Ereshkigal: Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead (opens in new tab)

Ereshkigal, the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead who rules the underworld, was responsible for both keeping the dead within her realm and preventing the living from entering and learning the truth of the afterlife. She was the most feared deity in the Mesopotamian pantheon because she represented one's final destination from which there was no returning. Ereshkigal is always represented in prayers and rituals as a formidable goddess of great power, but often in stories as one who forgives an in...