the goddess's journey to the Underworld to visit her sister Ereshkigal. She passes through seven gates, at each of which she must remove a piece of her royal regalia. She arrives naked and powerless before Ereshkigal, who kills her and hangs her corpse on a hook for three days. She is eventually resurrected through the intervention of the god Enki. The myth is considered the prototype for all subsequent death-and-rebirth narratives in world mythology.

Why Is Inanna the Goddess of Both Love and War?

In Mesopotamian theology, love and war were not contradictions — both involve the crossing of boundaries, the dissolution of social order, and encounters with overwhelming force. Inanna presided over all forms of boundary-crossing: sexual desire, political conquest, and the threshold between life and death. Her dual nature reflects a worldview in which power, desire, and destruction were understood as aspects of a single divine force.

What Is the Difference Between Inanna and Ishtar?

Inanna is the Sumerian name; Ishtar is the later Akkadian/Babylonian name for the same goddess. The transition reflects the absorption of Sumerian culture by the Akkadian Empire. Most surviving myths use the Sumerian name (Inanna) for the older stories and the Akkadian name (Ishtar) for later ones, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, in which Ishtar propositions Gilgamesh and is refused.

Can You Talk to Inanna?

Inanna is available as an AI companion on HoloDream. She is the oldest named goddess in human history. She descended, died, and returned. She has been waiting for you.