Descent of Inanna Essay Example for Free

Descent of Inanna Essay Throughout history women have had an enormous influence on the men of their times. The Descent of Inanna provides us with an example of the role women had during this era and the influence they had over creation stories. Women were very powerful and held in high esteem during this time, and it was not until after the introduction of monotheism that woman lost their position of power. The Descent of Inanna is a story full of irony about a goddess who is powerful yet weak, respected but disregarded, caring and concerned yet selfish and manipulative. The story begins with Inanna preparing to descend to the underworld to deliver a message to Ereshkigal, her sister, of her husband’s death. She gathered her me-garments and gave her servant Ninshubur very specific instructions what she should do should Inanna not make it back from the underworld. Although Inanna is very confident in herself, she is very uncertain about the journey ahead. She knows she may die, which is why she tells Ninshubur to go to the temple of the gods to beg for mercy on Inanna’s behalf. When Inanna reaches the underworld Neti, the gatekeeper, stops her and he goes to tell his queen and Inanna’s sister, Ereshkigal of the visitor. Ereshkigal knows that Inanna is shielding herself behind her me garments and without them she will be vulnerable. Ereshkigal instructs Neti to strip Inanna of her me at each gate and by the time Inanna enters the thrown room she is naked and vulnerable. It is only then that Ereshkigal is able to kill Inanna. After three days and nights of Inanna’s absence, Ninshubur did exactly as Inanna had instructed her to. Ninshubur had such a high respect for her goddess and was forever Inanna’s faithful servant. She set up lament for her by the ruins, tore at her eyes and mouth, and dressed in a single garment as a beggar. She went to the gods to plead for Inanna’s life. After she is refused help from Enlil and Nanna, Ninshubur goes to Enki. Enki is troubled and agrees to save Inanna from her fate. Enki creates two creatures to retrieve Inanna’s body from the underworld and gives them instruction on how to ask Ereshkigal for the corpse. The creatures do exactly as instructed and are able to retrieve Inanna’s body. They sprinkled the food and water of life over her body and Inanna rises. Just as Inanna was ready to ascend from the underworld, she is told that no one leaves and she must find someone to replace her. The galla were sent with her to bring back the person who would replace Inanna. When Ninshubur saw Inanna outside the palace gates, she immediately threw herself at her feet. When the gala tried to take Ninshubur, Inanna refused. It is obvious that Inanna cared deeply for Ninshubur and had a mutual respect toward her. Inanna knows that she owes her life to Ninshubur which is why she refused to allow her to be taken. If her servant had not followed her directions exactly, Inanna may have remained in the underworld for eternity. However, when they reached Inanna’s husband Dumuzi, he was dressed in his me-garments and sitting on his throne. He did not look as someone who was mourning over the loss of his wife, such as Ninshubur had. He did not even move as Inanna and the galla approached. His lack of respect and lack of mourning is why Inanna allowed the galla to take Dumuzi in her place. Inanna held higher regard towards her servant than she had towards her own husband! When the galla try to take Dumuzi, he prays to Utu, Inanna’s brother, to let his hand and feet be turned into snakes so that he may escape their grasp. His request is granted and for a moment, Dumuzi escapes. Inanna finds him and although she seems to try to console Dumuzi, it does not erase the fact that she is giving her husband up to take her place in the underworld. In what appears to be some sort of a compromise, she tells him that his sister will remain in the underworld for half a year, and he the other half. In the end, Dumuzi is handed over to Ereshkigal. Irony seems to be the common theme throughout this story. Inanna was a goddess who was powerful and protected with her me, however without them she was weak and vulnerable. Inanna was well respected by her faithful servant, but not even mourned over by her husband. And Inanna cared enough for her sons and Ninshubur not to allow the galla to take them, however she was selfish and manipulative enough to allow someone else to take her place in the underworld. Ironically enough, Inanna descends to the underworld to pay her respects to her sister, Ereshkigal, and to bring news of her husband’s death. However in the end, it is Inanna who sends her own husband to the underworld in order to take her place and pay her debt.

