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11 The tale of Inanna/Ishtar is a tale of a "self-made goddess." Nei- ther one of the Olden Gods, the original group of astronauts from the Twelfth Planet, nor even a firstborn daughter of one of them, she nevertheless propelled herself to the highest ranks and ended up a member of the Pantheon of Twelve. To achieve that she com- bined her cunning and her beauty with ruthlessness—a goddess of war and a goddess of love, who counted among her lovers both gods and men. And it was she of whom there had been a true case of death and resurrection. Inasmuch as the death of Dumuzi was brought about by Inanna's desire to become a queen on Earth, the imprisonment and exile of Marduk did little to satisfy her ambitions. Now, having challenged and prevailed over a major god, she felt she could no longer be de- prived of a domain of her own. But where? The funeral of Dumuzi, one gathers from such texts as Inanna 's Descent to the Lower World, was held in the Land of Mines in southern Africa. It was the domain of Inanna's sister Ereshkigal and her spouse Nergal. Enlil and Nannar, even Enki, advised Inanna not to go there; but she made up her mind: "From the Great Above she set her mind toward the Great Below"; and when she arrived at the gate of her sister's capital city, she said to the gatekeeper: "Tell my elder sister, Ereshkigal," that she had come "to witness the funeral rites." One would expect the meeting between the sisters to have been heartwarming, filled with sympathy for the bereaved Inanna. We learn instead that Inanna, who came uninvited, was received with unrestrained suspicion. As she was let through the seven gates of the city leading to Ereshkigal's palace, she was made to give up her emblems and regalia of divine status. When Inanna finally came into the presence of her sister, she found her sitting on her throne surrounded by seven Anunnaki with a judicial capacity. "They fastened their eyes upon her, the eyes of death." They said angry things to her, "words which torture the spirit." Instead of being welcomed, Inanna was sentenced to be hung as a corpse from a 229 "A QUEEN AM I!"