I will raise up the dead to eat the living
Until the dead outnumber the living.
The entrance to the nether world is strongly guarded. From other sources we learn that there was a 'spy'—perhaps identical with the watchman—stationed at the portal of the lower world, who reports all happenings to the queen Allatu through Namtar, the god (or spirit) of pestilence. The watchman is to prevent the living from entering, and also the dead from escaping.
The violence of Ishtar is an interesting touch in the narrative. As a goddess, she resents any opposition to her desires. Her anxiety to enter Aralû indicates that the original form of the myth, which must have represented the descent as forced and not voluntary, has been modified by the introduction of a new factor,—the search for her dead consort, Tammuz. The character of Ishtar as the goddess of war[1167] may also have influenced this portrayal of her rage. In her violence, she threatens a conflict between the dead and the living. The former will destroy[1168] the latter, as a victorious army butchers the hostile host. The watchman endeavors to pacify the enraged Ishtar:
The watchman opened his mouth and spoke.
Spoke to the great Ishtar:
Hold, O mistress, do not destroy them.[1169]
I will go and mention thy name to the queen Allatu.
Allatu is grieved upon hearing the news of Ishtar's arrival, for Ishtar's disappearance from the world means death.
I must weep for the masters who forsake their consorts.