Texts in Conversation
In the Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi, the goddess Inanna bathes, perfumes herself, and is kissed by the shepherd-king Dumuzi. Song of Solomon opens similarly, with a woman craving her lover’s kiss and the cologne that make young women adore him.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi
Inanna Prefers the Farmer
Ancient Near East
Inanna ran to Ningal, the mother who bore her. Ningal counseled her daughter, saying: “My child, the young man will be your father. My daughter, the young man will be your mother. He will treat you like a father. He will care for you like a mother. Open the house, My Lady, open the house!” Inanna, at her mother’s command, bathed and anointed herself with scented oil. She covered her body with the royal white robe. She readied her dowry, arranged her precious lapis beads around her neck, and took her seal in her hand. Dumuzi waited expectantly. Inanna opened the door for him. Inside the house she shone before him like the light of the moon. Dumuzi looked at her joyously, pressed his neck close against hers, and kissed her. Inanna spoke: “What I tell you let the singer weave into song. What I tell you, let it flow from ear to mouth; let it pass from old to young: my vulva, the horn, the Boat of Heaven, is full of eagerness like the young moon. My untilled land lies fallow. As for me, Inanna, who will plow my vulva? Who will plow my high field? Who will plow my wet ground? As for me, the young woman, who will plow my vulva? Who will station the ox there? Who will plow my vulva?”
Date: 1900 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Song of Solomon 1:2
Song of Songs
Hebrew Bible
2 The Beloved to Her Lover: Oh, how I wish you would kiss me passionately! For your lovemaking is more delightful than wine. 3 The fragrance of your colognes is delightful; your name is like the finest perfume. No wonder the young women adore you! 4 Draw me after you; let us hurry! May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers! The Maidens to the Lover:We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.The Beloved to Her Lover: How rightly the young women adore you!
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Notes and References
“... While according to this poem, Inanna and Dumuzi kept their love a secret and were even prepared to deceive Inanna’s mother, there is another version of the affair according to which Dumuzi woos his bride in the open, and with her mother’s full approbation. According to this myth, Dumuzi, the shepherd, comes to Inanna’s house carrying fat and milk, and begs the goddess for admittance. After consultation with her mother, Inanna bathes and anoints herself, puts on her queenly robes, and awaits her lover expectantly. Dumuzi pushes open the door, enters the house beaming, and the pair take their joy in love. ...”
Kramer, Samuel Noah
The Biblical Song of Songs and the Sumerian Love Songs
(p. 2) University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1962
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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