| ʿAṯtar | |
|---|---|
Deity of theMorning and Evening Star | |
 South Arabian fragment of astela depicting a recliningibex and threeArabian oryx heads, which were associated with ʿAṯtar. | |
| Planet | Venus |
| Animals | Gazelle(in Syria) Nubian ibex (inSouth Arabia) |
| Equivalents | |
| Mesopotamian | Lugal-Marada,[1]Zababa (through equation with Aštabi),[2]Ninurta (through equation with Aštabi[3] and Lugal-Marada)[4] |
| Hurrian | Aštabi |
ʿAṯtar is a deity whose role, name, and even gender varied acrossancient Semitic religion. In both genders, ʿAṯtar is identified with the planetVenus, the morning and evening star.[5] ʿAṯtar is a prominent character in theBaal Cycle. It has been suggested that ʿAṯtar as a masculine Venus god was syncretized into the depiction of feminine Venus goddess Inanna in her depiction as having a masculine beard.[6]
The name appears in various Semitic languages as:
The Ugaritic masculine variant of ʿAṯtar,𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗 (ʿAṯtar), appears in theBaʿal Cycle.[7]
The Northwest Semitic feminine form of ʿAṯtar, the Great Goddess𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗𐎚 (ʿAṯtart), is often mentioned in Ugaritic ritual texts, but played a minor role in mythological texts.[8]
Among theAramaeans, ʿAṯtar appears in a masculine form as the god𐡏𐡕𐡓 (ʿAttar), in which capacity he was identified with thebaetyl as𒁹𒀀𒋻𒋡𒈬 (ʿAttar-qāmu,lit. 'ʿAttar is the baetyl').[7][9]
Within the ancient Aramaean religion, the deceased ancestors of the clans, calledʿamm, were worshipped as idealised figures who could become assimilated to ʿAttar, as evidenced by personal names such as𒁹𒀀𒋻𒄩𒄠𒁹𒀀𒋻𒄩𒈬 (ʿAttar-ʿammu,lit. 'ʿAttar is the ancestor'), and𒁹𒀀𒀜𒋻 and𒁹𒀀𒈨𒀀𒋻 (ʿAmmī-ʿAttar,lit. 'My ancestor is ʿAttar').[10]
The use of the name of the god ʿAttar as a theophoric element is attested in the name𐡁𐡓𐡏𐡕𐡓 (Bar-ʿAttar,lit. 'Son of ʿAttar'), which is attested on an 8th-century BC stamp seal and was also the name of the earliest known ruler ofLaqē, as well as𐡏𐡕𐡓𐡎𐡌𐡊 (ʿAttar-sumki,lit. 'ʿAttar is my support'), which was the name of two rulers of the kingdom ofBēt-Gūš. The name of this god always appears in the masculine form even in women's names, such as ʿAttar-ramat and ʿAttar-ṭabat, thus attesting that the Aramaean ʿAttar was a distinctly masculine deity.[11][9]
One of the hypostases of the Aramaean ʿAttar was𐡏𐡕𐡓𐡔𐡌𐡉𐡍 (ʿAttar-Šamayin), that is the ʿAttar of the Heavens: in this role, ʿAttar was the incarnation of the sky's procreative power in the form of the moisture provided by rain, which made fertile his consort, the goddess of the Earth which has been dried up by the summer heat. Due to ʿAttar's role as a provider of rain, his epithet "of the Heavens" refers to his manifestation as lightning and thunder in the skies.[9]
The name of the goddess who was the consort of ʿAttar is itself not attested in Aramaic, but is recorded inSabaic as𐩠𐩥𐩨𐩪 (Huwbis) or𐩠𐩨𐩪 (Hūbis), which was derived from the South Semitic root𐩺-𐩨-𐩪 (y-b-s), itself a declension of the Semitic rooty-b-š, meaning "to be dry." The position of Hūbis/Huwbis as the consort of ʿAttar-Šamayin is attested by the depiction of a goddess in front of a standing worshipper on an 8th-century Aramaeancylinder seal, with the image of avulva, the symbol of Hūbis/Huwbis, being present behind the goddess and over a recumbentgazelle - the sacred animal of ʿAttar - over which was also inscribed the name of the god himself.[9]
The earliest record of ʿAttar-Šamayin is from anAramaic inscription on the 8th-century BC cylinder seal belonging to an individual namedBarruq, who is described in the inscription as a𐡏𐡁𐡃 𐡏𐡕𐡓𐡔𐡌𐡉𐡍 (ʿBD ʿTRŠMYN.lit. 'servant of ʿAttar-Šamayin'); Barruq's own name, which means "thunder," was a reference to ʿAttar-Šamayin in his role as a god associated with thunder and lightning.[9]
In theKingdom of Aksum situated in theHorn of Africa, ʿAttar was worshiped:[12][13] as the god of the sun and moon and as the father of the other members of the Axumite pantheon:Maher andBeher, the former of which they shared with theHimyarite Kingdom. He wasassociated with the god Zeus.
