I roam the desert desiring your life: Ištar’s divine support to Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BCE

This paper aims to analyse the multiple roles and behaviours displayed by the goddess Ištar in several oracular compositions dated to the 7th century BCE, which refer to the turbulent times that marked the arrival on the Assyrian throne and the first years of both Esarhaddon’s and Ashurbanipal’s reigns. The highlighting of her divine support was achieved by carefully intertwining several of her long-lasting facets: Ištar was adoptive mother, lover, and fierce warrior, always standing by the side of her loved ones, through all perils and threats. As such and having in mind the ongoing wide historiographical debate on the multilayered nature of ancient goddesses, which aims to surpass old unidimensional visions about the divine feminine, we aim at contributing to the subject matter, by highlighting Ištar’s martial role on these Assyrian political discourses.