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"Behold, I'm Inanna, great Queen of the Heavens I open my ear to the Great Below I seek to pity my misshapen sister Into her bleak realm of darkness I'll go And so Inanna donned her worldly attire And prepared herself for her descent to Hell Instructed her faithful servant Ninshubur On how to act if her mission should fail "Go to Eridu, the temple of Enki The God of Wisdom knows the food of life He knows the water of life, he knows the secrets Surely he won't let me die!" And thus Inanna set for her journey To indulge herself on her sisters fate "Open the door!" she commanded fiercely As she stood before Arallu's gates But at each of the seven bolted doorways She had to give a piece of her gown to prevail Naked she entered Ereshkigals throne room And Inanna stood unveiled The Great Bitch rose from her seat In her eyes all anger's glow Accompanying her were the Annuna The judges of the Great Below Songtexte [Ereshkigal:] "Hated sister You have come Did your arrogance now fade? Bow down low Listen closely 'Cause your judgement has been made!" Yes, your judgement has been made! "In this trial You'd been found guilty Abandon hope, abandon faith Condemned you are My dearest sister And your sentence shall be Death!" "Reduced to nothing but a carcass Her beauty and her life I took As a piece of rotting meat She's dangling from a hook." [Ninshubur:] "For three days and nights Inanna did not return The world shall hear my cries of lament But I must seek out my mistress's father To fulfil the task on which I was sent" The wise god Enki pitied Inanna And decided to answer Ninshubur's pleas Although she had craved for From where no one returns He arranged for Inanna to be set free [Inanna:] "Born again I return to the sunlight Renewed in vigour for all to see But as I return to the Great Above The fiends of Arallu are accompanying me" [The Daemons of the Underworld:] Inanna, you have to provide Another soul as replacement for thee For no-one escapes from here So give us your servant [Ninshubur:] To continue your suffering! -"No! She'd been loyal to me!" Take a look at your husband Dumuzi On your throne in his finest array Now what doth' thou say? He never shed any tear Cause he gained all your powers! -"Yes, take Dumuzi away!" "So take this lowly traitor Remove his manhood and his pride Until the end of days He shall be at my sisters side!" Dumuzi's sister, Geshtianna Begged that she might take his place Such compassion moved Inanna And lightened up her hardened face "Each one must dwell in the deep Abyss For six months he'll have to stay But at the change of the seasons The other goes the downward way!" "Behold, I'm Inanna, Great Queen of the Heavens But I had witnessed where all Light would fail And learned when there's Light there must also be Darkness As I, Inanna stood unveiled" Aus Songtexte Mania