I. Name

The divine name Astarte is found in the following forms: Ug. ʿṯtrt (‘Athtart[u]’); Phoen. ʿštrt (‘Ashtart’); Heb. ʿAštōret (singular); ʿAštārôt (generally construed as plural); Eg. variously ʿsṯrt, ʿsṯrṯ, isṯrt; Gk. Astartē. It is the feminine form of the masculine ʿṯtr (‘Athtar’, ‘Ashtar’) and this in turn occurs, though as the name of a goddess, as Akkadian Ishtar. The Akkadian Aš-tar-[tum?] is used of her (AGE 330). The etymology remains obscure. It is probably, in the m…