Astarte is a goddess about whom much can be told. The Romans and Greeks identified her with Aphrodite. The Phoenicians worshiped her as the main deity. The Egyptians and Canaanites, representatives of the Semitic tribes, cultivated her image. And in the ancient world, Astarte was the subject of great worship. All this is incredibly interesting, so now it’s worth following the trail of history into the past, right up to the advent of our era, in order to immerse ourselves in this topic and learn a little more about such a great goddess.
Appearance and origin
The first mention of Astarte dates back to the third millennium BC. According to historical data, she was the central figure of the Akkadian pantheon. You can identify her with the Sumerian goddess of fertility and love, which was Inanna - the mother of heaven.
Interestingly, for the Western Semites, Astarte was just a goddess - a specific, concrete figure. But for the south - a synonym for deity. Over time, this word became a household word, as a result of which the very image of Astarte absorbed many Hurrian and Sumerian goddesses. And already by 2,000 BC. e. her first cult arose.
It is worth noting that the image of the goddess Astarte contained three most important titles. These are the Queen, Virgin and Mother. Perhaps that is why she was nicknamed "the oldest heaven and earth."
In the culture of the Phoenicians
Residents of the ancient state, located in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, considered the goddess Astarte to be the one who gives life. They called her Mother Nature with tens of thousands of names and associated with Venus and the Moon.
The Phoenicians represented her in the form of a woman with horns. This image symbolized the crescent at the time of the autumn equinox. They also imagined that in one hand she holds an ordinary cross, and in the other a cross-shaped rod.
It seemed that the goddess Astarte was always crying. Because she lost her son Tammuz - the deity of fertility. If you believe the myths, then Astarte and the earth came down in the form of a flaming star, falling into Lake Alfaka, where he died.
As already mentioned, the goddess was associated with Venus - the “Morning Star”. She was seen as an evening and morning guide, especially helping sea wanderers. Therefore, on the bow of each ship, a statue in the form of an Astarte was always fixed so that it accompanied them and brought good luck.
Turning to Mythology: The Middle East and Egypt
The history of the emergence of the goddess Astarte in the culture of the inhabitants of these states is very long and complicated, as it covers millennia, several language groups, as well as a lot of geographical regions.
One of its oldest forms, for example, is the Sumerian Inanna, a many-sided deity. However, she still had the main “role”. Inanna was the goddess of fertility of date palms, livestock and cereals. And also the patroness of rain, storm and thunder. This is due both to the hypostasis of the fertility goddess and to her warlike, even courageous character. These "roles", like many others, are inherent in the goddess Ishtar. Which name is synonymous with Astarte.
In general, it will not be out of place to turn to Plutarch's treatise "On Isis and Osiris." There are some interesting points in the main myth. In particular, the one when Seth locked Osiris in the chest and lowered him into the waters of the Nile. He was carried away by the streams of the river into the sea, as a result of which he ended up on the bank of the city, which was the center of the cult of Tammuz - husband of Astarte.
Around this chest, according to myth, a giant tamarind tree has grown. It turned out to be noticed by the inhabitants, and they cut it down to make a pillar from it for the palace of the goddess Astarte and her husband Melkart, the patron god of navigation.
Cult in egypt
According to historical data, it was formed in the period from 1567 to 1320. BC e. According to Aramaic texts from Upper Egypt, the goddess Astarte was considered the wife of Yahweh before the so-called monotheistic reform. And Yahweh is one of the many names of God himself.
When the period of Hellenism came (lasting from 336 to 30 BC), the image of Astarte merges entirely with the figure of Anat, who in West Semitic mythology was the goddess of war and hunting.
Why did they “unite”? Because Anat, Astarte, and also Kadesh were those three goddesses who bore the honorary Egyptian title of Heavenly Queen. Moreover, only they had a traditionally masculine crown. In all other respects, the goddesses also had a lot of similarities. Therefore, it is not surprising why their images united.
