a bird. Why would the dead, interred within the earth, be clothed like birds, inhabitants of the skies? The wings are a mockery of their condition. They, who in life surely looked enviously upon the birds in the sky, have in death been given wings, and have nowhere to fly to. Today we speak of angels, up in heaven, getting their wings, but the imagery here is better suited to Dantes Inferno.Dirt for water, clay for food. Sounds pretty dismal, but there may be reason to believe you wouldnt want the food down there. Those who are sent on an errand to the netherworld are cautioned not to partake of any water or food offerred them. In Inannas Descent Enki fashions an elegist and myrmidon out of the dirt beneath his fingernails, appropriately for their task is to the netherworld. Enki warns these two that, They will offer you the river at its high water, may you not except it. They will offer you the field when in grain, may you not except it. Perhaps by refusing the water and grain they are mimicking death? More likely, the food and water of the netherworld are poisonous to mankind. When Inanna is subdued in Inannas Descent, she is transformed into a slab of tainted meat. Important here is the reference to butchering. Inanna is not just reduced to a rotting corpse, but a slab of meat as it would have been portioned off for human consumption. Mesopotamians would have encountered the experience that meat gone bad is poisonous to our system. In Gilgamesh, at the gates of Mount Mashu, the netherworld is guarded by Scorpion-beings. In the tale of Nergal / Ereshkigal, Ea warns Nergal, When they bring you a chair, do not proceed to sit upon it. In other words, do not assume the posture of the dead. When the butcher brings you meat, do not proceed to eat it. When the brewer brings you beer, do not proceed to drink it....She (Ereshkigal) will let you see her body, You must not become aroused as man and woman. The netherworld is not the place for...
