In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Irkalla was the underworld ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal.
Irkalla appears in Sumerian and Akkadian religious literature as the destination of the dead. It was also called by related names, including Kur and the Great Below, although terminology varied across languages and periods.
Ereshkigal governed this realm, and the famous myth of Inanna’s descent describes the goddess Inanna entering her sister’s domain. In the Akkadian version, the corresponding goddess is often called Ishtar, while Ereshkigal remains the underworld’s queen.
Mesopotamian ideas of the afterlife generally did not present Irkalla as a reward-based heaven and hell system. The dead were commonly imagined as existing in a dim underworld, regardless of their social status in life. This differs from Dilmun, which was portrayed in some Sumerian traditions as a pure or blessed land.