Alexander Stolbov wrote:
>
> As for Astar (male), maybe making a strong statement you did not take into
> account Yemen mythology? In all the states there (Sabaea, Ma'in, Quataban) Astar
> was the supreme diety and the god of war (+ defender, + irrigation and fertility
> god).
No, actually, I wasn't specifically considering the
Yemenite/Arabic mythology. I was thinking specifically of the Ugaritic
mythology, where he's quite a minor deity. In point of fact, in the myth
of Baal and Yamm, it is specified that Ashtar was "too small" to fill
Ball's throne, and thus could not function as a "king" god.
As Ashtar is such an insignificant deity in those parts of the
Near East which had the closest contacts with the Aegean, both in Bronze
and Iron Ages, it does not seem probable to me that he could be the
origin of Ares. If he were of NE derivation, I'd look to Nergal or
Reshef, attested in the NE texts, especially Ugarit...
> Can you supply me with your information concerning especially Asirat (as the
> root of the godesses bunch)? Or maybe you have another view on the position of
> this diety? What is your opinion on her genetical connection with Isida (on the
> commom Afroasiatic level)?
I'm not entirely certain what you mean by "root of the goddesses
bunch." I believe that Asherah is a distinct deity, worshipped with
greater or lesser intensity at various sites in the Near East. In
Mesopotamia she appears to be a rather minor goddess associated with the
storm god and, possibly, rain. At Ugarit she is the queen of the gods,
the "great mother." I do not see her as specifically "related" to the
other goddesses. Some good bibliography, though, is S.A. Wiggins _A
Reassessment of 'Asherah': A Study According to the Textual Sources of
the First Two Millenia B.C.E_ AOAT Band 235. 1993. Likewise T.
Binger. _Asherah: Goddess in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament_.
Sheffield Academic Press. 1997.
> You ment Ishhara. Do you think she belongs genetically to the group we discuss?
> Or you mentioned her just as a functional parallel to Ishtar?
Once again, I'm not sure what you mean by "genetically." From
what I have studied, Ashtar, Ashtart and Ishtar are all "related,"
insofar as they all refer back to a Near Eastern Semitic Venus-deity (see
Heimpel's Catalogue). Ashtar, the Semitic Venus-deity, crashed headlog
into Inanna, the Sumerian Venus-deity, and the gender changes to female.
This is Ishtar in the East (linguistically a masculine form, no
femininizing 't'), 'Ashtart (Astarte) in the West, and a rather ambiguous
Ashtar in between (at some sites, such as Emmar, the name can be either
masculine or feminine). That 'Ashtart and Ishtar were recognized as one
in the same is evident at Ugarit, where PRU 5 (a god list, Ugaritic names
paired with Akkadian names), D. 'Ashtart is paired with D. Ishtar.
So I can see Inanna, Ishtar, 'Ashtart and even Ashtar as being
"related." Ishhara is an independant deity. She may have originally
stemmed from Inanna (and at sites such as Alalakh the DINGIR.ISHTAR
ideogram seems to refer to either goddess), but she is recognized as
distinct. It appears that her cult is stronger in Syria, especially
those parts which were incorporated into the Hurrian territories, while
Inanna/Ishtar was more important further East. Likewise, Athirat/Asherah
is also an independant deity, a separate entity not derived from (or
giving rise to) the other goddesses in this group.
(By the bye, for good references to Ishhara, see D. Prechel.
_Die Goettin Ishhara_. 1994 I think. I can't get at my copy at the moment.)
> If you belive that Ares is an IE diety could you give his name etymology and
> cognates (not necessary god names, maybe just sacral terms) in other IE
> mythologies (except Thracian)?
Sorry, but etymologies really aren't my strong point (I'm an
historian, not a linguist). The presence of an early digamma in his
name, however, seems to preclude derivation from the Near Eastern
counterparts. Once again, though, as with the case of Aphrodite, a full
examination of possible NE cognates would have to include Eteo-Cypriote,
which isn't currently possible, so there are limits to such a search.
I hope that this is of use, or at least of interest.
Stephanie
(PS: A friend of mine at Penn is currently working on a book
about Ares. Perhaps I could get her e-mail for you?)