Meaning and history
Ishtar is a name derived from the Semitic root ʿṯtr, possibly connected with the Evening Star. She was an Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian goddess of love, war, and fertility, cognate with the Canaanite and Phoenician Ashtoreth and also identified with the Sumerian goddess Inanna. In Akkadian cuneiform, 𒀭𒈹, her name was written with the same sign as the Sumerian name for Inanna.