jgreen44

Jesus also descended into the Nether World.

1 Peter 3:18-19

For Christ ...having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,

1 Peter 4:5-6

but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead,

Inanna's descent to the Nether World, ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE

From the "great above" she set her mind toward the "great below,"

The goddess, from the "great above" she set her mind toward the "great below,"

Inanna, from the "great above" she set her mind toward the "great below."

My lady abandoned heaven, abandoned earth,

To the nether world she descended,

Inanna abandoned heaven, abandoned earth,

To the nether world she descended,

Abandoned lordship, abandoned ladyship,

To the nether world she descended.

Philippians 2:6-8

Christ Jesus...emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Just prior to her descent into the underworld, Inanna, in her Gethsemane moment, offers the following prayer to God the Father:

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

"Father Enki, the lord of wisdom,

Who knows the food of life, who knows the water of life,

He will surely bring me to life."

Mark 14:36

And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."

Inanna declares that God the Father will surely bring her to life. Jesus declares that all things are possible for God the Father.

Inanna's prayer to the Father (above) mentions the "water of life". Jesus mentions "living water".

John 7:38

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

The above quote, which Jesus says is found in "Scripture", is not found in the Old Testament.

Inanna descends to the Nether World and approaches Ereshkigal's temple of lapis lazuli. At the gate she is met by the chief gatekeeper.

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

To the pure Inanna he says:

"Come, Inanna, enter."

1 John 3:3

And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

The gatekeeper, upon instructions from his mistress Ereshkigal, leads Inanna through the seven gates of the nether world. As she passes through each of the gates part of her robes and jewels are removed in spite of her protest.

Luke 23:34

But Jesus was saying, " Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing " And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

Finally after entering the last gate she is brought stark naked and on bended knees before Ereshkigal and the seven Anunnaki, the dreaded judges of the nether world.

Matthew 26:57

Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

They fastened (their) eyes upon her, the eyes of death,

At their word, the word which tortures the spirit,

Mark 15:34

At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, " ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

The sick woman was turned into a corpse,

The corpse was hung from a stake.

After three days and three nights had passed,

Her messenger Ninshubur,

Her messenger of favorable words,

Her carrier of supporting words,

Fills the heaven with complaints for her,

Mark 8:31

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

In Eridu upon his entering the house of Enki,

Before Enki he (Ninshubur) weeps:

"O father Enki, let not thy daughter be put to death in the nether world,

Father Enki says:

"Upon the corpse hung from a stake direct the fear of the rays of fire,

Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, sprinkle upon it,

Verily Inanna will arise."

Inanna ascends from the nether world,

Acts 2:31

he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

The (seven) Anunnaki fled,

Mark 16:9

Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.

Inanna's descent to the Nether World

(And) whoever of the nether world that had descended peacefully to the nether world;

When Inanna ascends from the nether world,

Verily the dead hasten ahead of her.

Matthew 27:52-53

The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/sum08.htm

Chili

netherworld = subconscious mind

spamandham

Although it's easy to see that the Jewish and Christians traditions were influenced (spin offs?) by other ideas (Sumerian, Egyptian, Hellenistic, etc.), it doesn't look to me like the NT writers had a version of descent to the underworld in front of them that they copied from.

They were familiar with the ideas certainly, but many of those ideas are also recorded in the Jewish scriptures and were part of the religious milieu. I think it'd be interesting to see Inanna parallels that are not also reasonably derived from the Jewish scriptures (not just the OT, but all texts they may have revered).

Sheshbazzar

I do not find where it says that Inanna was in the nether world "for" only "Three Days and Three Nights",
only that Ninshubur her servant missed her 'after three days and three nights', and then "On the fourth day, Ninshubur, seeing that his mistress has not returned" began his pleadings on her behalf.
Nothing that was quoted however makes it clear how long it was before Inanna actually returned from the nether world, it could have been on the fourth day, or it could have been four weeks latter.
Not missing your point however, that this is a much earlier example of the 'Three Days and Three Nights' saying.

robto

Mettinger reviews the evidence for a general notion of a three-day period in the underworld (see my review here). He doesn't form any strong conclusion, but notes that the evidence in favor of it is rather weak.

