Asu-shu-namir: queer hero of Akkadian myth
A third gender being created by the god Enki to rescue Ishtar from the Underworld
According to the Akkadian myth "Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld”, a third gender being Asushunamir (also spelled Aṣûšu-namir or Asu-shu-namir) rescued Ishtar, goddess of fertility from the Underworld, bringing reproduction back to the land of the living.
One surviving manuscript of the Descent of Ishtar, now in the British Museum, dates back to the 7th century BCE.[i] As in the earlier Sumerian story, the fertility goddess Ishtar (Inanna) gatecrashed the realm of the dead, which was ruled by her sister Ereshkigal. There, Ishtar lost her powers and became a prisoner of her sister, who smote her with 60 diseases.
As a result of Ishtar's absence, all reproductive activity on Earth ceased. Ea (Enki), the god of wisdom and culture, created Asushunamir, an assinnu. ‘Assinnu’ has been variously translated as "eunuch"[ii] or "male cultic prostitute"[iii]. It is understood as a third gender.[iv]
Asushunamir was able to pass through the gates to the Underworld. They requested the water of life from Ereshkigal, with which Ishtar was revived. But Ereshkigal, angered by Asushunamir's request, cursed them to economic marginalization and social ostracism.
But people like Asushunamir still had a place to belong to. Temples of Ishtar employed assinnu, male cultic attendants who took a passive role in homosexual activity, and kalǔ , AMAB singers who performed the “feminine” profession of lamenter.[v] Some adopted feminine names.[vi]
[i] Goddess Ishtar descent to the underworld tablet (Illustration) - World History Encyclopedia
[ii] DESCENT OF THE GODDESS ISHTAR INTO THE LOWER WORLD (sacred-texts.com)
[iii] Ištar's Descent to the Netherworld: BAPLAR: SOAS University of London
[iv] Third Gender Figures in the Ancient Near East - World History Encyclopedia
[v] Third Gender Figures in the Ancient Near East - World History Encyclopedia