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Illustration of Ishtar's army of the dead
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
File No. 001 of 446

Ishtar's army of the dead

Also called: Descent of Ishtar, Ishtar's threat
Folklore and mythUndeadAncient world

The oldest surviving reference to the dead rising to eat the living is a threat, not a story. In the Akkadian Descent of Ishtar the goddess, refused entry to the underworld, promises to release its inhabitants on the world above, and in the Epic of Gilgamesh she repeats the threat to get her way in heaven. The dead never actually rise in either text. The idea itself, a mass of hungry corpses overwhelming the living, was nevertheless already familiar some three thousand years ago.123

Battle it
First recorded
1000 BC
The Akkadian Descent of Ishtar, known from early first-millennium BC tablets found at Nineveh and Assur; the threat also appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh
Origin
Mesopotamian (Akkadian)
Iraq
What causes it
Other
The goddess threatens to break open the underworld and let its dead out.
How you become one
The dead would be released by the goddess; the text notes they do not return by their own choice.

When did it first appear?

Ancient worldMiddle Ages1500 to 18991900 to 19671968 to 19992000 to 20092010 to today1000 BC

The Akkadian Descent of Ishtar, known from early first-millennium BC tablets found at Nineveh and Assur; the threat also appears in the Epic of Gilgamesh

field notes

What the sources say

1

At the gate of the underworld Ishtar threatens to smash the door and raise the dead to devour the living123

2

She warns that the dead will then outnumber the living123

3

In Gilgamesh she makes the same threat to her father Anu to obtain the Bull of Heaven123

4

The Descent of Ishtar runs to 138 lines and was among the first Akkadian literary texts translated in modern times123

5

Historians of horror cite the passage as the earliest written image of the flesh-eating dead123

Sources

  1. Descent of Inanna into the Underworld - Wikipedia
  2. Epic of Gilgamesh - Wikipedia
  3. Zombie - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at [email protected].

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Same era: Ancient world

Erichtho's reanimated soldierRoman (literary), 61PhilinnionAncient Greek, 150The corpse of ThelyphronRoman (literary), 170BouplagosAncient Greek / Roman, 150Lugnano child burialLate Roman (Italy), 450PolykritosAncient Greek, 150
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