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In Babylonia, moreover, it acquires the force of vassal-king. The full list is Anu, Ashur, Shamash, Ramman, and Ishtar. More precisely Arba-ilu, signifying 'city of the fourfold divinity' or 'four-god' city. Cf. the Palestinian form Kiryath-Arba, "four city," originally perhaps, likewise, a city of four gods, rather than four roads or four quarters, as commonly explained. IR. 14, l. 86.
Ashurbanabal tells us that in the course of one of his campaigns against Elam, he addressed a fervent prayer to Ishtar of Arbela, and in reply the message comes, as in the texts we have been considering, "Fear not"; and she adds, "Thy hands raised towards me, and thy eyes filled with tears, I look upon with favor." Dreams.
So Shamash, Sin, Nin-makh, i.e., the great lady, or Ishtar, Nin-khar-shag, Gula, also appearing as Nin-Karrak, have their temples in Babylon, while Ramman has one in Borsippa, and Gula no less than three sanctuaries perhaps only small chapels in Borsippa. Fourthly, there are sanctuaries of minor importance in other quarters of Babylonia.
It was the prophets that reviled the false gods, denounced the abominations of Ishtar, and purified the Israelite heart. While nothing discernible, or even imaginable, menaced, however slightly, the great empires of that day, the prophets were the first to realize that the Orient was dead.
A certain measure of independence was reserved for the great mother goddess Ishtar, who, worshipped under various names as the symbol of fertility, plenty, and strength, is not so decidedly affected by the change as deities like En-lil, Shamash, Sin, and Ea, who could at any time become rivals of Marduk.
On another occasion, Ashurbanabal, when threatened by the king of Elam, receives a message from Ishtar revealed to a seer in a dream at night. Ishtar, supreme among the gods, addressed thee, commanding: "Be encouraged for the fray. Wherever thou art, I am."
Under various forms and numerous disguises, we find the myth among several branches of the Semites, as well as in Egypt and among Aryans who came into contact with Semitic ideas. A festival celebrated in honor of Tammuz by the Babylonians is one expression of many that the myth received. The designation of the sixth month as "the mission of Ishtar" is another.
On one occasion, when the army of Ashurbanabal approached a rushing stream which they were afraid to cross, Ishtar makes her appearance at night, and declares, "I walk in front of Ashurbanabal, the king who is the creation of my hands." The army, thus reassured, crosses the river in safety.
Ishtar, it will be observed, is here called the daughter of the moon-god, whereas in the Gilgamesh epic she appears as the daughter of Anu, the god of heaven. Both designations reflect the views developed in the schools, and prove that the story has been produced under scholastic influences. Irkalla is one of the names for a god of the nether world, who is regarded as the associate of Allatu.
Elsewhere the city Uruk is called "the dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, the city of the Kizréti, Ukháti, and Kharimâti" and in a subsequent tablet of the Gilgamesh epic these three classes of harlots are introduced as the attendants of Ishtar, obedient to her call.
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