Who was Ishtar, and is there any connection between Ishtar and Easter?

Answer

Ishtar was an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of war, fertility, and sexuality. She is featured in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the “Ishtar Gate” was part of Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. Her worship involved animal sacrifices, objects made of her sacred stone lapis lazuli, and temple prostitution. Some individuals suggest a connection between Ishtar and Easter. A prevalent meme circulating the internet makes this claim. Overlaying an image of Ishtar are the words: “This is Ishtar: pronounced ‘Easter.’ Easter originally celebrated Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sexuality. Her symbols (such as the egg and the bunny) were and still are symbols of fertility and sexuality (or did you genuinely believe eggs and bunnies were related to resurrection?). After Constantine’s decision to Christianize the Empire, Easter was transformed to symbolize Jesus. However, at its core, Easter (pronounced Ishtar) is a celebration of fertility and sexuality.”

Nevertheless, there is absolutely no definitive link between the pagan goddess Ishtar and the Christian observance of Easter. Any suggestion that Easter is derived from Ishtar is purely speculative. There is also no evidence that Ishtar was ever linked to eggs or rabbits as symbols. In reality, Ishtar’s sacred animal appears to have been the lion.

Several theories exist regarding the origin of the word Easter that are more plausible than the Ishtar hypothesis. One theory suggests that Easter may have originated from Eostre, an eighth-century Germanic goddess who (presumably) was honored around the time of Passover annually. However, even this theory faces significant challenges, as there is no concrete evidence of anyone worshipping a goddess named Eostre—no shrines, altars, or ancient texts dedicated to her. Others argue that the term Easter ultimately stems from the Latin phrase in albis,Related to alba (“dawn” or “daybreak” in Spanish and Italian). In Old High German, in albis became eostarum, which eventually became Ostern in modern German and Easter in English. The French word for “Easter” is Pâcques, based on the Latin and Greek Pascha, meaning “Passover.”

Even if it could be proven that the word Easter is etymologically related to the name of a pagan goddess such as Ishtar or Eostre, it would not change what the holiday Easter means to us. (The word Wednesday comes from Woden’s Day in honor of the Norse god Woden or Odin—but we don’t usually fret about the word’s pagan origin.) Regardless of where the name Easter came from, Easter itself is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is a critical doctrine of the Christian faith stating definitively that Jesus conquered death and the grave and proved to be the world’s Savior from sin and death. “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” «For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. », (John 3:16).