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The Hero’s Journey

Akkadian

Ištar

Ishtar

Ištar

The Akkadian name of a goddess syncretized with Inanna. Not a translation of Inana.

Etymology

Akkadian Ištar. Cognate with West Semitic Attar / Ashtaroth / Astarte. The name belongs to a Semitic family of Venus and war. It is not Sumerian Inana rewritten in another alphabet as if the meaning were the same.

Historical usage

Inanna and Ištar were identified in Mesopotamian religion. The Descent of Ištar is an Akkadian poem related to Inanna’s Descent, not the same text. Syncretism is historical. Identity of etymology is not.

Later development

English ISHTAR, Reverse Reduction 42. Noticed, not plated. The wink that earned a plate on this road is ENHEDUANNA. Cipher of a later spelling is not Akkadian isopsephy.

Why it matters here

The invitation is about empire and translation: why does the later name lock when the Sumerian one does not?

Stories that hold this word

Relationship type is not optional

A word present in a source text is not the same as a later critical term applied to that story.

  • Historical context

    Inanna’s Descent

    Akkadian relative of the Sumerian descent. Related, not identical.

  • Historical context

    Gilgamesh

    Ištar appears in the Standard Babylonian Gilgamesh. Another office of the same name.

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