ancient Sumero-Babylonian goddess of love and fertility, counterpart of Phoenician Astarte (q.v.), from Akkadian Ishtar.
Entries linking to ishtar
Astarte
name of a Phoenician goddess identified by the Greeks with their Aphrodite, from Greek Astarte, from Phoenician Astoreth (plural Ashtaroth), equivalent to Assyrian Ishtar. Apparently properly a virginal goddess of the moon or the heavens, but she has been frequently confounded since Biblical times with the sensual Ashera (see Asherah).