Automotive Ignition Systems Essay -- essays research papers fc

Ignition Systems: New and Old Ignitions systems in motor vehicles have evolved in the past thirty years. Points was a simple concept but was not reliable and needed adjustment and replacement of components seemed constant. Today a magnetic sensor relays a signal to the computer which in turn sends the voltage to the selected cylinder to ignite the fuel/air mixture. There are not mechanical parts to fail or become corroded and brittle. There are many different parts to an ignition system. These parts differ between modern and old ignition systems. There is a coil. Sometimes one coil provides the increased voltage to the distributor or there is no distributor at all and each cylinder has its own coil to provide voltage for the spark plug. The coil is a compact, electrical transformer that boosts the battery's 12 volts to as high as 20,000 volts. The incoming 12 volts of electricity pass through a primary winding of about 200 turns of copper wire that raises the power to about 250 volts. Inside the distributor, this low-voltage circuit is continuously broken by the opening and closing of the points, each interruption causing a breakdown in the coil's electromagnetic field. Each time the field collapses, a surge of electricity passes to a secondary winding made up of more than a mile of hair-like wire twisted into 25,000 turns. At this point, the current is boosted to the high voltage needed for ignition and is then relayed to the rotor. The distributor is separated into three sections: the upper, middle, and lower. In the middle section, the corners of the spinning breaker cam strike the breaker arm and separate the points some 160 miles an hour. High-voltage surges generated by the action of the coil travel to the rotor that whirls inside a circle of high-tension terminals in the distributor cap, at each terminal, current is transferred to wires that lead to the spark plugs. Two other devices - the vacuum advance and the centrifugal advance - precisely coordinate the functions of the points and the rotor assembly as the requirements of the engine vary. An ignition circuit consists of two sub-circuits: the primary, which carries low voltage; and the secondary, which carries high voltage. The primary circuit, controlled by the ignition key, releases 12 volts of electricity from the battery or alternator through the coil to a set of breaker points ... ...r fires every other revolution so the distributor shaft must revolve at one half crankshaft speed. After the high tension surge is produced in the ignition coil by the opening of the breaker points, the current passes from the coil to the center terminal of the distributor cap. From there, it passes down to the rotor mounted on the distributor shaft and revolves with it. The current passes along the rotor, and jumps the tiny gap to the cap electrode under which the rotor is positioned at that instant. This cap electrode is connected by high tension wiring to the spark plug. As the rotor continues to rotate, it distributes current to each of the cap terminals in turn. connected by high tension wiring to the spark plug. As the rotor continues to rotate, it distributes current to each of the cap terminals in turn. Bibliography 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.ixquick.com 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.howstuffworks.com 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.google.com 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  www.msdignition.com 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Engine Management: Optimizing Modern Fuel and Ignition Systems, Dave Walker.  © Sept. 2001, MBI Distribution Services

