he goddess Ishtar is badly treated upon entering it. The
place is synonymous with inactivity and decay; and, though the goddess
returns, the conclusion drawn is that the exception proves the
inexorable rule. A goddess may escape, but mortals are doomed to
everlasting sojourn, or rather imprisonment, in the realm presided over
by Allatu and her consort Nergal. The tale begins with a description of
the land to which Ishtar proceeds:

To the land whence there is no return, the land of darkness (?)[1154]
Ishtar, the daughter of Sin, turned her mind,
The daughter of Sin turned her mind;
To the house of darkness, the dwelling of Irkalla,
To the house whence no one issues who has once entered it.
To the road from which there is no return, when once it has been
trodden.
To the house whose inhabitants[1155] are deprived of light.
The place where dust is their[1156] nourishment, their food clay.
They[1157] have no light, dwelling in dense darkness.
And they are clothed like birds, in a garment of feathers;
Where over gate and bolt, dust is scattered.

Ishtar, it will be observed, is here called the daughter of the
moon-god, whereas in the Gilgamesh epic she appears as the daughter of
Anu, the god of heaven. Both designations reflect the views developed in
the schools, and prove that the story has been produced under scholastic
influences. The goddess has her place in the heavens, in the planet
bearing her name, and the designation of this planet as the daughter of
Sin can only be understood in connection with the astronomical system,
in which the moon plays so prominent a role[1158] and becomes the father
of all the great gods (except Shamash) who constitute the lesser
luminaries of the night.

Irkalla is one of the names[1159] for a god of the nether world, who is
regarded as the associate of Allatu. The dwelling is elsewhere spoken of
as a 'great palace' in which Allatu and her consort Nergal have their
thrones. A gloomier place than the one described in these opening lines
of the story cannot well be imagined. The picture reflects the popular
views, and up to this point, the doctrines of the school are in
agreement with the early beliefs. The description of the lower world is
evidently suggested by the grave or the cave in which the dead were
laid. The reference to dust and clay as the food of the dead shows that
the doctrine taught in the Gilgamesh epic,[1160] of man's being formed
of clay and r