Topic Page: Ishtar (Assyro-Babylonian deity)

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1 Topic Page: Ishtar (Assyro-Babylonian deity) Definition: Ishtar from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide Mesopotamian goddess of fertility, sexual love, wedlock, maternity, and war, worshipped by the Babylonians and Assyrians, and personified as the legendary queen Semiramis. She was the equivalent of the Canaanite and Syrian Astarte. In Babylonian mythology the god Tammuz, the personification of natural growth and decay, was her husband and brother. Ishtar rescued him annually from the underworld, dying herself for a time, during which the Earth's fertility waned. She is associated with the planet Venus in its characterization as the morning or evening star. Summary Article: ISHTAR from Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology Ishtar was the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love and war. She was closely associated with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. Sometimes her father was said to have been Sin, the moon god, but more often she was viewed as the daughter of Anu, the sky god, and Antum, an earth goddess. Her primary consort was Tammuz, the young shepherd who, according to some accounts, was also her Image from: The complex son. The ancient city of Babylon, located in modern Iraq, was a main f igure of Inanna-Ishtar... in site of Ishtar worship. Goddesses in World Culture Ishtar and Inanna were the most important of the ancient West Asian goddesses worshiped by the Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. These civilizations were primarily agrarian and arose in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from the fourth millennium BCE onward. It is thought that each local community or settlement had its own mother goddess. Later, as urban civilizations formed, Inanna, with her consort Dumuzi, became the primary Sumerian goddess, particularly in the south. The Babylonian Ishtar, with her consort Tammuz, became dominant later and primarily in the north. Inanna and Ishtar were similar to the Phoenician goddess Astarte, as well as to goddesses farther afield, such as Isis in Egypt, Tanit in Carthage, Aphrodite in Greece, and Venus in Rome. What all of these goddesses had in common was an association with love, and more specifically with sex. Some of them also had an association with war. This dual role may represent the idea of a goddess who governed both birth and death. Ishtar, in her role as love goddess, was usually depicted as a voluptuous woman, naked or seminaked, with extremely large hips and breasts. When shown as a war goddess, she often had wings and stood on or was joined by lions. Other times she wore a tall, almost mountainshaped crown on her head as a sign of her most esteemed position as queen of heaven. Epic of Gilgamesh Ishtar plays an important part in the middle section of the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates from around the 18th century BCE and is one of the oldest poems in world literature. The first part of the story is about how Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and the bull-man Enkidu became best friends and together killed the monster Humbaba. When they returned from this adventure and Gilgamesh had washed off all the grime of battle, Ishtar found the king so handsome that she asked him to be her husband and lover, offering

2 him unlimited riches and power. Yet Gilgamesh refused her offer. He compared her to a number of useless domestic objects, including a fire that goes out in the cold, a back door that does not keep out the wind and rain, a waterskin that soaks its carrier, and an ill-fitting shoe. He asked, "Which of your lovers have you loved forever?" and then listed all the men she had loved and destroyed, starting with Tammuz, whom she sent to the underworld. Tammuz was followed by a shepherd who offered her cakes and goat kids. She turned him into a wolf who was torn to pieces by his own dogs. Another lover was a gardener named Ishullanu who, like Gilgamesh, rejected her. Ishtar turned the gardener into a frog. Ishtar's Symbols The earliest known symbol associated with Ishtar was two bundles of reeds lashed together with streamers. This probably reflected her link with fertility. Storehouse gates were also her emblem. Later, Ishtar was seen as the personification of the planet Venus, and together with Shamash, the sun god, and Sin, the moon god, she formed an astral triad. In this aspect her symbol was a star with either 6, 8, or 16 rays emanating from it, all within a circle. Another Ishtar symbol was the lion, probably because of the animal's loud roar and Ishtar's association with thunder: her role as a war deity may have also been due to her link with storms. The griffon vulture was also one of Ishtar's sacred animals, and acacia, palms, date palms, and willow trees were her sacred plants. Ishtar's Epithets Ishtar, one of the most powerful and important of the West Asian goddesses, was described in many different ways. The list below gives some of her titles: Beautiful Queen Beloved of Enki Bestower of Strength Bright Light of Nights Bright Shining One of the Heavens Daughter of the Moon Forgiver of Sins Framer of all Decrees Giver of Justice and Laws Glad-Eyed Lady Goddess of Goddesses

3 Goddess of Sighing Great Goddess of Love and War Great Harlot Great Lover Great Mother Heavenly Prostitute Lady of Battle Lady of Birth Lady of Never-Falling Waters Lady of Passion and Desire Lady of Sorrow Lady of the Palace Lady of Victory Lawgiver Leader of Hosts Light of the World Lioness of the Igigi Mistress of the Gods Mother of Harlots Mother of the Fruitful Breast Opener of the Womb Protector of the Weak Queen of Heaven Queen of the Rising of the Sun Righteous Judge Ruler of the World She Who Holds the Reins of Royalty Shining One

