# Ishtar #### (2022) - The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica **Link**:: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ishtar-Mesopotamian-goddess **DOI**:: **Links**:: **Tags**:: #paper **Cite Key**:: [@The_Editors_of_Encyclopedia_Britannica2022-np] ### Abstract ``` Ishtar, (Akkadian), Sumerian Inanna, in Mesopotamian religion, goddess of war and sexual love. Ishtar is the Akkadian counterpart of the West Semitic goddess Astarte. Inanna, an important goddess in the Sumerian pantheon, came to be identified with Ishtar, but it is uncertain whether Inanna is also of Semitic origin or whether, as is more likely, her similarity to Ishtar caused the two to be identified. In the figure of Inanna several traditions seem to have been combined: she is sometimes the daughter of the sky god An, sometimes his wife; in other myths she is the daughter of Nanna, god ``` ### Notes