So, in the end, the goddess Astarte in ancient Egypt began to be presented as a naked woman with a snake, which symbolized fertility. Or with a lily. Less often - sitting astride a horse, holding a sword in his hand.
The center of the cult, of course, was Memphis. There Astarte was revered as the daughter of the god Ra - the Creator himself. They personified her with a warrior, considered her the patroness of the pharaohs.
But in myths, by the way, it is mentioned very rarely. When the formation of the Assyro-Babylonian Empire and the formation of a written culture took place, all the material monuments dedicated to the goddess Astarte were destroyed. This is a global consequence of numerous military campaigns. Even libraries were destroyed (or seized).
Why is the goddess of love?
Based on the foregoing, it could already be concluded that Astarte is, in simple terms, a certain exalted, cultivated and generalized image of the eponymous deity, who is the patron of many spheres. But something needs to be clarified. Astarte is the goddess of fertility and love.
Everything is more interesting here. Astarte is the astral personification of Venus. Which was originally named after the Roman goddess of beauty, desire, carnal love and prosperity. Veneris from Latin, by the way, is translated as “carnal love”.
Venus, like Astarte, was identified with Aphrodite. Which son was Aeneas, who escaped from the besieged Troy, and fled to Italy. They say that it was his descendants - the founders of Rome. Therefore, Venus was also considered the foremother of the Roman people. Astarte, the goddess of Egypt, also wore a similar "title", as already mentioned.
In ancient Greek antiquity, by the way, Venus was perceived either as a luminary, a material object of nature, or as the personality of a deity.
And, of course, one cannot help but turn again to Phoenician culture. In those days, cities like Beirut and Sidon existed. They were the centers of worship of the goddess of love - Astarte. There she was considered the main, paramount female deity.
Her high priests were the Sidon kings, and the priestesses were their wives. She was treated with reverence, as the mistress of the kings, to the mistress. They respected her power. And what was love in ancient times? You can find the answer to this question by delving into the study of history and texts, the authors of which were such great thinkers as Parmenides, Hesiod, Empedocles, Plato. Love is power. The first to appear in this world. It is under its influence that many events take place, and the chain of creatures continues.
Turning to the Bible
Since the topic is related to religion, you can not turn to the Holy Book, talking about the goddess Astarte. What you can’t think of is the fact that she was mentioned in her. After all, even in myths it is difficult to find lines dedicated to it, not to mention the Bible. But there is mention. And here are two significant references:
- The city of Levites Ashtart, the capital of Oga. Its full name is Ashterot-Karnayim. It translates as "Two-horned Astarte." The source of the name is Palestinian archaeological finds depicting a goddess with two horns.
- Line: "They left the Lord and began to serve Baal and Astarte." These words are epithets relating to deities. “Baal” is, by the way, the personification of motivation and male fertility.
According to calculations, the name of Astarte as a goddess appears in the Bible nine times. And Ashera (grandmother and mistress of the gods), for comparison - forty. This suggests that among the Jews the worship of Astarte did not prevail.
But then all the same excavations tell a lot. By 1940, about three hundred terracotta figures and plates depicting a naked woman in different images were found in the vastness of Palestine. Examination showed that they were manufactured in the period from 2000. BC e. and up to 600 years. BC eh! Scientists have confirmed that a large part of these products depicts Astarte and Anat (which, as mentioned above, were combined into a single image).
Later years and fanaticism
The cult of Astarte, the goddess of spring, fertility and love, quickly spread. From Phenicia to Ancient Greece, then to Rome, and then to the British Isles. Moreover, over the years, he acquired a somewhat fanatical character. The worship of this goddess manifested itself in orgies, which, as you know, were condemned by the prophets of the Old Testament. She was also sacrificed to barely born babies and cubs of animals. Perhaps this is why Christians called her not a goddess, but a female demon named Astaroth.
