The Descent of Inanna as a Ritual Journey to Kutha

Two complementary articles dealing with the Sumerian tale Inanna's descent to the netherworld, with a survey of Near Eastern Venus deities. Buccellati proposes that the Inanna of the story was not only a divine person, but was, in addition, a statue on a ritual journey from southern to northern Babylonia (Kutha). Heimpel rediscovers that she was also, in addition to these two aspects, the planet Venus. One may wonder about this seemingly illogical con cept, but the conclusion appears to be inescapable -that the Sumer ians combined all three aspects in their belief about the same deity in the same tale.