The Sumerians refer to Ishtar as the “Queen of Heaven” and considered the goddess as the most significant female deity or divinity in their pantheon. Ishtar acts as the goddess of sexuality and love, subsequently, ensuring fertility among the Sumerians ( Pryke, 2017 ). Though Ishtar does not represent the mother goddess, she provides life for Sumerians. Based on celestial aspects, Ishtar represents planet Venus, the evening and morning star. As the war deity, she possesses bearing arms and wings.
In the Bible, the “Queen of Heaven” in Jeremiah 7:18 refers to Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess (Ashtoreth and Astarte). The Assyrians worshipped Ashtoreth and Astarte as Ishtar, the fertility goddess. The Assyrian and Babylonian women aspired bearing children, subsequently, worshipped the “Queen of Heaven” during the era ( Klein, 2015 ). People worshipped Asherah as the goddess of war and love. Similarly, the Sumerians considered the “Queen of Heaven”, Ishtar as the female deity for war and love.
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Significantly, the supreme God of Israelites prohibited the Asherah-worship among the Israelites through Prophet Moses. Despite God’s vivid instruction against Asherah-worship, various leaders of the Israelites promoted the worship of Asherah during the reign ( Klein, 2015 ). For instance, King Solomon introduced the Sidonians’ goddess, and Jezebel ensured a more prevalent Asherah-worship during his reign.
People worshipping Asherah or Ashtoreth offered libations to the “Queen of Heaven” and credits the female deity for providing prosperity and peace they have as a result of God’s mercy and grace. Accordingly, God instructed the prophet Jeremiah to remind people who observed Asherah-worship that their idolatry and disobedience would require punishment from the supreme God through severe calamity.
The worship of Ishtar as the fertility goddess entails temple prostitution and fertility rituals or rites. The sexual nature of the Asherah-worship or Ishtar worship violates the biblical prohibition of idolatry among the people of God ( Klein, 2015 ). Consequently, it inspired the prophets of God to condemn idolatrous practices among the Israelites and promote repentance before God’s severe punishment.
References
Klein, R. C. (2015). GOD versus Gods: Judaism in the age of idolatry . Mosaica Press.
Pryke, L. M. (2017). Ishtar . Taylor & Francis.
