On the doors and bolts is spread dust.
When Ishtar reached the gate of the land of no return
She spoke to the porter at the gate
“Porter, open thy gate,
Open thy gate, I will enter.
If thou dost not open thy gate, and I do not enter,
I will strike the door, I will break the bolt,
I will strike the threshold and break down the door.
I will raise up the dead to consume the living,
The dead shall be more numerous than the living!”
The porter opened his mouth and spoke,
Spoke to the powerful Ishtar:
“Stay, my lady, do not break it down,
I will go and announce thy name to the queen Allatu.”
The porter then informs Allatu that her sister Ishtar stands at the door. The goddess is displeased at the news but bids the porter open the door and treat her according to the “ancient laws.” These demanded that she should lose some part of her apparel at each of the seven gates of the under-world until she stood naked before the throne of its goddess. At the first gate the porter takes away her crown and she asks: “Why, O porter, dost thou take the great crown from my head!” He answers: “Enter, O lady, for these are the commands of the mistress of the world.” At each gate Ishtar remonstrates at having her ornaments taken from her, and each time the porter returns the same answer.
When Ishtar comes before Allatu, the latter commands her messenger Namtar to smite the goddess with disease in all parts of her body. But while Ishtar is being detained in the lower world, all life has stopped on the earth’s surface. The gods demand her release. A being is specially created to bring her back. The rest of the story and the meaning of this and the flood myth is told by C. P. Tieleo as follows:a
The story of Ishtar’s descent into hades is unmistakably a nature myth, which describes in picturesque fashion her descent into the under-world to seek the springs of living water, probably the central force of light and heat in the world. When she is imprisoned there by Allatu, the goddess of death and of the shadow world, and even visited with all sorts of diseases, all growth and generation stand still in the world, so that the gods take council and decide to demand her release. Ea accordingly creates a wonderful being a kind of priest, called “his light shineth,” who is to seek out the fountain of life, and whom Allatu cannot withstand, however much she may scold and curse. The goddess is set free, returns to the upper world and brings her dead lover Tammuz back to life by sprinkling him with the water of immortality. This myth is not cosmological nor ethical, but has already become a pure anthropomorphic narration, the physical basis for certain episodes and details of which is often not clear, and which has a tendency to strengthen belief in immortality. The account of the flood also, which we have in several versions and which was itself put together out of various parts, some of them heterogeneous, betrays the fact that it was put together by a polytheist and originated in a nature myth. But the nature myths as such lie already so far behind the author, there is such a naïve humour in the way the gods are represented, everything happens in such a human fashion—one needs only to think of Ishtar’s complaint that she has created men but no brood of fishes, of the sly excuse with which Ea excuses himself to Bel for having rescued his favourite from the destruction planned by the latter, one needs only to hear how Bel is preached at by the wise Ea for his unreasonable and blind passion, and how the great Ishtar declares him to have forfeited his share of the sacrifice, and then see how he silently acknowledges his wrong by himself accompanying the man over whose rescue he had become so excited, and raising him with his family to a place among the gods—one needs only to think of all this to see that the narrator made use of the mythological material only to describe the fall of sinful humanity and at the same time to remind his hearers that the gods always have means at their command, such as hunger, pestilence, and wild beasts, to punish the evil-doer.o
The Babylonian view of life after death was particularly gloomy. There was no hope of anything better. The highest state of happiness pictured was to lie on a couch and drink clear water; even for the pious it was a place of gloom. And there was no possibility of escaping from it. Sit-napishtim tells Gilgamish in this connection that death must come to all (we translate again from the version of Jeremiasn):
So long as houses are built,
So long as contracts are made,
So long as brothers quarrel,
So long as enmity exists,
So long as rivers bear their waves [to the sea]
........
The Anunnaki and the great gods determine fate
And Mammetum, the creator of destiny, with them.
They determine life and death,
The days of death are not known.h
We have seen the legend telling of a visit to the lower world; there are two which tell of visits to heaven. One is in connection with Etana. In Asshurbanapal’s library were a series of tablets containing the Etana legend. One portion of the story tells how Shamash helped Etana to find a plant which would help his wife in child-birth. Another narrates how Etana mounted to heaven on the back of an eagle. They pause at different stages to look at the earth beneath them. At the first stop: “The earth appears like a mountain, the sea has become a pool.” They go further and the eagle again calls to Etana to look at the earth. This time the sea looks like a belt around the earth. The next time he looks the sea has become a mere gardener’s ditch. After reaching the gate of Anu, Bel, and Ea, the eagle wants to go still further and persuades Etana to accompany him to Ishtar’s abode. They fly until the earth appears a mere “garden bed,” but here the rash attempt of the eagle to reach the highest regions appears to be punished. The two are hurled down from heaven upon the earth. Another part of the legend tells of a deceit practised upon the eagle by the serpent, aided by Shamash, in which the eagle dies a miserable death.
The second story of a visit to heaven is found in the legend of Adapa. This legend was on one of the tablets found at Tel Amarna. Adapa is a son of the god Ea, and is represented as serving in his temple. One day as he is fishing in the sea the south wind overturns his boat. Adapa then fights with the south wind and succeeds in breaking its wings so that it does not blow for seven days. At the end of this time Anu, in heaven, becomes aware that the south wind has not been blowing and inquires the reason. When told, he becomes very angry that anyone should have had the audacity to interfere with any of his creatures. He accordingly sends for Adapa to appear before him. Ea gives his son advice as to his conduct, telling him how to secure the good favour of the two porters at the gate, one of whom is Tammuz. He tells him further: “When thou comest before Anu, they will offer thee food of death—do not eat. Water of death they will offer thee—do not drink. They will offer thee a garment—put it on. They will offer thee oil—anoint thyself.” Adapa then reaches heaven, and everything happens as Ea has told him. Only the food and water which are offered him are of life not of death, and thus Adapa loses his chances of eternal life. Anu looks at him in amazement and exclaims: “O Adapa, why didst thou not eat and drink? Now thou canst not live.” Here, as in the case of Adam in the biblical story, whose name by the way may possibly be identical with Adapa, we see that a deceit was practised on man. In each case he is told that the food and water of life will bring him death, although the Babylonian story differs from the biblical in that the former freely and gladly accords man knowledge, as represented by the clothing and oil for anointment, which may be regarded as symbols of civilisation.
In the Euphrates valley religion was very closely associated with the actual life of the nation. The temples were storehouses and banking establishments; the priests were lawyers and scribes. Every historical inscription contains a reference to the gods. Victory was due to their intervention. Nothing was conceived without them. Their festivals were the great events of the year. The German excavating society has recently brought to light the old procession street between Babylon and Borsippa over which the image of the god Nabu used to be carried on his annual visit to Marduk at Babylon. This street was decorated with glazed, coloured tiles, representing a stately procession of lions and other beasts, which show a high grade of artistic talent.