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“Ishtar of joy is clothed in charm; she is adorned with seductiveness, cosmetics, and appeal. She is sweet-lipped, her mouth is life; laughter blooms on her features.”
An Old Babylonian hymn to the goddess Ishtar dedicated by the king Ammi-ditana #Galentines #Valentines
An Old Babylonian hymn to the goddess Ishtar dedicated by the king Ammi-ditana #Galentines #Valentines
A 4,000-year-old hymn to the goddess Ishtar praises her aspects as the goddess of love and her authority in the Babylonian pantheon.
“She alone controls mutual love, obedience, passion, good will...
Who can equal her greatness?
Strong, august, brilliant are her divine powers”
“She alone controls mutual love, obedience, passion, good will...
Who can equal her greatness?
Strong, august, brilliant are her divine powers”
In Mesopotamia, the goddess Ishtar was volatile and complex. She enjoyed making love as much as she did inciting battle
King Ashurbanipal of ancient Assyria claimed her support in his royal inscriptions: “With the help of Ashur and Ishtar, I killed them. Their heads, I cut off.”
King Ashurbanipal of ancient Assyria claimed her support in his royal inscriptions: “With the help of Ashur and Ishtar, I killed them. Their heads, I cut off.”
In the Gilgamesh epic, the goddess Ishtar tells the Anu to send the Bull of Heaven to slay Gilgamesh after he spurned her advances, perhaps out of fear.
“What bridegroom of yours endured forever?
To Dumuzi, husband of your youth...you allotted perpetual weeping.” #Valentines
“What bridegroom of yours endured forever?
To Dumuzi, husband of your youth...you allotted perpetual weeping.” #Valentines
Medical incantations and rituals are directed to Ishtar, including ones for depression, witchcraft, and symptoms relating to sex.
One begins, “Proud is she, grand is Ishtar, she is adorned with fiersome radiance, she is full of greatness.”
One begins, “Proud is she, grand is Ishtar, she is adorned with fiersome radiance, she is full of greatness.”
Ishtar’s fiersome, awe-inspiring radiance is captured by the Akkadian word melammu
Read more about the fierce, raging, wise, powerful, love- and sex-loving goddess Ishtar for #GalentinesDay #ValentinesDay via @opencuneiform oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdei…
Read the full Old Babylonian Hymn to Ishtar from King Ammi-ditana here in the original Akkadian and English translation (Text 2.1.5.3) via @opencuneiform hudd.huji.ac.il/ArtlidHomepage…
