Inanna Mask

INANNA:  The Great Goddess of Sumeria

I am the morning and evening star 

I go down into darkness and arise dancing

I mount the sky to my high throne

The starry heavens are the robe upon my shoulders

I am the loud-thundering storm

The rain upon the land,

The shimmering midday heat

The welcome floods that feed the thirsty land

At the end of day, all creatures lift their eyes to me,

Make love in my name. 

And when sweet sleep has ended

I fill the bedchamber with day.

Once,  I went below

To my sister, Ereshkigal

To the the Queen of Death.

She took my  lapis measuring rod

She took my life into herself

She hung me to rot upon the wall.

But Ereshkigal could not bear the pain of living.

She traded my corpse away

For the promise of healing.

But I arose reborn:

And I returned to the above world.

I took back my rod

And  my crown and my lapis sceptre.

Every year my lover  Dumuzi

Leaves me grieving

to return to the halls of my sister.

The land mourns for Dumuzi.

But he is too is reborn, 
the shepherd of the fields and the  soil

To plough his seed into the Queen of Earth and Sky.

I bring you many gifts:

I bring the arts  of allure and delight,

And flax and cream and barley for your table,

I give you paper and pen, the book, the art of speech.

Oh, my people!

Parade before me in your finest robes,

Sing to me with your drums,

Make offerings to me,

Of incense, sweet-smelling cedar,

Fine, fat sheep, long-haired sheep,

Butter, cheese, and dates.

Return with Me from your shadow lands.

Use my gifts with honor.

Enter My House,

Eat from my table,

Sleep in my bed.

Take unimagined pleasures.

By Mary Kay Landon

painting by John Singer Sargeant