Ishtar (Inanna in Sumerian sources) is a primary Mesopotamian goddess closely associated with love and war. This powerful Mesopotamian goddess is the first known deity for which we have written evidence. While largely unknown in the modern day, this powerful ancient deity had a complex and influential role in the religions and cultures of the Ancient Near East.
In the ancient world, it is difficult to overstate the importance of Inanna/Ishtar. As the most famous Mesopotamian goddess, her substantial influence was embedded in many aspects of her worshippers' lives, and she was revered across the broad geographical reach of the Ancient Near East for a period of history spanning thousands of years. Ishtar comes from a very early time in the history of complex civilisations, with her cult attested at Uruk as early as the late 4th millennium BCE.
Evidence for Ishtar comes from Mesopotamia, an area of the Ancient Near East generally considered to be placed geographically between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Although there is much debate about Mesopotamia's exact territorial extent, it is considered to roughly correspond with modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and parts of Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Mesopotamia was home to many of the world's first great empires, including the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian Empires. Continue reading from World History Encyclopedia
