Ishtar is one of our five Rising gods of the modern West. This thread is intended as a place to post sources of information about Ishtar. If you're aware of any good books about Ishtar, please tell us about them here. If you're aware of any good websites about Ishtar, please post the links here. Also, if you have a favorite prayer or chant to Ishtar, or a favorite poem about Ishtar, please call our attention to it here (without violating copyright, please). Please use this thread to refer us to any sources of info (online or offline) you find interesting.

To begin: A brief but thorough (and very readable) intro is the online Shrine of Ishtar. Note, however, that this site does not give very many references/sources. So, not all the details are necessarily reliable. This site is still a good quick intro, but its specific claims should be double-checked elsewhere. I hope eventually to put together a list of sources for verifying this site's claims.

The Internet Sacred Texts Archive has a collection of writings from and about the Ancient Near East.

Some Wikipedia articles on the ancient history of the Middle East, and how it differs from the alleged history presented in the Bible:

• The Bible and history
  
• Biblical archaeology
  
• Chronology of the Bible
  
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
  
• Canaan
  

For some general information about the religion of the Middle East in the Biblical era, the following Wikipedia articles are relevant:

• Ancient Semitic religion
  
• Canaanite religion
  
• Religions of the Ancient Near East
  
• Babylonian mythology
  

On Ishtar/Inanna/Astarte:

• Inanna
  
• Ishtar
  
• Astarte
  

The Shrine of Ishtar site claims that all of the following earlier Goddesses were assimilated into Ishtar by the Babylonians:

• Absusu
  A Sumerian title for Ishtar in her role as a promiscuous goddess
  
• Abtagigi
  "She Who Sends Messages of Desire"; a Sumerian title used for Ishtar as patroness of sacramental promiscuity and/or Sacred Prostitution
  
• Agasaya
  A Semitic goddess of war called 'the Shrieker' she was absorbed into the concept of Ishtar, who was also known as goddess of battles.
  
• Anatha Baetyl
  A planetary goddess (Venus) known in Egypt and among the Hebrews, later absorbed into Ishtar; part of a trinity with males.
  
• Anatu
  In early Mesopotamia she was known as Ishtar's mother (with alternative names such as Antu, Antum); the ruler of both Earth and Heaven. Later in time she became absorbed and merged into the worship of her daughter.
  
• Anunit
  or Anunitu was the patron-goddess of the city of Akkad and associated with Venus as evening star; daughter/sister of the moon-god Sin. She became - in the course of time - absorbed into the great figure of Ishtar who also took over her role as ruler of the city.
  
• Asakhira
  Early Semitic goddess of promiscuity; merged into Ishtar
  
• Dilbah
  Ishtar as Venus the morning-star and goddess of war and hunting
  
• Gumshea
  Mesopotamian goddess of vegetation and fertility who was assimilated into Ishtar
  
• Hanata
  A name for Ishtar as warrior-deity
  
• Har
  A name of Ishtar that led to the title Harine
  
• Irnini
  Originally a patroness or guardian-deity of the Lebanese cedar-mountains she later became absorbed into Ishtar
  
• Kilili
  The goddess Ishtar as symbol of the promiscuous and independent woman - the ancient idea of the virgin - whose wanton behavior inspires both excitement and a tremendous anxiety in many of those who desire her.
  
• Nanab
  'Queen'; an old Babylonian title used for Ishtar at the cities of Lagash and Ninevah; it may refer back to a global form of Inanna from which Ishtar has developed.
  
• Nin Si Anna
  Ishtar as the all-seeing 'Lady Eye of Heaven'
  
• Ninkasi
  Sumerian goddess of Wine, 'Lady Horn-Face', who became 'incorporated' into Ishtar
  
• Ninkharak
  A dog-headed goddess of healing who was assimilated into Ishtar
  
• Nintur or Nintu Sentu
  An ancient goddess of Shirpurla who became merged into Ishtar; the names meaning 'Lady of the Womb' and 'Lady Life-Giver'.
  
• Sarbanda
  'Queen of the bow', a goddess of the hunt or of war who was venerated at the city of Erech; later she became assimilated into Ishtar
  
• Sharrat Shame
  Ishtar as 'Queen of Heaven'
  
• Siduri (Shiduri, Shidurri)
  Ishtar in her guise as innkeeper and wine-maker in the story of the hero Gilgamesh
  
• Ulsiga
  A title of reverence meaning 'Ishtar of Heaven and Earth'
  
• Zanaru
  A title of Ishtar meaning 'Lady of the Lands'
  
• Zib
  Ishtar as Venus the evening-star and goddess of love
  

At some point I'll need to research the above claim in depth.