The rest of the "parallels" in the Inanna story are just as weak. Jesus's death and resurrection is not, originally, about Jesus descending to Hell to confront some ruling figure there. It is about God exalting Jesus and demonstrating that to the world. The idea that Jesus descended to Hell seems to come from a later time (e.g. the 1 Peter quote above - and even there Jesus is only "preaching", not confronting/conquering Satan).

Chili

Hell is not the netherworld. That is obvious from this: It is where she is the naked animal man in search for her origin and along the way sets the captives free by which she was predestined on earth, as lady inspired by heaven to be the lady she became.Her jewels were what we call the Capital sins that are opposite to the Cardinal Virtues that made her victorious on earth and therefore she had to let go of these qualities despite her will. In effect it really is to show that the wounds had been effective in her mind which in essence is equal to censorship by natural law.

Chili

. . . but I will no tell you what hell is.

jgreen44

The quote you gave...

"On the fourth day, Ninshubur, seeing that his mistress has not returned"

...is taken from a modern summation of the Sumerian story. It is not from the original ancient text which does not use the phrase "fourth day" or make it clear how long it was before Inanna actually returned from the nether world. The original text does, however, make it clear that the process of resurrection began "after three days and three nights".

jgreen44

You wrote in your review...

" Mettinger points out, however, that it (three days and three nights) is not the time between Inanna's death and revivification; rather, it is the time between her death and the beginning of mourning rites for her."

In the original text of Inanna's Descent to the Nether World the actions of Inanna's messenger, Nishubur, are certainly related to mourning (she instructs him, for example, to "Like a pauper in a single garment dress for me." But the purpose of Nishubur's actions is not to mourn. The purpose of his actions is to appeal to the gods to revivify Inanna. And the original text does indeed tell us that "after three days and three nights" the process leading to the revivification of Inanna began.

After three days and three nights had passed,
Her messenger Ninshubur,
Her messenger of favorable words,
Her carrier of supporting words,
Fills the heaven with complaints for her,
Cried for her in the assembly shrine,
Rushed about for her in the house of the gods,

Before Enlil he weeps:
"O father Enlil, let not thy daughter be put to death in the nether world,
Let not thy good metal be ground up into the dust of the nether world,
Let not thy good lapis lazuli be broken up into the stone of the stone-worker,
Let not thy boxwood be cut up into the wood of the wood-worker,
Let not the maid Inanna be put to death in the nether world."

The original text does not tell us exactly when Inanna was revived but it does tell us that the process leading to her revivification began "after three days and three nights".

Sheshbazzar

From "a literal translation of the composition;"

"....After three days and three nights had passed,
Her messenger Ninshubur,
Her messenger of favorable words,
Her carrier of supporting words,
Fills the heaven with complaints for her,
Cried for her in the assembly shrine,
Rushed about for her in the house of the gods,
Lowered his eye for her, lowered his mouth for her,
With . . . he lowered his great . . . for her,
Like a pauper in a single garment he dressed for her,
To the Ekur, the house of Enlil, all alone he directed his step...."

"AFTER three days and three nights" had passed indicates Ninshubur began his 'complaints' on the fourth day, whether the actual phrase "the fourth day" actually appears or not.
As I understand it, The construction indicates that Ninshubur remained unaware of her whereabouts, or was inactive about it until "AFTER three days and three nights" had passed, becoming aware, or active about her absence only "AFTER- (the passing of) -three days and three nights", upon the fourth day.

The internal evidence of the poem does not support the stretch of stressing "Inanna's Descent to the Nether World . . for Three Days and Three Nights"
The 'process leading to her revivification began "AFTER......" and could have stretched on for weeks or months. '
The AFTER Three Day and Three Nights' was not and is not a statement as to when Inanna's revivification or resurrection took place.
As it stands the the phrase only refers to the length Ninshubur's period of unawareness or inactivity, and has nothing at all to do with how long Inanna was deemed to be in 'the Nether World'.
It appears that the employment of this phase was an 'convention', a borrowing from some other, even earlier source.