Which goddess was known as the queen of the Mesopotamian underworld?

Ereshkigal was known as the queen of the Mesopotamian underworld.

In Sumerian mythology, she ruled Kur, the land of the dead, sometimes called Irkalla. Her realm was imagined as a dark subterranean kingdom where the dead continued a shadowy existence. Her divine attendant was Namtar, while the gatekeeper Neti guarded its seven gates.

Ereshkigal is central to the myth Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld. Inanna, goddess of love and political power, passes through the gates and is eventually judged, killed, and hung on a hook. The story emphasizes the underworld queen’s authority over even powerful gods. In later traditions, Ereshkigal was paired with Nergal, a god associated with war, plague, and death.

A common mix-up is Inanna, who is sometimes called queen of heaven, not queen of the underworld. Nergal also became an underworld ruler in some later traditions, but Ereshkigal remains the canonical answer for the goddess who ruled the realm of the dead.