Temple of Eanna, Ur (2026)

04/10/2026

Will be back with some new posts in a little bit. Just need to get work-ready and get on top of my uni stuff.

Stay safe and stay healthy everyone ✴️

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! 🩵

02/10/2026

If you've read about the ancient Sumerian language, you might have come across the word 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡. Most surviving evidence that we have of it has been in religious and literary texts (specifically, texts from the Old Babylonian Period and onwards).

𝙀𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡 appears in religious compositions such as hymns and lamentations, which would have been performed by Inanna-Ishtar's priestesses and gala/kalu priests.

I'd say that a lot of the ambiguity around what 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡 was has to do with the contested gender identities of gala and kalu, but that's a topic for another post 😂

In literary texts, the speech of some Goddesses is written in 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡, while Gods and male figures use standard Sumerian (𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙧).

However, we have plenty of Sumerian texts where the words of Goddesses are written in 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙧, which leads us (me lol) to another question: which situations called for Their speech to be written in 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡, and why not in 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙧? (If anyone does know, let me know!!)

In the end, the only thing that we can agree on is that no one really knows who 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡 was for, why they used it, and how they used it 😅 As in, was it only used in writing? Or was it also spoken by Inanna-Ishtar's priests and priestesses on a daily basis?

What do you think?

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! ✴️

29/09/2026

What kind of music do you prefer to play when you're at your altar? 💃🏽

What songs remind you of Inanna-Ishtar? ✴️

These are just a few of my favourites, of which I have way too many!

25/09/2026

I don't usually talk about my personal devotion, but in recent conversations the topic of "how did you find Inanna?" has been asked a lot.

I'd originally tried to write this post the same way I do my others—with bullet points, long sentences, and sometimes unnecessarily detailed descriptions (😅).

Naturally, this method couldn't describe the plethora of emotions that I'd felt after coming across Inanna, and then I eventually ended up with... whatever this post is 😂

This is more for my fellow devotees than those who follow me for my general history-based posts, but I hope that it has some sort of meaning for anyone who reads it.

For the Queen of Heaven and Earth, for the Beloved of An, for the High Priestess of Heaven, for the Morning and Evening Star ❣️

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! ✴️

22/09/2026

𝗡𝗜𝗡-𝗜𝗚𝗜-𝗚𝗨𝗡 | 𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗛-𝗜𝗚𝗜-𝗚𝗨𝗡

Translated as "𝙇𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙄𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙀𝙮𝙚𝙨" or "𝙇𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙮𝙚𝙨," Nin-igi-gun (or Eresh-igi-gun) is an epithet of Inanna.

Helle explains that the word gun3-gun3 can also mean "shining, multi-coloured, dappled, beautiful."

Although most of Inanna's epithets are about Her majesty, power, and radiance as the planet Venus, there are some like this that describe how people may have envisioned Her in physical form.

Imagining Inanna with colourful, iridescent eyes is definitely something I can get behind 🌈

📝 Frayne, D. R., & Stuckey, J. H. (2021). 𝘼 𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙉𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙀𝙖𝙨𝙩. Eisenbrauns.

📝 Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie. 𝙉𝙄𝙉-𝙜𝙪𝙣(𝙖/𝙪). Entry by A. Cavigneaux & M. Krebernik.

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! ✴️

18/09/2026

In honour of Kin-Inanna, or the month of Inanna, I went back to where my devotion started—with Inanna of Uruk 💜

Even in Her earliest form, Inanna was a complex, multifaceted Goddess who was exalted for Her majesty, transcendence of social norms, and fearless ambition.

Although She is commonly known as the daughter of Nanna and Ningal, other traditions associated Her more closely with An and/or Enki.

As my focus for this post was the Uruk Period (and Jemdet Nasr), I didn't address the ritual of 𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙨 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙨, or "sacred marriage".

Although the concept of sacred marriage is believed to have been around during the Uruk Period (with the Warka Vase as a visual example), I believe it wasn't fully codified until the Early Dynastic III (ED III) Period (I could be wrong though, let me know if I am!).

Finally, in the 4th to 3rd millennium BCE, Semitic-speaking groups (such as the Akkadians) were already migrating to Mesopotamia and living alongside the ancient Sumerians—long before the rise of the Akkadian Empire.

