Greek and Mesopotamian Theogony: Interpretations of the Images on the Qushu Carpets No. 1–2 (Part II)

This chapter reinterprets the two Shanpula woolen carpets (Nos. 1–2) as a potent visual articulation of resurrection-centered religious belief. Employing the narrative framework of Gilgamesh’s quest to resurrect Enkidu, the carpets illustrate the hero appealing to a pantheon of deities—identified variously as Hermes, Persephone and Hades, and a craftsman god synthesizing Hephaestus with the Vedic deity Tvaṣṭṛ. Crucially, all these deities fail to restore life. Only the goddess Inanna and the Sky-Tree (identified with the Zoroastrian haoma) ultimately fulfill his request. Through rigorous comparative mythology and detailed analysis of Khotanese inscriptions (e.g., hadīvä derived from the Greek Hades), the author establishes that the carpets masterfully synthesize Mesopotamian, Greek, and Iranian divine traditions to canonize Inanna as the supreme power governing death and rebirth.