ID: 901000784 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/ia/901000784	Record Type: Character/Person

	Astarte (Middle Eastern deity)

Note: The supreme female divinity of the ancient Middle East, particularly of Phoenicia, Tyre, Sidon, and Elat. Goddess of fertility and sexual love. Hebrew scholars believe the goddess Ashtoreth mentioned so often in the Bible is a deliberate conflation of the Greek name Astarte and the Hebrew word boshet, "shame."indicating the Hebrews’ contempt for her cult. was worshiped in Egypt and Ugarit and among the Hittites, as well as in Canaan. Her Akkadian counterpart was Ishtar. Later she became assimilated with the Egyptian deities Isis and Hathor (a goddess of the sky and of women), and in the Greco-Roman world with Aphrodite, Artemis, and Juno. Astarte, goddess of war and sexual love, shared so many qualities with her sister, Anath, that they may originally have been seen as a single deity. Their names together are the basis for the Aramaic goddess Atargatis.

Display Date: by 2nd millennium BCE

Names:

	Astarte (Middle Eastern deity) (preferred,English-P,D,N)
	Athtart (Middle Eastern deity) (English,U,N)
	Ashtart (Middle Eastern deity) (undetermined,U,N)
	Ἀστάρτη (Middle Eastern deity) (Greek,U,N)
	Ashtoreth (Middle Eastern deity) (undetermined,U,N)
	Ashtaroth (Middle Eastern deity) (undetermined,U,N)

Hierarchical Position:

		Legend, Religion, Mythology (P)
		....<Ancient Near-Middle Eastern iconography> (P)
		........<Ancient Near-Middle Eastern characters> (P)
		............Astarte (Middle Eastern deity) (I)

Related Iconography:

	associated with .... Chemosh
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Semitic iconography, Semitic characters, Chemosh (West Semitic deity)) [901002173]

	counterpart is .... Ishtar
	..........(Legend, Religion, Mythology, Ancient Near-Middle Eastern iconography, Ancient Near-Middle Eastern characters, Ishtar (Assyro-Babylonian deity)) [901001831]

Other Relationships:

	role/characteristic is .... deity
	.....(people in religion, people in religion and related occupations, people in the humanities, people by occupation, people (agents), People (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	culture/religion is .... Phoenician (culture or style)
	.....(Levantine (culture or style), Near Eastern (Early Western World), Early Western World, styles, periods, and cultures by region, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	deity of .... love (emotion)
	.....(positive emotions, emotion, psychological concepts, social science concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

	deity of .... fertility
	.....(biological concepts, scientific concepts, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name)) (AAT)

Sources:

	Astarte (Middle Eastern deity)
	................J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-) n 2016036345
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	................Metropolitan Museum of Art [online] (2001-)
	Athtart (Middle Eastern deity)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	Ashtart (Middle Eastern deity)
	................Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-)
	Ἀστάρτη (Middle Eastern deity)
	................Wikipedia (2000-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astarte
	Ashtoreth (Middle Eastern deity)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-)
	Ashtaroth (Middle Eastern deity)
	................Library of Congress Authorities online (2002-) n 2016036345
	................Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-) 95A35 Dea Syria, Astarte

Iconography Record Sources:

	................ Encyclopedia Britannica Online (2002-) "Astarte," accessed 13 June 2017
	................ Encarta Encyclopedia (2004)
	................ J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-)
	................ Iconclass Illustrated Edition (2022-) 95A35 Dea Syria, Astarte