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Ancient Mesopotamian religion
Religions of the ancient Near East Anatolia Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia Babylonia Sumer Iranian Semitic Arabia Canaan
Primordial beings Tiamat and Abzu Lahamu and Lahmu Kishar and Anshar Mummu
Seven gods who decree Four primary Anu Enlil Enki Ninhursag Three sky gods Inanna/Ishtar Nanna/Sin Utu/Shamash
Other major deities Adad Dumuzid Enkimdu Enmesharra Ereshkigal Ki Kingu Geshtinanna Lahar Marduk Nergal Ninurta Šulpae
Minor deities Agasaya Anunnaki Asaruludu Ashnan Ashgi Bel Dumuzi-abzu Enbilulu Erra Erragal Gibil Hendursaga Igigi Isimud Išum Kajamanu Lahar Laṣ Lisin Lugala'abba Mami/Nintu Mamitu Maštabba Nabu Namtar Nanshe Nindara Ninmarki Nisaba Ninazu Ningal Ningirida Ningirima Ninkasi Ninkilim Ninlil Ninmug Ninšar Ninsikila Ninšubur Ninsun Nuska Paniĝinĝarra Sarpanit Shul-utula Šubula Šulpae Tišpak Uttu
Demigods and heroes Adapa Enkidu Enmerkar Gilgamesh Lugalbanda Shamhat Siduri Atra-Hasis Ziusudra Apkallu (seven sages)
Spirits and monsters Udug Lamassu/Shedu Asag Edimmu Siris Anzû Ušum Bašmu Mušmaḫḫū Ušumgallu Seven-headed serpent Humbaba Hanbi Kur Lamashtu Lilu Pazuzu Rabisu
Tales Mythology An = Anum Atra-Hasis Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Enūma Eliš Epic of Gilgamesh
Terms Dingir Sukkal

Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. Anunit, Astarte and Atarsamain are alternative names for Ishtar.

Aspects of Ishtar

Ishtar is a mother goddess, fertility goddess, the goddess of spring, a storm goddess, a warrior goddess and goddess of war, a goddess of the hunt, a goddess of love, goddess of marriage and childbirth, and a goddess of fate.

She was also an underworld deity, her twin sister being Ereshkigal, the Goddess of Death, but her dominant aspects are as the mother goddess of compassion and the goddess of love, sex and war.

As the goddess of love, Ishtar was irresistible. Her lovers were legion and she was the matron of courtesans and prostitutes. Ishtar herself was the 'courtesan of the gods' and she was the first to experience the desires which she inspired. Sovereign of the world by virtue of love's omnipotence, Ishtar was the most popular goddess in Assyria and Babylonia.^{[citation needed]}

Name

In late Babylonian astrology, the Goddess Ishtar was related to the planet Venus and was the divine personification of the planet.^{[citation needed]} As the most prominent deity in the Babylonian pantheon, She was equated by the Greeks with either Hera (Latin Juno) or Aphrodite (Latin Venus), hence the current name of the planet. (A continent on Venus is named Ishtar Terra by astronomers today.) The double aspect of the Goddess may correspond to the difference between Venus as a morning star and as an evening star. In Sumerian the planet is called "MUL.DILI.PAT" meaning "unique star".

The name Inanna (sometimes spelled Inana) means "Great Lady of Heaven". The meaning of Ishtar is Babylonian "Star". The name is Semitic in origin, and was masculized in ancient times with Canaanite `Ashtoreth, Hittites' 'Inaras'. She is referred to in the bible as Ashtoreth, (e.g. Biblical Hebrew עשתרת), Anath, Asherah or Esther. Eostre,the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of spring (whose name later gave rise to modern English "Easter") may easily be etymologically connected to that of Ishtar. "Like all the church's 'moveable feasts,' Easter shows its (P)agan origin in a dating system based on the old lunar calendar...the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox." [p. 267 'The Women's Encylopedia of Myths and Secrets' by Barbara G. Walker]

Descent into the underworld

One story involving Ishtar, and one of the most famous, is the story of her descent to the underworld. Ishtar, who was already regarded as the queen of the living due to her status as supreme goddess, desired to rule the underworld. She began to journey to the underworld, and offered a false explanation to the underworld's gatekeeper as to why she desires to enter the Land of No Return. The gatekeeper accepted her explanation, but also made sure to tell Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Dead and sister of Ishtar, of Ishtar's visit. Ereshkigal's face grew dark, and although she gave permission for Inanna to enter, she warned that ancient rites would have to be followed.

At all seven gates, Inanna, like the souls of the dead, had to remove an article of clothing, at the seventh taking off her beautiful dress. When Inanna arrived at the palace of Ereshkigal, cold and naked, she complained to her sister of her treatment, but Ereshkigal silenced her and told her that when she visited the underworld, she would have to follow underworldly rituals. Ishtar then grabbed Ereshkigal, pulling her off her throne and sitting in her place, but the Annunaki, the seven demon-gods of the underworld, sentenced her to death. Immediately after their judgement was announced, Inanna turned into a green, decaying slab of meat, which Ereshkigal hung on a slab in her bedchamber. However, Ea, the cunning uncle of Ishtar, managed to get Ereshkigal to let Ishtar live again provided she sent a substitute.

Ishtar was greeted by minor deities upon her return, who had been wearing only rough sacks and groveling in the dirt for days mourning for Ishtar, and so Ishtar decided that she couldn't send any of them. However, when she reached her palace, she found her lover Tammuz wearing brilliantly colored clothes and sitting upon her throne, and, in her rage, sent him to the underworld in her place. However, she later missed him and sent Tammuz's half-sister for six months every year to take Tammuz's place.

There is also another version of this story, which says that Ishtar was rescued from the underworld by a being named Asushunamir.^{[citation needed]}

Temples

In all the great centres Inanna and then Ishtar had her temples: E-anna, "house of An", in Uruk; E-makh, "great house", in Babylon; E-mash-mash, "house of offerings", in Nineveh. Ishtar was the guardian of prostitutes, and probably had priestess-prostitutes to serve her. She was served by priests as well as by priestesses. The (later) votaries of Ishtar were virgins who, as long as they remained in her service, were not permitted to marry. Inanna was also associated with beer, and was the patroness of tavern keepers, who were usually female in early Mesopotamia.^{[citation needed]}

In Mesopotamian culture

Ishtar is also a significant figure in the epic of Gilgamesh. She appears also on the Uruk vase, one of the most famous ancient Mesopotamian artifacts. The relief on this vase seems to show Inanna conferring kingship on a supplicant. Various inscriptions and artifacts indicate that kingship was one of the gifts bestowed by Inanna on the ruler of Uruk.

On monuments and seal-cylinders Inanna/Ishtar appears frequently with bow and arrow, though also simply clad in long robes with a crown on her head and an eight-rayed star as her symbol. Statuettes have been found in large numbers representing her as naked with her arms folded across her breast or holding a child. The lion, bull, serpent and dragon are sacred to Ishtar.^{[citation needed]}

As part of a triad

Together with the moon god Nanna or Suen (Sin in Akkadian), and the sun god Utu (Shamash in Akkadian), Inanna/Ishtar is the third figure in a triad deifying and personalizing the moon, the sun, and the earth: Moon (wisdom), Sun (justice) and Earth (life force). This triad overlies another: An, heaven; Enlil, earth; and Enki (Ea in Akkadian), the ocean.

Place named after Ishtar

One of the most famous places named after Ishtar is Tarout Island in the Persian Gulf. The island was called IshTarout, before the name evolved into Tarout.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Powell, Barry. Classical Myth: Fourth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.