4 Star of Heaven Ishtar, offended by Gilgamesh's words, then flew to the heavens and wept before her parents, Anu and Antum. She demanded that her father avenge Gilgamesh's insult by sending the Bull of Heaven to kill him. Anu did as his daughter requested and released the bull. After the divine animal caused much damage to the world, Gilgamesh and Enkidu finally killed it. The death of the Bull of Heaven greatly angered Ishtar and the other gods, who decreed that Enkidu had to die. Unable to save his friend's life, Gilgamesh roamed the world in grief for years afterward. Descent to the underworld Another story concerning Ishtar is about her descent into the underworld. It closely follows an older myth about Inanna's journey to the land of the dead. In both tales, the goddess was stripped of her ornaments and clothing at each of the seven gates of the underworld so that she was naked when she confronted Ereshkigal, the goddess of the underworld. However, from then on the stories diverge. In Ishtar's myth, her consort, Tammuz, was already dead and her descent was an attempt to get him back. Once in the underworld, however, Ishtar was afflicted with "60 miseries" that attacked each part of her body. The chief god, Ea, sent a substitute to take Ishtar's place as soon as the gods noticed that all sexual activity on earth had ceased. Ishtar and Tammuz were released together in exchange for a eunuch (castrated man). The other myth involved Inanna's attempt to wrest control of the underworld from Ereshkigal, who was also her sister. In her dominion, however, Ereshkigal was much more powerful than Inanna, whom she turned into rotting meat and left to hang on a wall. Fortunately, Inanna had told her handmaiden to initiate mourning if she did not return and then to try to rescue her. The gods were reluctant to intervene, but they took action when they realized that, without Inanna, all the fertility of the earth would be lost. Inanna returned to earth but had to find a substitute to take her place in the land of the dead; she sent her consort Dumuzi because he alone was not mourning her. Despite these differences, the end result of each myth is the same: fertility was restored to the world. Ishtar's gate In addition to the myths of Ishtar, there were also several monuments dedicated to the goddess. The most important of these was the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. It is thought that the gate was used by the Babylonians during processions to the ziggurat (a pyramid-like structure with steps that wound around the outside tiers and led to a temple at the top) of Marduk, who was also known as Lord of the Worlds. The Ishtar Gate was originally built around 575 BCE, during the reign of King Nebuchadrezzar II, and stood over 38 feet (11.6 m) high. It was covered in deep-blue glazed bricks with reliefs of bulls and dragons. Eventually the gateway fell to ruin, but bricks from the original were excavated in the early 20th century and used in a reconstruction of the gate housed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. In the late 20th century, the Iraqi antiquities department erected its own reconstruction of the gate on or near the original site.

5 The Ishtar Gate, also known as the Gate to Babylon, was reconstructed in the late 20th century on its original site in Iraq. Sexual rituals Besides the monuments, there were also important rituals connected to Ishtar, such as the annual celebration and reenactment of the sacred marriage between Tammuz and Ishtar. The ceremony was performed by the king and the high priestess of Babylon, who was often married to the king. They represented Tammuz and Ishtar, and their roles were central to the sacred ritual. The celebration took place in the New Year, which was observed during the spring equinox, and the Babylonians, dressed in their best finery, feasted, danced, and played music over several days. At the height of the celebrations, the king approached the temple bearing gifts. It is thought that the high priestess waited inside the temple, where she would receive the king's gifts. Once together the two would enact the sacred union in the heart of the temple, ensuring fertility and agricultural prosperity for the whole community in the year to come. The Epic of Gilgamesh related how, when Gilgamesh refused to marry Ishtar and perform his part in the fertility union with the goddess, he brought famine on his people.

6 Other sexual rituals were also performed in honor of Ishtar. The priestesses of Ishtar's temples, like those of Inanna, practiced ritual prostitution. The priestesses were organized into a strict hierarchy. The sexual acts symbolized the sacred union between Tammuz and Ishtar and were intended to promote fertility. Over time, however, their religious significance diminished. Greek writers Herodotus (c BCE) and Lucian (c. 120 c. 180 CE) both refer to a custom that required every woman once in her life to sit in the temple of Ishtar until a man threw a coin in her lap. The man and woman would then go outside the temple and have sex in honor of the goddess; the silver was donated to the temple. Herodotus also points out that attractive women would be claimed quickly, but women who were thought ugly were sometimes forced to wait for years before being chosen, if at all. There are also some references to males acting as homosexual prostitutes in honor of Ishtar. See also: APHRODITE; ASTARTE; DUMUZI; GILGAMESH, EPIC OF; INANNA; ISIS; MESOPOTAMIA; VENUS; VIRGINITY. Furt her reading Black, Jeremy, and Anthony Green. Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, George, Andrew, trans. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: Penguin Books, Oates, Joan. Babylon. New York: Thames and Hudson, Roaf, Michael. The Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York: Checkmark Books, LESLIE ELLEN JONES Copyright 2012 Marshall Cavendish Corporation

7 APA Jones, L. E., & JONES, L. E. (2012). Ishtar. In Gods, goddesses, and mythology. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Reference. Retrieved from Chicago Jones, Leslie Ellen, and LESLIE ELLEN JONES. "Ishtar." In Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology. Marshall Cavendish Reference, Harvard Jones, L.E. and JONES, L.E. (2012). Ishtar. In Gods, goddesses, and mythology. [Online]. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Reference. Available from: [Accessed 29 June 2018]. MLA Jones, Leslie Ellen, and LESLIE ELLEN JONES. "Ishtar." Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology, Marshall Cavendish Reference, 1st edition, Credo Reference,. Accessed 29 Jun