ニップルで発見された詩『イナンナとビルル』([http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr144.htm%201.4.4 ETCSL 1.4.4])のテキストはひどく破損しており<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>、学者たちはこれをさまざまに解釈している<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。詩の冒頭はほとんど破壊されているが<ref>Leick, 1998, page=89</ref>、哀歌のようである<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。この詩の理解しやすい部分は、イナンナが、草原で群れを見守る夫ドゥムジに恋い焦がれる様子を描いている<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref><ref>Fontenrose, 1980, page165</ref>。イナンナは彼を探す旅に出る<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。この後、本文の大部分が欠落する<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。物語が再開されると、イナンナはドゥムジッドが殺されたことを告げられる<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。イナンナは、盗賊の老婆ビルルとその息子ギルギレが犯人であることを突き止めます<ref>Pryke, 2017, page166</ref><ref>Fontenrose, 1980, page165</ref>。彼女はエデンリラへの道を進み、宿に立ち寄ると、そこで二人の殺人犯を発見する<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>。イナンナは椅子の上に立ち<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref>、ビルルを「砂漠で人が運ぶ水瓶」に変え<ref>Leick, 1998, p89, Black Green, 1992, p109, Pryke, 2017, p166, Fontenrose, 1980, p165</ref>、ドゥムジッドの葬儀のための酒を注ぐことを強要する<ref>Leick, 1998, page89</ref><ref>Fontenrose, 1980, page165</ref>。
==Descent into the underworld冥界への降下 =={{multiple image| align = right| direction = horizontal| header = | width = <!-- Image 1 -->| image1 = Ishtar descent to the Underworld BM ME K.162.jpg| width1 = 120| alt1 = | caption1 = Copy of the Akkadian version of ''Ishtar's Descent into the Underworld'' from the [[Library of Assurbanipal]], currently held in the [[British Museum]] in London, England<!-- Image 2 -->| image2 = Ishtar vase Louvre AO17000-detail.jpg| width2 = 120| alt2 = | caption2 = Depiction of Inanna/Ishtar from the Ishtar Vase, dating to the early second millennium BCE (Mesopotamian, Terracotta with cut, moulded, and painted decoration, from Larsa)| total_width = }}
Two different versions of the story of Inanna/Ishtar's [[Katabasis|descent into the underworld]] have survived:{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=83–86}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=127–135}} a Sumerian version dating to the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] (circa 2112 BCE – 2004 BCE) (ETCSL [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr141.htm 1.4.1]){{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=83–86}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=127–135}} and a clearly derivative Akkadian version from the early second millennium BCE.{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=83–86}}{{sfn|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=127–135}}{{efn|{{harvnb|Brandão|2019}} disagrees that the Akkadian poem only summarizes or distorts the Sumerian poem, although there is no doubt of the intertextual relations {{sfn|Brandão|2019|pp=19, 65-67}}}} The Sumerian version of the story is nearly three times the length of the later Akkadian version and contains much greater detail.{{sfn|Dalley|1989|page=154}}