The origin of this Babylonian-Assyrian main goddess was a Semitian vegetation- and Moon goddess with lower influence, but when these tribes arrived at the land of the Sumerian kingdom, her cult reached the Sumerian capital Uruk. The Sumerian people identified Ishtar easily with their own goddess, Inanna. After some time Ishtar became in the second Millenium, the highest and widest worshipped goddess of the Babylonians. The myths of Inanna became the myths of Ishtar:

 

Song of Ishtar – Descent to the Goddess

 

Me the woman he has filled with dismay

Has filled me the queen of heaven

with consternation…

I, the woman who circles the land-

Tell me where is my house,

Tell me where is the city in which I may live…

I, who am your daughter…The heirodule,

who am your bridesmaid

Tell me where is my house…The bird has its nesting place

But I – my young are dispersed

The fish lies in calm waters,

but I – my resting place exists not,

The dog kneels at the threshold, But I – I have no threshold…

– Ancient Anon.

************************************

The Greek name for dove, peristera, almost certainly derives from the Semitic perah Ishtar (bird of Ishtar). It is likely that Aphrodite originated in ancient Cyprus and  is a derivation of the Phoenician name Ashteroth (Hellenised as Astarte).

Innana, Ishtar and Astarte, the ancestors of Aphrodite, were the celestial beings originally associated with the planet Venus.  Ancient communities believed that their goddess returned to Venus at night and that is why the star shone so brightly in the night sky.

Ancient Semitic goddess Ishtar, was honoured with the Ishtar Gate at Babylon,  engraved with the title ‘she who vanquishes all’.

Eventually statues of Ishtar, Mesopotamian goddess, along with other pagan goddesses, would be taken from her grottos and replaced with statues of the Virgin Mary. The ramifications for women would be nothing less than catastrophic.

**See post HERE:  Catholic Dichotomy of the Female**

*******************************************

Search around the internet enough and you will find some “heretical” videos by archaeologists, working in Israel. These are fascinating. They have found absolute proof that the Hebrews did not worship one YHWH, but a husband and wife team. Monotheists went through the scriptures to erase her presence, but they didn’t catch all the verses. In the Holy Bible today there are still forgotten references to “the wife of YHWH.” Even in the time of Yeshua (Jesus) they have found shrines to the Hebrew equivalent of Ishtar in Jewish homes – typically in the kitchen. While the men went to the synagogue, the women prayed to the female mirror image of YHWH in their homes. Constantine wanted one religion to unite the empire, so merged the practices of worshiping Solus Invictus, Isis, Ishtar, etc. into an imperial version of Christianity. Ishtar became Mary. The Christian day of worship was moved to Sunday – the day of worshiping the sun god, etc. Bishops and cardinals began wearing the garbs of Isis priests. Now you know why there was a Protestant Reformation. – Richard Thornton; LinkedIn.

***********************

Thank you! I do enjoy the research on the goddesses and have learned interesting information. It seems the more we try for equality the more resistance we have. It also reflects the male ego and not wanting to be seen as weak. Some things never change.

******************************

For more information about my book, HERE is the link: ‘Whatever Happened To Ishtar? A Passionate Quest To Find Answers For Generations Of Defeated Mothers’