But the female image was also there. Astarte was also called the demoness of pleasure, pleasures and lust, the queen of the spirits of the dead. She was worshiped like an astral deity. The cult, formed in honor of the goddess, contributed to the emergence of "sacred" prostitution. Because of all these events, King Solomon was overcome by confusion, and he went to Jerusalem itself in order to put a pagan temple (pagan temple) to the demon goddess.
For a long time, the Old Testament prophets tried to fight her cult and did it very fiercely. Even in Scripture, the goddess was called the "abomination of Sidon." And in a later Kabbalah, she was portrayed as the demon of Friday - a woman whose legs end in serpentine tails.
Interesting nuances
Asher is a symbol of Astarte. Yes, such an opinion also has a place to be. Moreover, researchers believe that it is confirmed by the Phoenician inscription dated to the 221st year BC - Ma-Suba.
So, on the cuneiform Assyrian tablet, created in the XV century BC. e., there is the name of the Prince of Phoenician-Canaanite origin - Abad Asratum, a slave of Ashera.
It is also interesting that the Holy Scriptures do not indicate any information about the image of the goddess in human form. Her sensory beginning was manifested in nudity. Often, "bare" figures during excavations were found in Cyprus, and mistook them for Aphrodite.
It should be noted that within the cult of Astarte, the goddess of the hearth, the ritual of "Holy Marriage" continued to exist. But only until the beginning and middle of the second millennium BC Then the cult took on a shade of fanaticism - in honor of the goddess, festivities began to be held with self-torture, self-astonishment, manifestation of emancipation, sacrifice of virginity, etc. By the way, Ishtar, with whom Astarta is identified, was the patroness of homosexuals, heterosexuals and prostitutes. She herself was called the "courtesan of the gods."
Freya, Anna and Lada
These are the names of the goddesses, also identified with Astarta, as previously mentioned. It is worth mentioning them at least briefly.
Freya is the goddess from German-Scandinavian mythology. They say she was not equal in beauty. She was the patroness of fertility, love, war, harvest, harvest, and the leader of the Valkyries. Depicted on a chariot drawn by two cats.
Anna is the goddess revered by the inhabitants of Babylon. The patroness of family life, justice, harvest, victory ... her cult was supplanted by worship of the god Anu. Moreover, under unknown circumstances.
Lada is the Slavic goddess of love and beauty, affluence, family relationships, flowering nature and fertility. She was called "Mother of all 12 months." All Slavs worshiped her, constantly came with requests and prayers. There were victims - white roosters, beautiful flowers, sweet honey, and juicy berries. Everything that was the personification of fertility, in other words.
Iconography
Now it’s worth returning to the initial topic, and complete it with a mention of symbolism. The goddess Astarte has always been portrayed in different ways. The iconographic specifics in this case depended on which particular aspect was depicted in a particular case. After all, Astarte is a very complex figure in Sumero-Akkadian mythology. She is contradictory. On the one hand, the goddess was the patroness of love and fertility, but on the other, strife and war.
In the latter case, for example, she was portrayed in human form, sitting on a chariot with a thunderbolt in her hands. Or riding a lion. Behind her back could be arrows. Also, an eight-pointed star representing the astral aspect was a frequent “attribute”. A pentagram and a military security sign could even be found. But one of the most interesting versions is the one where Astarte, the goddess of the hearth, fertility and much more, is engulfed in flames. Fire, by the way, was also a frequent attribute of it. Like arrows, bow and quiver.
By the way! All of the listed attributes later become symbols of love in the Hellenistic, late-antique version of Astarte, as well as Aphrodite and Venus identified with it. Then another cupid appeared. He was associated with the function of fertility, for he was perceived as a symbol of love. But still, the cupid was armed with arrows and a bow, because it was "a child of the goddess of war."
In the early and late images, by the way, when there was a “narrow” cult, singing it as a goddess of love, was depicted as a woman with four breasts. However, in the above photo, the goddess Astarte is represented in all the most popular images. Although they are different, it is difficult to deny the presence of something in common in all of them.