In any case, Ishtar was indeed addressed as "Lady of Ladies, Goddess of Goddesses," in what is apparently an ancient Babylonian "Prayer of Lamentation to Ishtar" (text here -- I should try to track down a more authoritative copy).

I also found an online copy of something called "the Invocation of the Ishtar Gate" (text here), which likewise addresses Ishtar as "Lady of Ladies, Goddess of Goddesses." But this is, apparently, not an actual ancient Babylonian invocation. I found another copy here, as part of an online copy of the Simon "Necronomicon." The "Ishtar Gate" itself was real (as one of the gates of the city of Babylon - see the Wikipedia article about the Ishtar Gate), but the "Invocation of the Ishtar Gate" is a modern writing -- albeit inspired, to at least a limited degree, by actual ancient prayers.

On the other hand, the "Prayer of Lamentation to Ishtar" does seem to be genuinely ancient, as far as I can tell so far, though I should try to find a better source for the text.

In addition to its translations of actual ancient Babylonian and other ancient Middle Eastern texts, the Internet Sacred Texts Archives also has a translation of the classical Roman text De Dea Syria by Lucian of Samosata. The owner of the site, John B. Hare, says the following: "De Dea played an important role in the development of modern Neopaganism; Robert Graves cited it as one of the few actual accounts of ancient Goddess-worship."

This translation has an Introduction that begins as follows:

THE dawn of history in all parts of Western Asia discloses the established worship of a nature-goddess in whom the productive powers of the earth were personified. She is our Mother Earth, known otherwise as the Mother Goddess or Great Mother. Among the Babylonians and northern Semites she was called Ishtar: she is the Ashtoreth of the Bible, and the Astarte of Phœnicia.

The website of Natib Qadish, a modern reconstruction of the ancient Canaanite religion, has a page Canaanite FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions and Misconceptions about Canaan and Ancient Canaanite Religion and a Library section.

I also found a Sumerian Reconstructionist group Temple of Sumer and a Babylonian Reconstructionist group Gateways to Babylon. The latter site includes a Hymn to Ishtar. (The Hymns and Poems page also has what is apparently supposed to be a link to "Lamentation to Ishtar," but it doesn't work.)

We're not Reconstructionists, but there are, no doubt, plenty of interesting things we can learn from the Recons.

A century ago, it was believed that the myth of Ishtar and Tammuz strongly paralleled both the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis and the myth of Cybele (the Great Mother) and Attis. (See Myths of Tammuz and Ishtar in Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Donald A. Mackenzie, 1915.) More recent understandings of the Babylonian Ishtar/Tammuz myth, based on the earlier Sumerian Inanna/Dumuzi myth, are not quite as strongly parallel to the Greek Aphrodite/Adonis myth or the Roman Cybele/Attis myth as was once believed. According to the Wikipedia article on Ishtar:

Formerly, scholars[2][5] believed that the myth of Ishtar's descent took place after the death of Ishtar's lover, Tammuz: they thought Ishtar had gone to the underworld to rescue Tammuz. However, the discovery of a corresponding myth[6] about Inanna, the Sumerian counterpart of Ishtar, has thrown some light on the myth of Ishtar's descent, including its somewhat enigmatic ending lines. According to the Inanna myth, Inanna can only return from the underworld if she sends someone back in her place. Demons go with her to make sure she sends someone back. However, each time Inanna runs into someone, she finds him to be a friend and lets him go free. When she finally reaches her home, she finds her husband Dumuzi (Babylonian Tammuz) seated on his throne, not mourning her at all. In anger, Inanna has the demons take Dumuzi back to the underworld as her replacement. Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna is grief-stricken and volunteers to spend half the year in the underworld, during which time Dumuzi can go free. The Ishtar myth presumably has a comparable ending, Belili being the Babylonian equivalent of Geshtinanna.[7]

The earlier-perceived parallels apparently had an important role in the development of the modern Wiccan concepts of the "Great Goddess" and the "dying and rising God."

Also in the online copy of Mackenzie's book, this page contains another "Hymn to Ishtar" which appears to be another translation of the Prayer of Lamentation to Ishtar.

The Internet Sacred Texts Archives has copies of quite a few of the late-1800's and early 1900's writings that inspired the modern Wiccan mythos, in the site's section on Wicca and Neo-Paganism.

Many of these are scholarly writings -- which, however, reflect very outdated scholarship. (For an update on issues pertaining to the witchhunts, see Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt by Jenny Gibbons.)

I just now came across the article The Goddess Ishtar: Babylonian Goddess of Love and War by Linnea Heinrichs.

I just now came across a Facebook page devoted to Inanna/Ishtar. (Note: The page has no affiliation with Church of Azazel.)