Home.. Mesopotamian Underworld

• Author's Note:
• While I may have taken a few minor historic liberties concerning the legends of ancient Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, much of what was once known has simply become myth over the long millennia. Besides, if she's still around, I think Ereshkigal might actually be amused. - Minos
  
  
• Born in the primordial moments of the universe, Ereshkigal, the ancient Sumerian goddess of death, and Nergal, the ancient Sumerian god of war and pestilences, have existed for as long as the universe itself has existed. Perhaps they're the origins of our most sinister myths, of ancient evils forever lurking unseen in the darkness waiting to torment the unwary. Then again, what if these myths weren't actually myths after all?
  
  At the dawn of human civilization Ereshkigal, the supreme goddess of death and the ruler of the Mesopotamian Underworld, was one of the most malevolent deities worshiped by the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. According to the ancient legends, the other gods, those who ruled from the heavens above, feared the power of Ereshkigal and after her brutal slaying of her sister Inanna, the goddess of love and fertility, conspired to entomb Ereshkigal, sealing her for all eternity behind the seven gates of the underworld.
  
  Ancient legend also tells of Nergal, the ancient Sumerian god of war and pestilences, perhaps the most sinister of the ancient gods. Longing to possess Ereshkigal, Nergal created 14 lesser companions and with them threw open the gates of the underworld. Capturing the goddess Ereshkigal, he brutally raped her and then tortured her until she consented to marriage, and in doing so, consenting to make him the co-ruler of the Mesopotamian Underworld.
  
  And although today it's impossible to confirmed, many archeologists believe that a secretive death goddess cult existed within the ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. This cult worshipped Ereshkigal and would abduct and sacrifice countless young women, offering up their torturous deaths as an obscene gift to the goddess of the Mesopotamian Underworld. And while it's believed that these abducted women suffered greatly, it's also rumored that once a season they would chose one of their own for sacrifice, and the most beautiful women of this ancient cult would be offered up as willing sacrifices to their death goddess. These women would endure the most hideous and obscenely torturous deaths in hope of appeasing the voracious appetite of Ereshkigal.
  
  Perhaps at this juncture, the most critical question still remains, while these ancient civilizations have been dust for millennia, what became of their gods? And what if we suddenly discovered that everything we'd come to believe about the nature of the universe turned out to be wrong? What then?
  
  What would our world be like if Ereshkigal and Nergal still sought out willing female victims on this earth, beautiful woman eager to die in unimaginable agony merely for the amusement of the gods?
  
  Perhaps even as you read this Nergal's 14 lesser companions roam the earth, seeking out those women willing to accept their offer of immortality. Women all to willing to accept Ereshkigal's offer of eternal youth and beauty, an eternity of unimagined pleasures merely by becoming one of Ereshkigal's willing pleasure slaves, even knowing the bargain's obscenely high price?
  
  One might find comfort in believing that Ereshkigal would have a difficult time finding women willing to accept her obscenely torturous bargain. But why then, even in our civilized world, do so many women simply vanish without trace each and every year? But, before you ask, beware the price the question's answer might require.

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