Inanna's name

[ikhet_sekhmet]

From the worst-named journal article ever comes this interesting snippet: 'The name of this paramount Sumerian goddess of fertility derives from Ninanna(k) "the lady of the date clusters".' (This would fit with one of Dumuzi's titles, Amaushumgalanna, "the one great source of the date clusters"). In a footnote, Homan attributes this suggestion to Thorkild Jacobsen in Treasures of Darkness. "However," he adds, "some scholars adhere to the etymology NIN="lady/queen" AN="heaven", based on mythology involving Inanna, mostly notably 'The Exaltation of Inanna'". He gives lots of references which have me dribbling. What a research junky!

ETA: Homan also suggests a reason for Inanna, as Venus, to be the daughter of Nanna, the moon god: apparently in pre-industrial times, the phases of Venus were visible with the naked eye.
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Homan, Michael M. Date Rape: the agricultural and astronomical background of the Sumerian sacred marriage and Genesis 38. Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 16(2), 2002.