The Descent of Ishtar, the Fall of Sophia, and the Jewish Roots of Gnosticism

Abstract

The Fall of Sophia is an important element in Gnostic mythology. Recently G Guispel, stimulated by the Nag Hammadi text Thunder, has tried to trace the roots of this motif via Hellenistic Judaism to the Mesopotamian myth of the Descent of Ishtar. Upon analysis this suggestion turns out to be without strong support. That there are Jewish elements in Gnosticism is not to be denied, through the mere allusion to OT texts does not prove a Jewish origin. One possible source of such elements may be the disappointed apocalypticism--not the First War as suggested by R Grant--but of the Second War, which produced such disillusioned rabbis as Elisha ben Abuyah.