ERISKEGAL

Real Name: Ereshkigal (original spelling)

Occupation: Queen of Allatum, Goddess of the dead

Legal Status: Citizen of Allatum

Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Eriskegal existence except as a mythological character.

Aliases: Allatu, Ganair, Irkalla, Eris Kegali (mortal identity),

Place of Birth: Unknown

Marital Status: Married

Known Relatives: Anshar (father), Kishar (mother); Anu, Enki (brothers), Mami, Damkina (sisters); Nergal (husband); Nusku, Gibil, Kinyras, Martu, Enlil, Ninurta, Hadad (brothers-in-law/nephews), Zarpandit, Ningal (nieces/sisters-in-law); Aphrodite (former niece/sister-in-law, alias Inanna)

Group Affiliation: The Anunnaki (Mesopotamian Gods), ally of Ahpuch, Hades, Hela, Mephisto, Seth and Yama

Base of Operations: Allatum (The Mesopotamian Underworld)

First Appearance: Thor I Annual 10

History: Eriskegal is the Sumerian-Babylonian goddess of the dead who taunted her husband's adopted sister, Inanna, many millennia ago. She married Nergal, her nephew, the god of war, to keep him from conquering the underworld.

Eriskegal, however, abducted the god, Dumuzi to the underworld, possibly to keep him as a lover during Nergal's long absences from the underworld, or perhaps just to placate the goddess Inanna, the goddess of love, who loved him. Inanna had been born the daughter of foreign gods to Mesopotamia and was among the most loved of the gods, which probably added to Eriskegal's hatred of her. Inanna traveled to the underworld to retrieve Dumuzi, but she had been forced to leave an article of clothing at each of the ten gates into the underworld. upon reaching Eriskegal's court, Inanna was completely naked, humiliated and too disgraced to demand the return of Dumuzi. Eriskegal had her imprisoned in the depths of the underworld as the gods of earth petitioned her release. While the gods argued and quarreled over whose fault it was, the storm-god Enlil invaded the underworld alone ripping each gate open on arrival, freed Inanna and returned her to heaven. Dumuzi, however, had to stay behind to provide safe passage for souls into the afterlife.

Eventually, worship of the Anunnaki was replaced for worship of the Olympian gods by the invading Greeks and Romans, but all pagan worship declined under Judaism and Christianity originating in the area. Faced with the changing of the times, Anu, Ruler of the Anunnaki, entered into a pact with the chieftains of the other pantheons of earth to no longer seek worshippers. Eriskegal became dissatisfied with the lack of procured souls to her realm and subsequently entered into an unholy alliance with other gods of the dead to unite their perspective realms. Their ritual, however, released from the dawn of time Atum in his form of Demogorge the God Eater. Consumed by the entity, she was rescued by the Asgardian thunder-god Thor working in alliance with several thunder and sun gods of different pantheons.

In order to lure innocent souls into Allatum, Eriskegal created the mortal identity of Eris Kegali, the owner and operator of a funeral home near Basra, Iraq where she employed a clientele of devil-worshippers, sadists and sexual deviates. The god, Ea, hearing how American soldiers were vanishing near the location, investigated and discovered Eriskegal at the source of the problem. He created spells to prevent Eriskegal from appearing on earth and bound her to the underworld. Her current activities are unrevealed.

Height: 6’O”
Weight: 335 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: Black

Strength Level: Eriskegal possesses superhuman strength enabling her to lift (press) 50 tons under optimal conditions.

Known Superhuman Powers: Eriskegal possesses the conventional physical attributes of the Mesopotamian gods. Like all of the Anunnaki, she is extremely long-lived, but not immortal like the Olympian gods. She has not aged since reaching adulthood and cannot die by any conventional means. She is immune to all Earthly diseases and is resistant to conventional injury. If she were somehow wounded, her godly life force would enable her to recover with superhuman speed. It would take an injury of such magnitude that it dispersed a major portion of her bodily molecules to cause her a physical death. Even then, it might be possible for a god of significant power, such as Anu or Ea or for a number of Mesopotamian gods of equal power working together to revive her. Eriskegal also possesses superhuman strength and her Anunnaki metabolism provides her with far greater than human endurance in all physical activities. (Anunnaki flesh and bone is about three times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the superhuman strength and weight of the Mesopotamian gods.)

Eriskegal also has certain undefined mystical skills to tap into and manipulate occult energies, most especially the ability to conjure hellfire and erect mystical shields. She can also travel between worlds, such as from earth to Allatum (at least before Ea's spells). She can change her shape and form, including the ability to become fifty feet tall. She can spit hellfire from her lips and create psychokinetic poltergeist-like activity. Her full range of abilities is as yet unrevealed, but she may be equal in power to such figures as Hades and Seth.

Comments: Some texts call Inanna (Aphrodite) the sister, rather than the sister-in-law, of Eriskegal.

CLARIFICATIONS: Eriskegal is not to be confused with:

 

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