Ishtar (English pronunciation /ˈɪʃtɑːr/; Transliteration: DIŠTAR;) is the Mesopotamian East Semitic (Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian) Goddess of fertility, love, war, sex, & power She is the counterpart to the earlier attested Sumerian Inanna, and the cognate for the later attested Northwest Semitic Aramean goddess Astarte, and the Armenian goddess Astghik. Ishtar was an important deity in Mesopotamian religion which was extant from c.3500 BC, until its gradual decline between the 1st and 5th centuries AD in the face of Christianity.
Ishtar symbolizes love, including that between human and animals, its power, and its danger.
Ishtar was the daughter of Anu. She was particularly worshipped in the Upper Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria (modern northern Iraq, north east Syria and south east Turkey), particularly at the cities of Nineveh, Ashur and Arbela (modern Erbil), and also in the south Mesopotamian city of Uruk.
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: Ishtar, Astarte, Goddess, Fertility goddess, Goddess of fertility, Fertility, Fertility cult, Babylonian goddess, False god, Idol, Idolatry, Venus, goddesses, Mesopotamia gods, Mesopotamian gods, false gods, false deities, Babylonian deities, gods of Babylon, Babylonian gods
Bible reference(s): Judges 2:13, Judges 10:6, 1 Samuel 7:3, 1 Samuel 7:4, 1 Samuel 12:10, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33, 2 Kings 23:13, Daniel 3:12, Isaiah 21:9, Baruch 6:4
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Ishtar,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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