{"id":6307,"date":"2025-06-08T17:30:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T00:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/?p=6307"},"modified":"2025-06-09T14:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T21:15:10","slug":"ishtarfest-great-fun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/2025\/06\/ishtarfest-great-fun\/","title":{"rendered":"IshtarFest: great fun!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Woohooo! Successfully presented at IshtarFest, and I think it went pretty well if I do say so myself! Now all that\u2019s left for my summer presentation schedule is the 2025 S\/He Creatrix Studies<\/a> online conference \u2013 yay! It\u2019s hosted by Mago Academy, and the theme is: \u201cMotherize! Motherhood, Matriarchy, and Matriverse Re-deemed in the Cosmic Mother.\u201d It\u2019s all happening next weekend, June 12-15. I\u2019ll be presenting a paper on Friday the 13th<\/sup> (my lucky day!) as part of a group of four presenters, and our session is from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. My (admittedly short but hopefully still interesting!) paper is titled: \u201c\u2019Everyone Gets Lifted Up\u2019: How Spiritual Matrifocal Families Can Enhance Lives and Reduce Systemic Patriarchal Oppressions.\u201d Yes, I know it\u2019s a mouthful, but still: hope to see you there!<\/p>\n

Also, hello to any IshtarFolks who\u2019re stopping by here. This was my first IshtarFest, and I had a fantastic time \u2013 thank you all so much! Since I had a request for a bibliography for my presentation, \u201cInanna and Ebih: Garden of Eden or Arrested Childhood?\u201d I did a hasty run through the house to collect up both my own books, and the library books which I used and not yet returned \u2013 and I think I have everything here? I apologize if I missed anything \u2013 but please, if you find something new and fascinating about Inanna, feel free to let me know!<\/p>\n

Quick Reference List<\/h2>\n

\u201cEnheduanna: The World\u2019s First Named Author.\u201d BBC, 2022, https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/culture\/article\/20221025-enheduanna-the-worlds-first-named-author<\/a><\/p>\n

Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth<\/em>. Ballantine Books, 1912.<\/p>\n

Grahn, Judy. Eruptions of Inanna: Justice, Gender, and Erotic Power<\/em>. Nightboat Books, 2021.<\/p>\n

Helle, Sophus. \u201cRitual Laments.\u201d Enheduana<\/em>, 2020, https:\/\/enheduana.org\/ritual-laments\/<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Koteck, Hadas. \u201cLING 200: Introduction to the Study of Language: Writing Systems.\u201d McGill University, 2016, https:\/\/hkotek.com\/teaching\/intro2015\/week5-writing-systems.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Kramer, Samuel Noah. Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C<\/em>. Revised edition, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1972.<\/p>\n

Kriwaczek, Paul. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization<\/em>. St. Martin\u2019s Griffin, 2012.<\/p>\n

McBride, Nuri. \u201cThe Goddess & the Rose.\u201d Plantings<\/em> issue 22, 2023. https:\/\/worldsensorium.com\/the-goddess-and-the-rose\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meador, Betty de Shong. Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna<\/em>. University of Texas Press, 2001.<\/p>\n

—–. Princess, Priestess, Poet: The Sumerian Temple Hymns of Inanna<\/em>. University of Texas Press, 2009.<\/p>\n

—–. Uncursing the Dark: Treasures from the Underworld<\/em>. Chiron Publications, 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cMesopotamian Goddess Inanna\u2019s Descent into the Underworld.\u201d World History Edu<\/em>, 2024, https:\/\/worldhistoryedu.com\/mesopotamian-goddess-inannas-descent-into-the-underworld\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Monaghan, Patricia, ed. Goddesses in World Culture<\/em>, vol. 2. Revised edition, New World Library, 2014.<\/p>\n

Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature<\/em>. Routledge, 1993.<\/p>\n

Pryke, Louise. \u201cIshtar.\u201d World History Encyclopedia<\/em>, 2019. https:\/\/www.worldhistory.org\/ishtar\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Ruether, Rosemary Radford. Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History<\/em>. University of California Press, 2005.<\/p>\n

Veldhuis, Niek. \u201cLevels of Literacy.\u201d The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture<\/em>. Karen Radner and Eleanor Robson, eds., online edition, Oxford Academic Press, 2012. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199557301.013.0004<\/a><\/p>\n

Wikipedia. \u201cMe (mythology).\u201d https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Me_(mythology)<\/a><\/p>\n

Wolkstein, Diane and Samuel Noah Kramer. Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer<\/em>. Harper Perennial, 1983.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While there are some gorgeous graphics to be found, many of these references give only an overview of the Inanna stories written down by Enheduanna, and thus will not bring anything new to the table for the serious student\/worshipper of Inanna. In this category I include the books of Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Patricia Monaghan, and Rosemary Radford Ruether. I should also note Monaghan\u2019s Goddesses in World Culture<\/em> is a collection of three books \u2013 make sure you get volume two! I unfortunately wasn\u2019t careful enough, and had to go back to the library for the correct one\u2026 after paging through volume 3 in growing confusion as to how Inanna was going to fit in with the Mesoamerican goddesses! Obvious answer: She didn\u2019t. ;)<\/p>\n

I haven’t completed the Kriwaczek book, so can’t really speak to it — I just really liked some of his comments on Enheduanna. Also, I honestly don\u2019t really recommend the Kramer books (though I went through them to be a completist), for two reasons. First, there tends to be an unpleasant thread of misogyny in Kramer\u2019s interpretations of the Inanna stories. Second, the book Wolkstein wrote with him is quite poetic, but doesn\u2019t contain the story of Inanna and Ebih, as it was still too newly being translated and interpreted, at that time. However, if you\u2019re a mythology nerd like me, definitely read the one with Wolkstein \u2013 she does lovely work, despite her co-author\u2019s rather, um\u2026 antiquated views on women. I always thought it was a pity she didn\u2019t write a book on Inanna herself alone, you know?<\/p>\n

Next, I highly<\/em> recommend both Grahn and Meador \u2013 they\u2019re engrossing writers, and their literary translations are simply gorgeously lush! Also, they\u2019re unafraid to present Inanna in all her facets, without that sort of snarky or titillated demeanor which some authors use to emotionally detach themselves from sexual topics.<\/p>\n

Val Plumwood\u2019s book is a brilliant philosophical review of the structures of patriarchy. Fair warning: it\u2019s heavy going! But if you can soldier on through, definitely<\/em> well worth it. Confession time: it took me three tries to finish the book, since I had to keep putting it down and walking away for at least a week, because it was so<\/em> rich and full of amazing and revelatory ideas that I needed mental-digestion time! Finally, the rest of the books or articles were all interesting for various reasons, and I think folks might like them. Hope this is fun and useful for you all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woohooo! Successfully presented at IshtarFest, and I think it went pretty well if I do say so myself! Now all that\u2019s left for my summer…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,33,32,8,1,14,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthropology","category-ecofeminism","category-education","category-feminism","category-uncategorized","category-religion","category-spirituality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6307"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6319,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6307\/revisions\/6319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}