Gender Roles In Primates Essay

Primate behavioral and biological research has resulted in a huge number of observations that has served as basis in understanding gender roles among their closest relatives, the humans. Earlier concepts of gender differences among primates only described that female primates influenced the organization structure of primate groups. After comprehensive analyses of primate behavior for several decades, it has now been determined that female primates serve as the foundation for primate social organization, acting as the prime individuals that shape the structure of the society, as well as mold the dynamics of primate groups (Gagneux et al. , 1999). More importantly, observations from kin selection among primates have facilitated the understanding of human sexual behavior. Primate behavioral studies have examined that the females of several primate species have diverse roles in their kin, as well as in the primate social groups. The significant increase in information associated with primate behavior has been observed in the past decade and the amount of information is massive that it has circumvented the previous knowledge on primate behavior and social roles in the past centuries. Another primate behavioral feature that has been of interest to primatologists and anthropologists is primate dominance. Earlier studies have described that male primates have an inherent characteristic of dominance, which thus can be translated to the dominant personalities among humans. However, a novel characteristic that was recently reported involved the behavior of female primates, wherein females were observed to be highly competitive among their groups, which explains the human aspect of competition among women over different issues in life. In addition, primate studies have also shown that female primates are very resourceful in finding ways in solving issues on daily living in the wild, including searching for food, a place to live and even finding worthwhile mates for offspring production (Pope, 2000). The female primates are also independent wherein they have the inherent ability of constructing contraptions and methods that would help in their survival in the wild. Such observation among female primates helps in the understanding of human females and their ability to easily adapt to different situations in life, better than their human male counterpart. Primate research has also reported that primate females are assertive in terms of sexual behavior. Primate females show the ability to control a situation when a primate male is present and they are the ones who will determine whether copulation will occur with a particular primate male. It is also interesting to know that female primates are more susceptible to promiscuity during stages of puberty than male primates. The social organization of primates is very interesting because these species also have hierarchies which determine which individual will have the right to choose his mate and this is mainly based on the level of aggressiveness of the male primate. The most aggressive male primate is thus given the first chance to pick his female primate of choice and the least aggressive male primate often ends up with lesser of a choice among the female primates. Such behavior is generally observed in human society wherein the most aggressive men often get to choose and pursue the most attractive woman and the shy and quiet men often end up with relationships with less attractive women. The female primates have also been observed to show prime responsibility over her offspring, just like the human female (Maestripieri, 1994). The primate males have also been determined to be responsible in finding food for his offspring, searching the forest for fruits and other plants that will be brought to their place of living to feed his young. The male primate has also been observed to protect their place of living from other predatory species as well as other aggressive and destructive male primates. Primate research has transformed our old concepts of human behavior and it is interesting to know that all primates follow the same behavior for specific situations. References Gagneux, P, Boesch, C. , and Woodruff, D. 1999. Female reproductive strategies, paternity, and community structure in wild West African chimpanzees. Anim. Behav. 57: 19-32. Maestripieri, D. 1994. Social structure, infant handling, and mother styles in group-living Old World monkeys. Int. J. Primatol. 15: 531-553. Pope, T. R. 2000. Reproductive success increases with degree of kinship in cooperative coalitions of female red howler monkeys (Alouatta seniculus). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 48: 253-267.

The Causes of Subprime Mortgage Financial Crisis Essay

The Causes of Subprime Mortgage Financial Crisis By Jessica Tian Abstract The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was a set of events that led to the 2008 financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage defaults and foreclosures. This paper seeks to explain the causes of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and how this has led to a generalized credit crisis in other financial sectors that ultimately affects the real economy. In recent decades, financial industry has developed quickly and various financial innovation techniques have been abused widely, which is the main cause of this international financial crisis. In addition, deregulation, loose monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, shadow banking system also play†¦show more content†¦These brokers have neither the credit skills nor the interest to conduct proper payment due of potential homebuyers. Their interest is only in selling the houses as fast as they can. The MBS instruments allowed all financial institutions to transfer the risks to other investors. The dissociation of owners hip of assets from risks encouraged poor credit assessment and was fundamental increasing the risks. 1.3 Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) Collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) refers to a kind of innovative derivative securities product which simply bundling mortgage debt, bonds, loans and other assets together and then rearranging these assets into different tranches with different credit ratings, interest rate payments, risks, and priority of repayment to meet the needs of different investors. As borrowers began to default, investors in the inferior tranche of the CDOs took the first hit, so the owner of this tranche of CDOs may be riskier. In order to compensate for the higher risk, the subordinate tranche receives higher rate of return while the superior tranche receives lower rate but still nice return. To make the top even safer, the banks ensured it small fee called the credit default swap (CDS). The banks do all of the works so that creating rating agencies will stamp the top tranche since as a safe, triple A ratedShow MoreRelatedDeregulation Is The Underlying Cause Of The 2007 / 08 Financial Crisis1382 Words   |  6 Pagesderivatives. The Financial crisis in 2007-2008 brought the massive hurt to everyone in the world. The worldwide financial problem affected thirty million people loosing their jobs and cause many countries getting close to go bankrupt (Peah, 2014). This is the global issue that everyone should be consider of. The purpose of this essay is to determine if the deregulation was the underlying cause of the 2007/08 financial crisis. 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