I can see why You got so mad at the Israelite’s, I mean, they worshiped Ishtar big time. I see that she was even mentioned in the Stele in…
Venus has the shameful “honor” of being named after a pagan goddess (Venus was the Roman goddess of beauty and love). Several ancient civilizations practiced Venus worship, and veneration of the planet has persisted even into modern times.
The English word “Friday” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Frigedaeg , meaning “Venus day” ( Friga = Venus + dae = day), and many other languages also trace their names for Friday from root words meaning “Venus day.” The Spanish name for Friday is viernes.
Jeremiah 45
Encouragement to Branch
1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch;
3 Thou didst say, Woe is me now! For the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest.
4 Thus shalt thou say unto him, The LORD saith thus; Behold, that which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land.
5 And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.
The Queen of Heaven
In the Bible the enigmatic title “Queen of Heaven” appears only in Jer 7:18, 44:17-19, 25, but similar titles occur throughout the ancient Near East and apply to several goddesses.
Anat is called the “Lady of Heaven,” and the Canaanite Astarte (Ashtoreth in the Bible) and her Mesopotamia counterpart, Ishtar, also bear the title “Queen of Heaven.”
These goddesses are connected to the worship of the planet Venus; astral worship was particularly popular during the 7th century B.C.
The exiled Judahites conceived of the queen as a fertility goddess in whose image the women made “cake.” This cultic practice may also be indicated by a discovery at Mari of baking mold in the form of a naked female with hands supporting her breasts – as well-known fertility motif.
Moreover, Jeremiah’s word for these cakes derived from the Akkadian for a type of b read that was often presented to Ishtar. Jeremiah described how a family would gather wood, make a fire, prepare the bread, pour out libations and burn incense.
Religious texts dedicated to Ishtar recount very similar steps. The Judahites were apparently following ritual practices associated with the Mesopotamian Ishtar and the Canaanite Astarte/Ashtoreth.
The Queen of Heaven exemplified the religious syncretism that plagued Israel for centuries and ultimately led to God’s judgment upon his people.
Still today, believers in the God of the Bible are wise to beware of a gradual assimilation of unbiblical and even pagan concepts. The notion of a ”Queen of Heaven” was just such assimilation.
…Memphis. Was Memphis an important city and whether it was or not, does it still exist?