Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 12, 2025
But, as in the course of time the general doctrine was developed which made the gods, on the whole, favorably inclined towards man, while the evil was ascribed to the demons as occupying the lower rank of divine beings we note the tendency also to ascribe the ills that humanity is heir to, to the forces that dwell under the earth, to Nergal and Allatu and to those who did their bidding.
Hence, the receiver of life is a goddess equally with the giver of life, and indeed, Ishtar and Allatu are but the two aspects of one and the same phenomenon. Allatu signifies 'strength. The name is related to the Arabic Allah and the Hebrew Eloah and Elohim. The same meaning strength, power, rule attaches to many of the names of the gods of the Semites: Adôn, Etana, Baal, El, and the like.
It is in some way connected with Urugal, i.e., 'great city, which is also a common designation for the dwelling-place of the dead. But, originally, some other god must have been meant, since Allatu appears as the sole ruler of the lower world in the Ishtar story, unless, indeed, we are to assume that the name has been introduced at a late period as a concession to Nergal.
Allatu would, according to this view, be a personification of the 'earth. But a factor that also enters into play is the notion of productivity and fertility which gave rise to the conception of the great mother-goddess, Ishtar. Allatu is correlated to Ishtar. From the earth comes vegetation. The origin of mankind, too, is traced to the earth, and to the earth mankind ultimately returns.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking