The Sumerian hymns to Inanna are among the earliest writing to be found. The stories of this Queen of Heaven and Earth are rich in poetry and meaning, telling of her journey to the underworld and her return after that trial. In order to understand her people better, Inanna descended to the realm of the death Goddess, Ereshkigal, to experience mortality and death. At each of the seven gates to the underworld, Inanna had to surrender some part of what she thought made up herself: wealth, power, tributes. Only when she was stripped naked, humbled and open, was she able to fulfill her journey's goal. Inanna represents the soul's evolution through hardship and bitter experience. She stands beside us on the path, her eyes never wavering from the true goal, which is wisdom.