The cult of the goddess Ishtar arose in ancient Mesopotamia, on the territory of modern Iraq. In Persia, it was known as Istar, in Israel as Ashtoret. The Greeks called her Anunith, Nana, Inanna.
Ishtar was the goddess of love, passion, fertility, nature, and was often portrayed as a beautiful woman whose body was overgrown with tender, green shoots.
In those distant times, in the 7-5th centuries BC, several kingdoms were located in Mesopotamia: Assyrian, Sumerian, Akkad and Babylon. The influence of the cult of Ishtar quickly spread to all Middle Eastern lands.
Information about the goddess Ishtar has been preserved in the most ancient literary work: the epic about Gilgamesh, which was written over a thousand and a half years.
The cult of the goddess Ishtar
The name Ishtar translates as "Clear Sky." Blue color is an ancient Sumerian sign of the goddess Inanna. The full sign of Ishtar or Inanna consisted of a round wreath with a ribbon woven into it, which forms two ends and a six-pointed star in the center. Ishtar was also the goddess of heaven.
In Babylon, Ishtar was also considered the patroness of priestesses of love and harlots. There was even temple prostitution.
Every day, several women had to sit in a specially designated place near the shrines of Astarte and give themselves to the passing men for a coin. Only after such a peculiar ritual, could women feel like full-fledged mistresses of the city. The next year, the ritual was repeated.
In the 7th century BC, in Babylon, and throughout Asia Minor, the cult of Ishtar was the most important.
