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ERESHKIGAL

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 736 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ERESHKIGAL , also known as ALLATU, the name of the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief Babylonian goddess of the nether-See also:

WORLD

world where the dead are gathered. Her name signifies " See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

lady of the nether-world." She is known to us chiefly through two myths, both symbolizing the See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change of seasons, but intended also to illustrate certain doctrines See also:

DEVELOPED

developed in the See also:

temple-See also:

SCHOOLS

schools of Babylonia. One of these myths is the famous See also:

story of See also:

ISHTAR

Ishtar's descent to Irkalla or Aralu, as the See also:

LOWER

lower world was called, and her reception by her See also:

SISTER

sister who presides over it; the other is the story of See also:

NERGAL

Nergal's offence against Ereshkigal, his banishment to the See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom controlled by the goddess and the reconciliation between Nergaland Ereshkigal through the latter's offer to have Nergal See also:

SHARE (O. Eng. scearu, chiefly in compounds, e.g. land-scearu, a share of land, from sceran to cut; cf. " shear" )

share the honours of the See also:

RULE

rule over Irkalla. The story of Ishtar's descent is told to illustrate the possibility of an See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape from Irkalla, while the other myth is intended to reconcile the existence of two rulers of Irkalla—a goddess and a See also:

god. It is evident that it was originally a goddess who was supposed to be in See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of Irkalla, corresponding to Ishtar in control of fertility and vegetation on See also:

earth. Ereshkigal is therefore the sister of Ishtar and from one point of view her counterpart, the See also:

SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol of nature during the non-productive See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season of the See also:

YEAR

year. As the See also:

DOCTRINE

doctrine of two kingdoms, one of this world and one of the world of the dead, becomes crystallized, the dominions of the two sisters are sharply differentiated from one another. The addition of Nergal represents the harmonizing tendency to unite with Ereshkigal as the See also:

queen of the nether-world the god who, in his See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character as god of See also:

war and of pestilence, conveys the living to Irkalla and thus becomes the one who presides over the dead. (M.

End of Article: ERESHKIGAL

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