Among the ancientSouth Arabians,𐩲𐩻𐩩𐩧 (ʿAṯtar) was a masculine deity who had retained the prominence of his role as the deity of the planet Venus as the Morning Star, and was a god presiding over thunderstorms and who provided natural irrigation as rain.[9] ʿAṯtar thus held a very important place within the ancient South Arabian pantheon, in which he replaced the old Semitic high godʾIl as the supreme deity.[7][14]
The name of ʿAṯtar was suffixed with a mimation in the South Arabiankingdom of Ḥaḍramawt, thus giving theḤaḑramitic form𐩲𐩯𐩩𐩧𐩣 (ʿŚTRM).[15]
WithinSouth Arabian polytheism, ʿAṯtar held a supreme position within the cosmology of the ancient South Arabians as the god presiding over the whole world, always appeared first in lists, and had various manifestations with their own epithets.[16] The rulers of the ancient South Arabian states would offer ritual banquets in honour of ʿAṯtar, with the banquet being paid for from the tithe offered to the god by the populace.[17]
The patron deity of the Qatabānians, however, was the Moon-god, variously called𐩲𐩣 (ʿAmm, inQatabān) or (Sayīn, inḤaḍramawt), who was seen as being closer to the people compared to the more distant figure of ʿAṯtar, and the people of these states consequently called themselves the children of their respective Moon-god.[18][19][16][20]
The South Arabian ʿAṯtar was a hunter god, and the ancient South Arabians performed ritual hunts in his honour as fertility rites with the goal of making the rain fall. The chosen prey during these hunts were probably gazelles, which were sacred to ʿAṯtar.[9][8]
This hunter aspect of ʿAṯtar is also present in his Northwest Semitic feminine variant, who is called𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗𐎚𐎟𐎕𐎆𐎄𐎚 (ʿAṯtart ṣawwādatu,lit. 'ʿAṯtart the huntress') in one passage of an Ugaritic text. The Sabaic hallowed phrase𐩺𐩥𐩣 𐩮𐩵 𐩮𐩺𐩵 𐩲𐩻𐩩𐩧 (ywm ṣd ṣyd ʿṯtr,lit. 'the day when he performed the hunt for ʿAṯtar') itself had a parallel in a reference to𒄿𒈾 𒌋𒐋 𒌓𒈪 𒍝𒁺 𒊭 𒀭𒀸𒁯 (ina 16 umi ṣadu šaᴰAštart,lit. 'on the 16th day is the hunt of ʿAṯtart') in a text fromEmar.[8]
One of the hypostases of the South Arabian ʿAṯtar was𐩫𐩧𐩥𐩣 (Kirrūm), whose name, which was aqittūl-pattern Semitic word formation meaning "rainfall," was related toGeʽezክራምት (kəramt),Amharicክረምት (krämt),Tigrēካራም (karam), andEastern Gurageከርም (kärm), all meaning "rainy season." Kirrūm was thus a form of ʿAṯtar who provided fertility in the form of the rain he dispensed.[9]
TheBabylonians identified Kirrūm, under the name𒀭𒆥𒀸𒈠 (ᴰKinruma), with their own goddess𒀭𒀹𒁯 (ᴰIštar), who was herself the goddess of the planet Venus as well as the Mesopotamian feminine form of ʿAṯtar.[9]
Another hypostasis of the South Arabian ʿAṯtar was𐩲𐩻𐩩𐩧𐩦𐩧𐩤𐩬 (ʿAṯtar-Šariqān), that is ʿAṯtar of the East, who was invoked especially in curses as an avenger god against enemies.[9]
ʿAṯtar was worshipped as a masculine deity among the ancientArabs, who during theIron Age were located principally in theSyrian Desert and North Arabia.[7][9]
Similarly to the link between ʿAttar and the ancestral cult of theʿamm among the Aramaeans, there also existed a connection between ʿAttar and the cult of the ancestors among Arabs which is attested from as early as the 7th century BC in the form of a personal name recorded in Akkadian as𒀭𒀀𒋫𒊏𒋛𒈠 (ᴰAtar-asima), from an originalAncient North Arabian formʿAttar-ʾaśyimāʾ, in which the divine patron of a clan or tribe, the𐪆𐪚𐪃 (śaym, of whichʾaśyimāʾ is theʾafʿilāʾu-type broken plural), is assimilated to ʿAttar.[10]
One 8th century BC Aramaic inscription found in a tomb in a region of theZagros Mountains close to aMannaean royal tomb mentions ʿAttar as𐡀𐡕𐡓𐡌𐡑𐡍 (ʿAttar-Muṣurūn), that is a variant of ʿAttar whose epithet was theOld Arabic plural form ofمصر (muṣru),lit. 'march', with ʿAttar-Muṣurūn thus being ʿAttar of the Marches. The name "the Marches" itself was the designation assigned by the Mesopotamians to the northernḤijāz and theNegev. The name of the deity is followed by the title𐡍𐡂𐡔 (ngš), corresponding toAncient North Arabian𐪌𐪔𐪆 (ngś) andEthiosemiticንጉሥ (nəguś), and meaning "the ruler."[9]
