Editing Inanna (section)

==Family==
[[File:Marriage_of_Inanna_and_Dumuzi.png|thumb|upright|alt=The marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid|An ancient Sumerian depiction of the marriage of Inanna and [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]]{{sfnp|Lung|2014}}]]

Inanna's twin brother was [[Utu]] (known as Shamash in Akkadian), the god of the sun and justice.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pages=108, 182}}{{sfnp|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=x–xi}}{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|page=36}} In Sumerian texts, Inanna and Utu are depicted as extremely close;{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|pages=36–37}} some modern authors even perceive their relationship as bordering on [[incest]]uous.{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|pages=36–37}}{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=183}} In the myth of her descent into the underworld, Inanna addresses [[Ereshkigal]], the queen of the underworld, as her "older sister,"{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=77}}{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|page=108}} yet the two goddesses almost never appear together elsewhere in Sumerian literature{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|page=108}} and were not placed in the same category in god lists.{{sfnp|Wiggermann|1997|p=47-48}} In some Neo-Assyrian sources, Ishtar is also associated with [[Adad]], with the relationship mirroring that between [[Shaushka]] and her brother [[Teshub]] in [[Hurrian mythology]].{{sfnp|Schwemer|2007|p=157}}

The most common tradition regarded Nanna and his wife Ningal as her parents.{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=230}}{{sfnp|Wilcke|1980|p=80}} Examples of it are present in sources as diverse as a god list from the [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]],{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=45}} a hymn of [[Ishme-Dagan]] relaying how Enlil and Ninlil bestowed Inanna's powers upon her,{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=75}} a late syncretic hymn to [[Nanaya]],{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=116}} and an Akkadian ritual from [[Hattusa]].{{sfnp|Beckman|2002|p=37}} While some authors assert that in Uruk Inanna was usually regarded as the daughter of the sky god [[Anu|An]],{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=108}}{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=88}}{{sfnp|Brandão|2019|pp=47, 74}} it is possible that references to him as her father are only referring to his status as an ancestor of Nanna and thus his daughter.{{sfnp|Wilcke|1980|p=80}} In literary texts, [[Enlil]] or [[Enki]] may be addressed as her fathers{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=108}}{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=88}}{{sfnp|Brandão|2019|p=74}} but references to major gods being "fathers" can also be examples of the use of this word as an epithet indicating seniority.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1        = Asher-Greve |first1 = Julia M.
 |year         = 2013
 |section      = Facets of Change
 |editor-last1 = Asher-Greve |editor-first1 = Julia M.
 |editor-last2 = Westenholz  |editor-first2 = Joan Goodnick  |editor-link2 = Joan Goodnick Westenholz
 |title        = Goddesses in Context: On divine powers, roles, relationships, and gender in Mesopotamian textual and visual sources
 |series       = Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis  |volume = 259
 |location     = Fribourg, DE
 |publisher    = Academic Press
 |page         = 140
 |isbn         = 9783525543825
 |url          = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/135436/1/Asher-Greve_Westenholz_2013_Goddesses_in_Context.pdf
 |access-date  = 26 August 2022
}} 
</ref>

[[Dumuzid]] (later known as Tammuz), the god of shepherds, is usually described as Inanna's husband,{{sfnp|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=x–xi}} but according to some interpretations Inanna's loyalty to him is questionable;{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=108}} in the myth of her descent into the Underworld, she abandons Dumuzid and permits the ''[[gallu|galla]]'' demons to drag him down into the underworld as her replacement.{{sfnp|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=71–84}}{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=93}} In a different myth, ''The Return of Dumuzid'' Inanna instead mourns over Dumuzid's death and ultimately decrees that he will be allowed to return to Heaven to be with her for one half of the year.{{sfnp|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|page=89}}{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=93}} Dina Katz notes that the portrayal of their relationship in Inanna's Descent is unusual;{{sfnp|Katz|2015|p=67-68}} it does not resemble the portrayal of their relationship in other myths about Dumuzi's death, which almost never pin the blame for it on Inanna, but rather on demons or even human bandits.{{sfnp|Katz|1996|p=93-103}} A large corpus of love poetry describing encounters between Inanna and Dumuzi has been assembled by researchers.{{sfnp|Peterson|2010|p=253}} However, local manifestations of Inanna/Ishtar were not necessarily associated with Dumuzi.{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=80}} In [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], the tutelary deity of the city, [[Zababa]] (a war god), was viewed as the consort of a local hypostasis of Ishtar,{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=78}} though after the [[Old Babylonian period]] [[Bau (goddess)|Bau]], introduced from [[Lagash]], became his spouse (an example of a couple consisting of a warrior god and a medicine goddess, common in Mesopotamian mythology{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=38}}) and Ishtar of Kish started to instead be worshipped on her own.{{sfnp|Asher-Greve|Westenholz|2013|p=78}}

Inanna is not usually described as having any offspring;{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=108}} however, in the myth of [[Lugalbanda]], as well as in a single building inscription from the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] ({{circa}} 2112 – {{circa}} 2004&nbsp;BCE), the warrior god [[Shara (god)|Shara]] is described as her son.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=173}} She was also sometimes considered the mother of [[Lulal]],{{sfnp|Hallo|2010|page=233}} who is described in other texts as the son of [[Ninsun]].{{sfnp|Hallo|2010|page=233}} [[Wilfred G. Lambert]] described the relation between Inanna and Lulal as "close but unspecified" in the context of Inanna's Descent.{{sfnp|Lambert|1987|p=163-164}} There is also similarly scarce evidence for the love goddess [[Nanaya]] being regarded as her daughter, but it is possible all of these instances merely refer to an epithet indicating closeness between the deities and were not a statement about actual parentage.{{sfnp|Drewnowska-Rymarz|2008|p=30}}

=== Sukkal ===
{{Main|Ninshubur}}
Inanna's ''[[sukkal]]'' was the goddess [[Ninshubur]],{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|page=94}} whose relationship with Inanna is one of mutual devotion.{{sfnp|Pryke|2017|page=94}} In some texts, Ninshubur is listed right after Dumuzi as a member of Inanna's circle, even before some of her relatives;{{sfnp|Wiggermann|1988|p=228-229}} in one text the phrase "Ninshubur, beloved vizier" appears.{{sfnp|Wiggermann|1988|p=228-229}} In another text Ninshubur is listed even before [[Nanaya]], originally possibly a hypostasis of Inanna herself,{{sfnp|Wiggermann|2010|p=417}} in a list of deities from her entourage.{{sfnp|Stol|1998|p=146}} In an Akkadian ritual text known from [[Hittites|Hittite]] archives, Ishtar's ''sukkal'' is invoked alongside her family members Sin, Ningal, and Shamash.{{sfnp|Beckman|2002|p=37-38}}

Other members of Inanna's entourage frequently listed in god lists are the goddesses Nanaya, [[Kanisurra]], [[Gazbaba]], and [[Bizilla|Bizila]], all of them also associated with each other in various configurations independently from this context.{{sfnp|Stol|1998|p=146}}{{sfnp|Drewnowska-Rymarz|2008|p=23}}
{{Clear}}