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In later times, it should be noted, the priestesses of Ishtar were virgins who were not permitted to marry. In Babylon, she was sometimes portrayed Madonna-like as the mother of the god Marduk. Statuettes have been found in large numbers representing her as naked.
![the epic of inanna the epic of inanna](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c5/3b/6b/c53b6b5f3be0db254513d6226b0e5f66.jpg)
At other times, she is depicted simply clad in long robes with a crown on her head and various animals-bulls, lions, owls, snakes, etc.-as her symbol.Īs the goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar was the guardian of sacred harlots and is described as having sacred priestess-prostitutes. Before battle, the priestess-vicar of Ishtar would appear before the Assyrian army, clad in battle array and armed with bow and arrow (much like the Greek Athena). She was invoked as a goddess of battles, particularly among the warlike Assyrians. On monuments and seal-cylinders Ishtar appears frequently as a warrior, with bow and arrow or other implements of war. In the sixth century B.C.E., the great Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II constructed the mammoth "Ishtar Gate" in honor of the goddess.
![the epic of inanna the epic of inanna](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cc/7b/f8/cc7bf8debfe3953b20fe491ce4dba437.png)
Look at its wall which gleams like copper, inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no one can equal! Take hold of the threshold stone-it dates from ancient times! Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence of Ishtar, such as no later king or man ever equaled! The Epic of Gilgamesh gives the following description of Ishtar's temple in Uruk: E-mash-mash, "house of offerings," in Nineveh.Temples devoted to the worship of Ishtar/Inanna were constructed in each of the great Mesopotamian cultural centers: The reconstructed Ishtar Gate, originally located in Babylon, now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. In other traditions, however, she is the daughter of the distant sky god, An. She is sometimes described as the daughter of the moon goddess Ningal and her consort, also a moon god, Sin (or Suen), who were the patron deities of Uruk. Ishtar's genealogy varies depending on the source. Although sometimes portrayed as subject to higher male authorities, her position in the Babylonian pantheon, in practice, was the highest. Ishtar's reign did not normally depend upon a particular male consort. Incantations, hymns, myths, epics, votive inscriptions, and historical annals celebrated and invoked her as the force of life. In the archaeological record, Ishtar/Inanna was first worshiped at Uruk (Biblical Erech) in the earliest period of Mesopotamian history. Scholars likewise speculate that Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring whose name later gave rise to modern the English "Easter," may be etymologically connected to Ishtar. Their names, at least, are indeed similar to the Biblical ones. Some scholars have suggested that Esther and Mordecai-the heroes of the Biblical Book of Esther-may be Judaized versions of some lost story about Isthar and the Babylonian deity Marduk. It is possible that the underlying stem is the same as that of Assur, meaning the "leading one" or "chief." The older Sumerian name, Inanna, means "Great Lady of An"-An (or Anu) being the god of the sky or heaven.
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The name Ishtar is likely Semitic in origin, and was identified in ancient times with Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth or Astarte (Biblical Hebrew עשתרת). She protected her favorites, but brought doom upon those who dishonored her, sometimes with terrible consequences for whole nations. Ever young, energetic, and passionate, Ishtar was moody, changing rapidly from love to enmity. There were two conflicting aspects to this goddess: She was the deity of fertility and love, but also a jealous goddess who could bring vengeance against individuals, go to war, destroy fields, and make the earth's creatures infertile.
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