Ishtar the Mother of the Anunnaki. A look into the true nature of the Great Mother Ishtar. She appears to have a parasite of sorts… Ishtar was undoubtedly a goddess of the fertility of the earth. She was the ‘Great Mother’ who fostered all vegetation and agriculture. She is frequently addressed as ‘Mother of the gods,’ the Anunnaki, and the name “Ishtar ” became a generic designation for “goddess.” But of course these were later honors. When her cult centred at Erech, it appears to have speedily blossomed out in many directions, and, as has been said, lesser cults probably eagerly identified themselves with that of the Great Earth-Mother, so that in time her worship became more than a Babylonian cult. Astrologically she was identified with the Planet Venus , but so numerous were the attributes surrounding her taken from other goddesses with which she had become identified that they threatened to overshadow her real character, which was that of the great and fertile mother. More especially did her identification with Nin-lil, the consort of Enlil, the storm-god, threaten to alter her real nature, as in this guise she was regarded as a goddess of W-battle. It is rare that a goddess of fertility or love achieves such a distinction. In some texts we find that, so far from being able to protect herself, Ishtar and her property are made the prey of the savage Anunnaki Enlil, the storm-god. Enlil “His word sent me forth,” she complains; watch the video… The poem, which in its existing form consists of 137 lines in cuneiform characters, appears to be incomplete. We are not told therein the purpose of the goddess in journeying to the ‘House of No-return,’ but we gather from various legends and from the concluding portion of the poem itself that she went there in search of her bridegroom Tammuz, the sun-god of Eridu. Ishtar is certainly one of the most important characters of this region.
Narrated and Created by A.Christie