It's possible that these Semitic-speaking peoples had arrived with Ishtar already developed (independently of Inanna), or that Ishtar was developed directly because of Inanna's influence.

Either way, we can't prove much about the relationship between Inanna and Ishtar during and prior to the Uruk Period because of the lack of evidence (which is super annoying lol 😩).

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! ✴️

10/09/2026

As promised, here are some Sumerian theophoric names! You can easily replace "Inanna" with the name of your own personal deity.

All of these names come from the Ishtar Gate, a website which was instrumental in the beginning of my journey into Sumerian polytheism.

Unfortunately, the website is now defunct and I have no clue who ran it. If anyone knows, please let me know so that I can accredit them properly!

Where a word was unfamiliar to me, I double checked the cuneiform reading and meaning on the ePSD2 and Wiktionary. I'm far from fluent in Sumerian, so any corrections are welcome ✴️

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! 🏹

07/09/2026

𝗜𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗜 • 𝗜𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗔

Irnini (or Irnina) may have originally been the Akkadian personification of victory, similar to the Hellenic deity Nike.

She was also associated with the Underworld, and was described as being "in the court of Ningišzida".

Irnini became an epithet of Ishtar in Her warlike state. As Irnini, Ishtar was believed to accompany the Akkadian king Naram-Sin in battle, thus securing his victories.

The rest of the hymn can be read on 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘀.𝗼𝗿𝗴 🌱

✍🏽 Wiggerman, F. A. M. (1999). Transtigridian snake gods. In I. L. Finkel & M. J. Geller (Eds.), 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 (pp. 33–55). STYX Publications.

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! ✴️

03/09/2026

Before Ashur in Assyria and Marduk in Babylonia, there was Ishtar: patron deity of the Akkadian Empire ⚔️

Warlike Ishtar was particularly favoured by Sargon and his dynasty, and She was expressed through two names: Ishtar-Annunitum and Ishtar-Ulmash*tum.

Although I've stated that Ishtar-Ulmash*tum was the Ishtar of Akkad (according to Selz, 2000), others believe that the Ishtar of Akkad was actually Ishtar-Annunitum. (Insert "why not both?" gif lol)

Regardless of which one was the "true" Ishtar of Akkad, both Ishtar-Annunitum and Ishtar-Ulmash*tum were integral to the Akkadian Empire, as They were almost always mentioned together in surviving texts.

Over time, Annunitum and Ulmash*tum would become independent deities in Their own right, though They would still be considered as part of Ishtar's entourage. Annunitum in particular was worshipped as far northwest as Mari, and as far east as Elam.

It has been suggested that through Her worship in Elam, Annunitum may have influenced the development of a western Iranian Goddess named Anahiti (associated with Venus), who later merged with the older, eastern Goddess Aradvi Sura Anahita (Goddess of Water).

For more information on Anahita's proposed roots, check out 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙄𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣: 𝘼 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙖 by 𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙯𝙖 𝙌𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞 (2018).
𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! 🏹

27/08/2026

Enheduanna was a High Priestess of Nanna, the Moon God, and the daughter of Sargon of Akkad.

Although she served Nanna in a professional capacity, it is evident from her works that she also shared a special connection with Inanna.

In fact, one of her most famous works, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙄𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖, describes a tumultuous period during the reign of Naram-Sin (aka her nephew).

Rebellions against the Sargonic dynasty (not to be confused with the Sargonid dynasty of Assyria) began popping up, and Enheduanna's city of Ur was no exception. A usurper named Lugal-Ane came to power; but when Enheduanna refused to acknowledge him as the ruler of Ur, he banished her from the city.

In 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, Enheduanna pleads for Inanna to put right what has been done wrong. She states, "I cannot make Dilimbabbar [Nanna] care," possibly meaning that Nanna Himself has not seen, or does not care to see, Enheduanna's predicament.

It must have worked, because Lugal-Ane was defeated and removed, and Enheduanna was restored to her place!

Lesson learned: when you feel like you're in a tight place, whip up some hymns for our beloved Queen of Heaven ✴️😆🩵

𒀭𒈹𒍠𒊩! Inanna be praised! 🏹

Temple of Eanna

04/10/2026

02/10/2026

29/09/2026

25/09/2026

22/09/2026

18/09/2026

10/09/2026

07/09/2026

03/09/2026

27/08/2026

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