Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer

A collection of mythological stories about the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, gleaned from stone tablets from 2000 BCE. The stories begin with Inanna rescuing a Huluppu tree from the wild waters of the Euphrates River. Other stories relate to Inanna gaining wisdom from the god Enki after getting him drunk on beer, her courtship and love with the shepherd Dumuzi, her descent into the Underworld and its consequences, and several hymns of praise in her honour.

The second half of the book is an academic examination of the stories, starting with a Sumerian history and cultural background from cuneiform translator Samuel Noah Kramer, an exegeseis of the tales themselves by folklorist Diane Wolkstein and descriptions of the various artworks show more photographed in the book.

I found it fascinating not only because the stories were strong: Innana's strength and character shine through undimmed by the intervening millenia; but also for the cross-disciplinary academic collegiality of the authors and the story of the excavation and translation of the tablets themselves. show less

Profound, funny and horrifying in turn - and sometimes simultaneously. What more can one want from a myth cycle?

(I will admit that I kind of want to tag this "wondrous vulva" though; that's a phrase I'll never forget!)

"Inanna" is a decent book but one that ultimately suffers from not knowing what it wants to be, wavering between history text and Z. Budapest-ish women's spirituality book. The bulk of the book is comprised of Wolkstein's "retelling" of her Sumerologist friend's translations of the ancient hymns and texts of the goddess Inanna. She states that she's rewritten these texts to be more listener- and reader-friendly; this apparently mainly consisted of removing the repetitive passages. Unfortunately, this also has the unintended consequence of removing the ambiance of the stories, which feel rather stripped due to this treatment so that I found myself wishing that the repetitious passages had been left intact. The second half of "Inanna" show more contains a brief history of Sumerian civilization and an academic history of the Inanna texts. It's well-written, but teasingly brief. The saving grace of the volume is its copious black and white photographs of Sumerian votive tablets, seal scripts, and texts. They've all been carefully selected to match scenes from the hymns and stories, and are provided with detailed explanations as to their provenance and what they are meant to depict. My end verdict is that while this book will not wholly satisfy someone looking for a retelling of Inanna's story or offer much new material to a hardcore historian, it's a good general introduction to both. show less

This is the first modern and poetic rendering of the Queen of Heaven materials recovered from 400 cuneiform lines on the clay tablets excavated from Nippur, Sumer's center. [127] Many have contributed to the deciphering. [201] Half of the book is Commentary by Samuel Noah Kramer.
Remarkably, the work is illustrated with photographic reproductions of contemporary artifacts and decoration.
"She called to her bridegroom: 'The bed is waiting!' He put his hand in her hand. He put his hand to her heart. Sweet is the sleep of hand-to-hand. Sweeter still the sleep of heart-to-heart." [42] Inanna, known as Lillith, the first wife of Adam in Hebrew mythology, was quite a love. When she wasn't coming back from the Dead! [67]
Make a mental note -- show more this is a Great poem to read aloud and terrify small children! show less

Recommended by BMcH. Crazy, like a trip to the zog people, only it's my relatives. I once had a "wild-haired enkum-creature" as a pet. My copy is from the Erie, Illinois high school and still has the date due sheet and the pocket for the library card. Nobody ever took it out.

Finally read most of this after moving it around for 40+ years. Interesting interpretations of the poetry and legends by Wolkstein and interesting history of the discoveries of the texts and of the history and culture of Sumer by Kramer.

Here we have the collected translations of the Inanna cycle of tales from Ancient Sumer. Along with the tales there are commentary from both Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Kramer on the way in which the original tablets were found and how the translations were made.

Kramer's part focuses on how the pieces of the tablets were found by different excavation teams and how he and a few others eventually connected the various pieces and figured out that they were part of the same story cycle.

After the tales, there are a series of hymns also dedicated to Inanna. Many of these seem to be either for marriage rites or temple/altar worship based on the text.

If, like me, you're interested in learning more about some of the earlier myths from the "cradle show more of civilization," this is definitely a book worth reading. show less