In Mesopotamian mythology, Ereshkigal was the goddess of the underworld or Irkalla (the land of the dead). Her name translates as 'Queen of the Great Below' or 'Lady of the Great Place.’ Sometimes her name is given as Irkalla, similar to the way the name Hades was used in Greek mythology for both the underworld and its ruler.
Ereshkigal is a granddaughter of Enlil, and the older sister of the goddess, Inanna (the Queen of Heaven, and later known as Ishtar) and best known for the part she plays in the famous Sumerian poem The Descent of Inanna (c.1900-1600 BCE). Inanna and Ereshkigal represent polar opposites.
She is wife of Nergal, the king of death who brings disease, plague, and all misfortunes caused by heat.
In Sumerian myths, Ereshkigal was the only one who could pass judgment and give laws in her kingdom. The main temple dedicated to her was located in Kutha.
By the time of the Old Babylonian Period (c. 2000-1600 BCE) Ereshkigal was widely recognized as the Queen of the Dead.
Although goddesses lost their status later in Mesopotamian history, early evidence clearly shows the most powerful deities were once female.
In later times, the Greeks and Romans appear to have syncretized Ereshkigal with their own goddess Hecate. In the heading of a spell in the Michigan Magical Papyrus, which has been dated to the late third or early fourth century A.D., Hecate is referred to as "Hecate Ereschkigal" and is invoked using magical words and gestures to alleviate the caster's fear of punishment in the afterlife.
It’s interesting to see that the story of Ereshkigal and her husband Nergal is a “gender-swapped” version of the more famous Persephone/Hades story, even though Ereshkigal is much older than the Greek story.
Her husband Nergal actually seems to be in part a solar deity, sometimes identified with Shamash, but only a representative of a certain phase of the sun. Portrayed in hymns and myths as a god of war and pestilence, Nergal seems to represent the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, high summer being the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.
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