<P> This myth begins with a rather playful conversation between Inanna and Utu, who incrementally reveals to her that it is time for her to marry . She is courted by a farmer named Enkimdu and a shepherd named Dumuzid . At first, Inanna prefers the farmer, but Utu and Dumuzid gradually persuade her that Dumuzid is the better choice for a husband, arguing that, for every gift the farmer can give to her, the shepherd can give her something even better . In the end, Inanna marries Dumuzid . The shepherd and the farmer reconcile their differences, offering each other gifts . Samuel Noah Kramer compares the myth to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel because both myths center around a farmer and a shepherd competing for divine favor and, in both stories, the deity in question ultimately chooses the shepherd . </P> <P> The story of Inanna's descent to the underworld is a relatively well - attested and reconstructed composition . </P> <P> In Sumerian religion, the Kur was conceived of as dark, dreary cavern located deep underground; life there was envisioned as "a shadowy version of life on earth". It was ruled by Inanna's sister, the goddess Ereshkigal . Inanna's reason for visiting the underworld is unclear . She tells the gatekeeper of the underworld that she wishes to attend the funeral rites of Ereshkigal's husband Gugalanna, but, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gugalanna is the Bull of Heaven, who is killed by Gilgamesh and Enkidu . To add further confusion, Ereshkigal's husband is typically the plague god Nergal . </P> <P> Before leaving, Inanna instructs her minister and servant Ninshubur to plead with the deities Enlil, Nanna, Anu, and Enki to rescue her if she does not return after three days . The laws of the underworld dictate that, with the exception of appointed messengers, those who enter it may never leave . </P>

When inanna descended into the underworld she was killed by her sister