Syncretism in the Cult to Ishtar

Seminary Room S340

The Lady of the Heaven is known in several ways in the context of ANE: Inanna, Sumerian; Ishtar, Akkadian; and Astarte, Canaanite. She seems to play an enormous variety of roles and exhibit several traits as the goddess of sexual love, fertility, war, rain, etc. Definitively, her importance within Ancient Mesopotamia pantheon was preeminent and dominant. Each of her features is deeply connected with social and political configuration of Ancient Mesopotamian Society. In this paper, we are going to focus on how Inanna/Ishtar evolved along several syncretism processes. The question which we will try to respond is: What are the several factors involved in this processes and how they can be interpreted? In order to respond this question, first of all, we will consider a brief review of a “standard version” of myths around her and how she was deeply connected with fertility theology, then we will look over crucial points in the evolution of her conceptualization, and finally a brief reflection about how to interpret the several changes of her character.