Astarte
An ancient Near Eastern goddess associated, depending on the time period and area, with war, hunting, royal power, and healing. She was incorrectly characterized by Westermarck as a fertility goddess. A direct connection between Astarte and Qetesh cannot be established according to modern scholarship.
↻ synthesized from 26 sources
When
- First attested
- 3000 BCE
- Attested period
- -3000 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Associated with war, hunting, royal power, and healing rather than fertility as previously claimed.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Hammu Qayyu, Hammon, Azizos, Maan, Shalman, Dea Caelestis, Juno Caelestis, Sol, Minerva, Urania, Jupiter, Melqart, Baʻl, Bastet, Sekhmet, Tefnut, Wadjet, Mut, Nekhbet, Neith, Satet, Mestjet, Renenutet, Weret-hekau, Anuket, Sothis, Atarsamain, Nuha, Fortuna, Mater Matuta, Amm, Wadd, Yam, Sin, Baphomet, Valkyrie, Eve, Khem, Al-Uzza, ’Ilot, Asherah, Hera, Nut, Juno, Queen of Heaven, Damkina, Ashima, Shimti, Manathu, Elath, Atargatis, Ahura Mazda, Ashtoreth, Ruḍāʾ, Dagon, Išḫara, Ištar, Uni-Astre, Isis, Hathor, Ouranos, Serket, Baalat Gebal, Byblian Aphrodite, Ptah, Osiris, Geb, Maga, Meretseger, Mehet-Weret, Ammit, Khensit, Mafdet, Meskhenet, Iunit, Raet-tawy, Beset, Kebechet, Nebethetepet, Iusaaset, Qed-her, Nehmetawy, Abaset, Khereduankh, Hatmehit, Henet, Pelican, Iabet, Iat, Meret, Nehbet-anet, Ay, Nebtuwi, Ahmose-Nefertari, Ahti, Amathaunta, Amn, Anet, Anhefta, Anit, Anuke, Aperet-Isis, Bairthy, Besna, Esna, Hedetet, Heptet, Heret-Kau, Hert-ketit-s, Hert-Nemmat-Set, Hert-sefu-s, Heru-pa-kaut, Heset, Hetepes-Sekhus, Iaret, Ipy, Iw, Ken, Khefthernebes, Matit, Nakith, Perit, Pesi, Qerhet, Rekhit, Šauška, Uni, Tinia, Thesan, Ma'at, Ištar, Bêlit, Ilat, Aphroditos, Ichthys, Horus, Nephthys, Anubis, Thoth, Apophis, Anat, Mnevis, Adonis, Selene, Uranus, Dione, Aphrodite Urania, Aphrodite Pandemos, sphinxes, Aphrodite, Menhit, Diana, Satan, Hecate, Lilith, Baal, Yahweh, Shaitan, Angra Mainyu, El, Qetesh, Amesemi, Mehit, Artemis (Diana), Ra, Artemis, Attis, Zeus
- syncretized with
- Aicha Kandicha, Tanit, Venus, Atargatis, Inanna, Astaroth, Al-lāt, ʿAṯtart, Ištar, Ishtar, Aphrodite, unialastres, Astrateia
- allied with
- Ashar, Nemesis, Arsu, Bel, Baalshamin, Aglibol, Malakbel, Abgal, Amm, Wadd, Yam, Sin, Eshmun
- consort of
- Elagabalus, Set, Adonis, Kronos
- serves
- Set
- has aspect
- Astronoë
- manifested by
- Great Mother
- child of
- Re
Mentioned by
- Menhit
- Diana
- Satan
- Hecate
- Lilith
- Baal
- Yahweh
- Shaitan
- Angra Mainyu
- El
- Qetesh
- Amesemi
- Mehit
- Artemis (Diana)
- Ra
- Artemis
and 9 more
Sources
- peer reviewed
Source passages
“tying her to the cult of the goddess Astarte...Astarte - associated, depending on the time period and area, with war, hunting, royal power, healing etc., but not with fertility as Westermarck claimed”
#3003 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“A monument from Jebel al-Abiad (153AD) mentions him together with the deities Bel, Baalshamin, Aglibol, Malakbel, Astarte, Nemesis, and Arsu, though according to Teixidor 1979 he was a god of nomads, and usually mentioned in association with nomadic gods such as Azizos, Maan, Ashar, or Shalman.”
#3620 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“the Emperor also tried to bring about a union of Roman and Syrian religion under the supremacy of his deity, which he placed even above Jupiter, and to which he assigned either Astarte, Minerva or Urania, or some combination of the three, as wife.”
#3685 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“A trinity of gods representing the sun, moon and Venus is also found among the peoples of the South Arabian kingdoms of Awsan, Ma'in, Qataban and Hadramawt between the 9th and 4th centuries BC. There, the deity associated with Venus was Astarte”
#3783 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Texts found mention Melqart among other Punic gods Eshmun, Astarte and Baʻl.”
#12035 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001