Nergal and Ereshkigal
c. 1400–700 BCE · Middle Babylonian to Standard Babylonian · Amarna; Sultantepe
Nergal and Ereshkigal survives in two recensions: a short version found at Amarna in Egypt (c. 1400 BCE) and a longer Standard Babylonian version from Sultantepe. Both tell of the god Nergal's journey to the underworld and his unexpected relationship with its queen. When Ereshkigal cannot attend a divine feast, she sends her vizier Namtar to collect her portion. Nergal fails to rise in respect — an insult — and must descend to face her wrath. The god Ea warns him to refuse all underworld hospitality for six days; he resists but on the seventh day succumbs when Ereshkigal appears before him seductively dressed. They share a bed for three days. Nergal flees back to heaven. Ereshkigal, bereft, threatens to release the dead to eat the living unless he is returned. Nergal descends again, seizes Ereshkigal by the hair, and Anu grants him kingship over the underworld beside her.
notes
A rare ancient love story set entirely in the realm of death. The Amarna copy demonstrates that Mesopotamian mythology circulated as far as the Egyptian court in the Late Bronze Age.
currently held: British Museum, London; various