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277 In an updated translation of the Sumerian version Diane Wolkstein (Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth) explains the nature of the two emissaries as "creatures neither male nor female." A more precise explanation is provided, however, by the Akkadian version, in which Enki/Ea created only one being to save Ishtar. As rendered by E.A. Speiser (Descent of Ishtar to the Nether World) the relevant verses read: Ea in his wise heart conceived an image and created Ashushunamir, a eunuch. The Akkadian term that is loosely translated "eunuch" is assinnu, literally meaning "penis-vagina"—a bisexual being rather than a castrated male (which is what "eunuch" means). That this was the true nature of the creature or crea- tures that baffled Ereshkigal is evident from actual depictions of them in the form of statuettes that have been discovered by archaeologists (Fig. 96a); they appear to possess both male and female organs and thus, by implication, are of no real Sex. Holding a wand or a weapon, these androids belonged to a class of emissaries called Gallu—usually _ translated "demons"—whom we have already encountered in the story of the death of Dumuzi, when Marduk had sent the "sher- Angels and Other Emissaries Figures 96a and 96b