The Descent of Ishtar

In what may be the first MTV-inspired music/spoken word video which is subtitled in English and narrated in Babylonian (don't bother getting out your dictionaries; this is a defunct, reconstructed language), The Descent of Ishtar is proof positive that college professors can get loose and funky if the spirit moves them. Here, the spirit is Ishtar, an ancient goddess of sexuality and war, who descends into the underworld, passing through seven gates while removing articles of clothing (and, thereby, power) until she stands naked before the goddess Ereshkigal (except, with some poetic license, Ishtar remains clothed in the video). As near as I could tell, Ishtar is then given the dungeon treatment; however, a buddy (okay, that's not the actual historical name) intercedes on her behalf, and she's able to trick her captor and return topside, where general fecundity resumes among flora and fauna. Credit is due to Dr. Scott Noegel, who produced the program and provides the recreated Babylonian language, and while the whole thing looks like a cross between a Clive Barker student film and a Marilyn Manson video (if MM were to go low-tech), I suspect students of ancient Mesopotamian culture will find this a most worthwhile diversion (I know that when I was translating Beowulf, I would have been delighted to set my dictionary aside and watch Grendel's mom kick some Anglo-Saxon butt). Although general audiences would likely be confused, this is recommended for broader history and language academic collections. Aud: C. (R. Pitman)