Who is…
Ishtar

also known as: Ištar, Inanna, Anat, Isis, Astarte, Aštart, Bànitu, and possibly Asherah, etc.

This multifaceted goddess was at the heart of Mesopotamian religion.

The name “Ishtar” does not appear in the Bible, but her title does.

This is the false goddess of sexuality, war and political power of Akkadian, Sumeria, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, etc. She was one of the most important and widely worshipped deities in Mesopotamia across Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian periods. Her cult involved temples, rituals, possibly sacred prostitution , and strong royal associations.

One of her common symbols is the lion. She is also associated with the planet Venus.

Key Attributes

• Goddess of love, sexuality, fertility, and sensuality
• Goddess of war, battle, and political power
• Associated with he planet Venus (morning and evening “star”)
• Complex, paradoxical personality: nurturing yet destructive, associated with both desire and violence. Often depicted as androgynous or embodying gender fluidity in some contexts
• Supposedly descended to the Underworld

Queen of Heaven

Hebrew: השמים מלכת —Malkath haShamayim —meaning: Queen of Heaven

Ishtar is referred to in ancient cultures as “Queen of Heaven,” and is mentioned by that name in the Bible (Jeremiah 7:18; Jer. 44:17, 25).

“The children gather wood, and the fathers make the fire burn, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to provoke Me.” —Jeremiah 7:18

Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah:

“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” —Jeremiah 44:15-18 ESV

The title “Queen of Heaven” is still used by some modern pagans, referring to what they call The Great Goddess.

Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce links Ishtar, Tammuz, Innini, Ma (Cappadocia), Mami, Dingir-Mah, Cybele, Agdistis, Pessinuntica and the Idaean Mother to the cult of a great Mother-goddess.1

1. F.F. Bruce, “Babylon and Rome,” The Evangelical Quarterly, Volume 13 (October 15, 1941), pp. 241-261.)

Ishtar was known by various names in ancient times

• Ishtar, aka Inanna, Anath, Anat, Anatu, Isis, and Mesopotamian: Astarte (goddess of sex, erotic love, beauty, war, justice, political power / Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian “queen of heaven” / Hittite equivalent: Shaushka)
• Inanna (Mesopotamian goddess of erotic love, war, and fertility / Queen of Heaven / Her “husband” is the god Dumuzid, later known as Tammuz / She is known by the name Ishtar by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians
• Ashtoreth, aka “the queen of heaven”, Asherah, Ashtaroth, Ishtar, Astarte, ʿAṯtart, Ashtart, Athtart, Ashtoret, Ashtarot, Astartu, Uni-Astre, Aset (Canaanites, Phoenicians, Sidonians/Zidonians / Goddess of war, hunting, beauty, erotic love / “The detestable idol of the Sidonians” —2 Kings 23:13 / Philistines placed King Saul's armor in her temple: 1 Samuel 31:10. / Symbols: lion, horse, chariot / Husband: possibly Ba'al, Hadad)
• Astarte, aka Ashtart, Athtart, ʿAṯtart, Ashtart, Ashtoreth (or Ashtaroth) in the Hebrew Bible, also called “the goddess of the Sidonians” (1 Kings 11:5, 33) (one of the major goddesses of the ancient Near East, particularly revered in Canaanite and Phoenician areas / complex association with sex, erotic love, fertility, beauty, war, hunting, and stars, often linked to the planet Venus as the morning and evening star / She evolved from the East Semitic Ishtar of Mesopotamian and Sumerian goddess Inanna. Her worship spread widely via trade and cultural exchange, influencing or syncretizing with deities in Egypt, Cyprus, Greece as Aphrodite, and Rome as Venus / In Egyptian texts, she and Anat are called “great goddesses who conceive but do not bear,” emphasizing generative power. / Worship involved temples, shrines, offerings of cakes, libations, or incense, votive figurines—often nude female figures emphasizing breasts or pubic areas, and possibly sacred groves or poles. Rituals possibly included “sacred” prostitution and offerings for fertility. / Cult centers include: Ashkelon, Emar, and other Philistine cities, Carthage, Sicily, Spain, Gebal aka Byblos, Pyrgi)
• Narundi (Ishtar or Nanaya —Mesopotamian goddess of erotic love) (Elamite goddess known from Susa)
• Pinikir, aka Ishtar, Ninsianna, and “Queen of heaven” (Elamite goddess of love and sex)

More information

• Who is Succoth-Benoth?
• Answers about idolatry and false gods in the Bible and history
• Answers about idols in the Bible
• What is an idolatrous worshiper?
• Idol worshipers kissed their idols
• What are the high places referred to in the Bible?
• Answers about lions in the Bible