ʿAttar-Muṣurūn was thus the main deity of North Arabia, and the tomb in which his name was found inscribed likely belonged to an Arab who had been deported by the Assyrians to their northeastern border regions.[9]
TheQedarite Arabs worshipped ʿAṯtar in his form ofʿAttar-Šamayin, whose name is attested inAncient North Arabian as𐪒𐪉𐪇𐪊𐪃 (ʿAttar-Šamē). Assyrian records mention this god, referred to in Akkadian as𒀭𒀀𒋻𒊓𒈠𒀀𒀀𒅔 (ᴰAtar-Samayin, reflecting the Aramaic formʿAttar-Šamayin rather than the Ancient North ArabianʿAttar-Šamē), as one of the Qedarite deities whose idols were captured as war booty by the Neo-Assyrian kingSîn-ahhī-erība and was returned to the Qedarites by his son and successorAššur-aḫa-iddina.[9]
The worship of ʿAṯtar in his form ofʿAṯtar-Kirrūm was also practised by the Qedarites, as attested by an inscription of theNeo-Assyrian king Aššur-aḫa-iddina mentioning this deity inAkkadian as𒀭𒀀𒋻𒆪𒊒𒈠𒀀 (ᴰAtar-Kumrumā), with the dissimilation of the epithetkirrūm intokumrumā reflecting the influence of Akkadian𒆪𒌝𒀸 (kumrum) and Aramaic𐡊𐡅𐡌𐡓𐡅 (kumru), meaning "priest."[9]
AtPalmyra, where lived a large Arab population, the Arab ʿAṯtar was assimilated with the Arameo-Canaanite great god,Baʿal, in the form ofBōlʿaṯtār, later𐡡𐡥𐡫𐡰𐡯𐡶𐡴 (Bōlʿastōr), that is Baʿal-ʿAṯtar.[7][9]
The masculine form𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓 (ʿAštar) existed among theCanaanite peoples as an astral deity, which is attested by his mention along with the Moon-GodŠaggar in the 9th or 7th century BCDayr ʿAllā inscription, the subject of which is largely the Sun-goddessŠamāš, thus forming a triad of the Sun, Moon, and Venus similarly to the one attested inSouth Arabia, and suggesting a South Arabian religious influence in Moab. The hypostases of ʿAṯtar who appear among the various Canaanite peoples might have been an indigenous Transjordanian variation of his or local adaptations of the North Arabian variant of the god.[9]
A possiblePhoenician variant ofʿAštar might be attested as a theophoric element𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓 (ʿAštar) in a personal name fromByblos,𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤇𐤍 (ʿŠTR-ḤN).[7]
In the 5th century BC, under theAchaemenid Empire, a shrine dedicated toʿAštar existed in theSharon Plain in Canaan, at a location corresponding to the present-dayIsraeli town ofElyakhin, where he was worshipped by Phoenicians, Aramaeans, and Arabs.[7]
Arabian units of the Achaemenid army stationed inCanaan during the 5th century BC who participated in the cult ofʿAštar have left inscriptions recording his name, suffixed with amimation to differentiate him from the Canaanite feminine form of ʿAṯtar,𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤕 (ʿAštart), in the Phoenician and Aramaic scripts as𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤌 and𐡏𐡔𐡕𐡓𐡌 (ʿAštarum). This form of the god's name was distinctly North Arabian, showing that the worshippers who had left these inscriptions were originally from North Arabia, possibly fromTaymāʿ orDadān.[9][15]
ʿAštar was attested among the Canaanite people of theMoabites during the 9th century BC, when he was identified with the patron god of Moab,𐤊𐤌𐤔 (Kamōš), in the form of𐤏𐤔𐤕𐤓𐤊𐤌𐤔 (ʿAštar-Kamōš).[7][9][21]
According to the inscription of the Moabite kingMōšaʿ on the victory stele commemorating his triumph in a war against the Israelites, he had sacrificed the whole population of the town ofNebo to ʿAštar-Kamōš. This was likely due to the influence of the South Arabian ʿAṯtar-Šariqān, that is of ʿAštar's hypostasis as an avenger deity who was invoked in curses against enemies.[9]
The lateMichael Heiser argued that the Canaanite tale of Athtar was being drawn upon inIsaiah 14. It was used as a symbolic parallel to the Babylonian ruler attempting to claim divine kingship, but being thrown down into Sheol.[22]
ʿAštar appears as the demon Ashtar in the video gameShin Megami Tensei II.
.svg)
