ORIGIN Mesopotamian (Sumerian and Babylonian-Akkadian) [Iraq]. Chthonic underworld goddess.
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 3500 BC or earlier to 200 BC or later.
SYNONYMS ALLATU(M).
CENTER(S) OF CULT none.
ART REFERENCES plaques, votive stelae, glyptics,etc.
LITERARY SOURCES creation epics and other texts including Inana’s Descent and the Death of Dumuzi.
Eresˇkigal is the consort of NERGAL and queen of the underworld. She is also the mother of NINAZU. According to some texts she was once a sky goddess who was abducted by the monstrous deity Kur. She lives in the palace of Ganzir and equates with the Greek PERSEPHONE.
Arguably, Eresˇkigal may be seen as a dark alter ego of the goddess INANA and is identified in some texts as her elder sibling. Her consort is also identified as GUGULANA. In legend Eresˇkigal is challenged by Inana but after judgment by the seven Annunaki, the underworld goddess renders her a corpse for three days until she is revived through the intervention of ENKI, the god of wisdom. In western Semitic pantheons Eresˇkigal becomes Allatu.
Witch's Well 