• DOI:10.1086/422302
• Corpus ID: 161211611

Fighting the Mountain: Some Observations on the Sumerian Myths of Inanna and Ninurta*

@article{Karahashi2004FightingTM,
  title={Fighting the Mountain: Some Observations on the Sumerian Myths of Inanna and Ninurta*},
  author={Fumi Karahashi},
  journal={Journal of Near Eastern Studies},
  year={2004},
  volume={63},
  pages={111 - 118}
}

• Fumi Karahashi
• Published 1 April 2004
• Philosophy
• Journal of Near Eastern Studies

Two Sumerian mythological compositions share the motif of a god fighting a mountain. One, Inanna and Ebih, tells how Inanna fights and conquers Mount Ebih; the other, Lugal-e, tells how Ninurta, Inanna’s male counterpart, campaigns against Asag, which may symbolize a stone or a mountain. In this paper, I will compare and contrast the accounts of Inanna’s and Ninurta’s mountain-fighting. Naturally our main texts are Inanna and Ebih and Lugal-e, but other texts will also be brought in when relevant. I will first examine the similarities between the two accounts, especially in regard to the literary expressions unique to them and possible intertextual allusions, then examine the differences, including the effects of and the motivation behind gods’ fighting. This paper will show that while the two accounts differ significantly in many ways, they parallel one another closely with regard to how they portray the divine protagonists, the essential character of the antagonists, and their actions.