"Inanna's Descent / Ending" English Translation by Bendt Alster

Text summary

From: Journal article · Bendt Alster · 1996

"Inanna's Descent, Ending" is an English translation of the ending of the Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld Sumerian afterlife myth. It was published in 1996 by Bendt Alster. The translation is from Sumerian cuneiform to English, across two pages, and composed of twenty-eight lines (lines 385-413). The translation is mainly based on an artifact named CBS 6894.
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Text: Partial Transliteration, Collation (full)

Sumerian  ⟶  English a

LineTranslation
p. 13
Translation
385Holy Inanna wept bitterly on behalf of her husband.
386(CBS 6894 r. 8) The old female (mourners) started to perform a lament.
387(CBS 6894 r. 9) . . . the men beat him.
388(CBS 6894 r. 10) . . . they ... in their hand.
389(CBS 6894 r. 11) . . . they fettered his hands.
390She tore our (her hair like rushes), she pulled out (her hair like reeds).
p. 14
391“(You,) wives who lie in your husbands’ laps, where is my precious husband?
392“(You,) children who lie in your husbands’ laps, where is my precious husband?
393“[Where is] my [husband], where is . . .
394“[Where is] my [husband], where is ”
395The fly spoke to holy Inanna:
396“If I, the fly, show you where your man is, what will you give me?”
397Holy Inanna answered the fly:
398“[You], if you show me where my man is, I will give you a gift!
399“I will cover . . .”
(Line 400 is not included)
401The fly [showed] Inanna [where Dumuzi was].
402Inanna decreed the fate for the fly:
403“In the beer house, in the wine house,
404you will live with the sons of the clever men!”
405[Now], this was the fate decreed by Inanna, thus it is indeed!
406[Inanna(?)] wept [on behalf of her husband(?)]:
407“(Unintelligible). . .
408“Now, woe, my(?) . . .
409“You half the year, and your sister half the year,
410“The day when you are asked, on that day you will stay!
411“The day when your sister is asked, on that day you will be released!”
412Because Holy Inanna made Dumuzi distinguished^),
413Holy Ereškigal, your praise is sweet!
Source(s) a Alster, "Inanna Repenting", 13–14 launch .

Original source data

Page images a

Sourceomnika.conscious.aiRetrieval date08/02/2020
Sourceomnika.conscious.aiRetrieval date08/02/2020
Source record No.p. 13MediumPrintImage date1996CreatorBendt AlsterSource notesAlster, "Inanna Repenting," 13.
Source record No.p. 14MediumPrintImage date1996CreatorBendt AlsterSource notesAlster, "Inanna Repenting," 14.
Source a Alster, "Inanna Repenting", 13–14 launch .

Background

"Inanna's Descent, Ending" is an English translation of the ending of the Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld Sumerian afterlife myth. It was published in 1996 by Bendt Alster. The translation is from Sumerian cuneiform to English, across two pages, and composed of twenty-eight lines (lines 385-413). The translation is mainly based on an artifact named CBS 6894. The article was published in a journal named Acta Sumerologica. This translation was an extremely important component of the decipherment of Inanna's Descent because it used various artifacts to reconstruct the ending of the myth.

Alster's publication translated the ending of the Sumerian myth by closely comparing the only artifacts that have intelligible lines of the ending of the myth:

Alster's main focus was the CBS 6894 tablet, which he used to construct a suitable ending for Inanna's Descent.

Cite this page

MLA Modern Language Association (8th ed.)

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Inanna's Descent, Ending": English Translation by Bendt Alster." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 20 Jun. 2019, omnika.org/stable/205. Accessed 4 Dec. 2024.

APA American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

OMNIKA (2019, June 20). "Inanna's Descent, Ending": English Translation by Bendt Alster. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/205

CMS Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.)

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. ""Inanna's Descent, Ending": English Translation by Bendt Alster." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created June 20, 2019. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://omnika.org/stable/205.

Bibliography

YPM BC 018686, c. 1900-1600 BCE. Clay tablet. YPM BC 018686 [formerly YBC 4621], Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, CT. Accessed August 2, 2022. https://collections.peabody.yale.edu/search/Record/YPM-BC-018686.
Alster, Bendt. "Inanna Repenting: The Conclusion of Inanna’s Descent." Acta Sumerologica 18 (1996): 1-18.
Anonymous creator, CBS 6894, c. 1900–1600 BCE. Clay tablet. CBS 6894. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Anonymous creator, UET 6/1 10, c. 1900–1600 BCE. Clay tablet. UET 6/1 10, The British Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Dedović, Boban. "'Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld': A centennial survey of scholarship, artifacts, and translations." Undergraduate seminar paper. University of Maryland, College Park, 2019.
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About

Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld Afterlife myth Myth icon
Sumerian Belief system
Inanna Main deity

Inanna descends from the great above to the great below. She abandons several temples and heads for open country. She gives precise instructions to her companion—Ninsubur: Inanna says "if I don't return in three days, go to the temples and plead on my behalf." At the netherworld she enters and goes through seven gates before she is turned into a corpse. Ninsubur follows the instructions and tells Inanna's father Enkil what happened. He helps her by sending two a-sexual creatures to sneak in and bring her back to life. Once Inanna is alive she ascends while being escorted by demons from the netherworld. The demons allow her to trade her husband Dumuzi in her place.