Ah, here we go again – that seasonal meme that just won’t die. Many Christians, typically of more fundamentalist oriented denominations, have been trying to connect Easter with Ishtar for well over 100 years; since about the late 1800’s.    The simple truth is that “Easter” does not derive from “Ishtar” – this association represents a complete false etymology, and a completely fabricated origin.  To put it in the simplest terms possible, there is just absolutely no way culturally, and particularly linguistically, to connect Ishtar with Easter….but that certainly has not prevented people from making some rather valiant and, in some cases, even impressive attempts.  In addition, eggs and hares have never been historically associated (or even suggested to be associated) with Ishtar. Her sacred animal was the lion, her symbols, the eight pointed star and a twisted knot of reeds representing the doorpost to a grain house (in her earliest form, she was a goddess of grain). Not one credible source cites eggs. Indeed, neither the hare nor eggs were seen as fertility symbols in the ancient Near East. Ishtar’s cult practice died out about 300 AD; long before many European peoples started associating the Christian resurrection narrative with their existing springtime traditions. To try and associate Ishtar with Easter is a bit like trying to say that the word “baby” has the same root as the word  “Babylon”. The majority of this nonsense came from a Scottish Presbyterian minister from the 1800’s; one Alexander Hislop. In his 1858 book, “The Two Babylons”, he asserts that the Roman Catholic Church is a continuation of the religion of ancient Babylon, only in a Christian guise. He goes through great pains in associating and connecting Catholic practices and holidays with those of the ancient Babylonian religion. His book, of course, has been thoroughly discredited (as early as the 1920’s). Indeed, there is no serious self-respecting Biblical scholar who would give any credence to Hislop’s “theories”. Scholars today recognize it for the vehemently anti-Catholic drivel that it is, and note that most of his theories come either from the realm of his very over active imagination, or his complete misunderstanding of both Catholicism and the religion of ancient Babylon. As one historian puts it: “Hislop’s book is wonderful because it’s full of imagination and nonsense. It’s fantastic but utterly misconceived. Hislop’s tendency was to think if it sounds the same, it must be connected.” It’s from Hislop that the idea of just about everything from Easter ham to hot cross buns are pagan in origin and tie back to Ishtar and another Babylonian deity, Dumuz/Tamuz. The association is a complete false etymology and symbol association, created to further promote the beliefs and ideas of some Christian denominations…… the reality is, is that there is just absolutely no association whatsoever; it’s shoddy scholarship coupled with wishful thinking at best. It’s become a seasonal meme that just can’t seem fade into oblivion, and one that some people just can’t seem to let go of. There is no doubt that many of our Easter traditions come from pre-Christian religions and beliefs, I’m certainly not refuting that, but the Akkadian goddess Ishtar and her associated traditions do not encompass any of these.  When it comes down to it and one really takes the time to study the actual origins and not the assumed ones, the “Easter = Ishtar” myth manages to be anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and anti-pagan (because it peddles a false version of pagan belief) which, when you really think about it, is quite an achievement, really. But it’s utter nonsense.
Amen
I don't know that
Complete bs
Ah, here we go again – that seasonal meme that just won’t die.
Many Christians, typically of more fundamentalist oriented denominations, have been trying to connect Easter with Ishtar for well over 100 years; since about the late 1800’s.   Â
The simple truth is that “Easter” does not derive from “Ishtar” – this association represents a complete false etymology, and a completely fabricated origin. Â
To put it in the simplest terms possible, there is just absolutely no way culturally, and particularly linguistically, to connect Ishtar with Easter….but that certainly has not prevented people from making some rather valiant and, in some cases, even impressive attempts. Â
In addition, eggs and hares have never been historically associated (or even suggested to be associated) with Ishtar. Her sacred animal was the lion, her symbols, the eight pointed star and a twisted knot of reeds representing the doorpost to a grain house (in her earliest form, she was a goddess of grain). Not one credible source cites eggs. Indeed, neither the hare nor eggs were seen as fertility symbols in the ancient Near East.
Ishtar’s cult practice died out about 300 AD; long before many European peoples started associating the Christian resurrection narrative with their existing springtime traditions. To try and associate Ishtar with Easter is a bit like trying to say that the word “baby” has the same root as the word  “Babylon”.
The majority of this nonsense came from a Scottish Presbyterian minister from the 1800’s; one Alexander Hislop. In his 1858 book, “The Two Babylons”, he asserts that the Roman Catholic Church is a continuation of the religion of ancient Babylon, only in a Christian guise. He goes through great pains in associating and connecting Catholic practices and holidays with those of the ancient Babylonian religion.
His book, of course, has been thoroughly discredited (as early as the 1920’s). Indeed, there is no serious self-respecting Biblical scholar who would give any credence to Hislop’s “theories”. Scholars today recognize it for the vehemently anti-Catholic drivel that it is, and note that most of his theories come either from the realm of his very over active imagination, or his complete misunderstanding of both Catholicism and the religion of ancient Babylon. As one historian puts it: “Hislop’s book is wonderful because it’s full of imagination and nonsense. It’s fantastic but utterly misconceived. Hislop’s tendency was to think if it sounds the same, it must be connected.”
It’s from Hislop that the idea of just about everything from Easter ham to hot cross buns are pagan in origin and tie back to Ishtar and another Babylonian deity, Dumuz/Tamuz.
The association is a complete false etymology and symbol association, created to further promote the beliefs and ideas of some Christian denominations…… the reality is, is that there is just absolutely no association whatsoever; it’s shoddy scholarship coupled with wishful thinking at best. It’s become a seasonal meme that just can’t seem fade into oblivion, and one that some people just can’t seem to let go of.
There is no doubt that many of our Easter traditions come from pre-Christian religions and beliefs, I’m certainly not refuting that, but the Akkadian goddess Ishtar and her associated traditions do not encompass any of these. Â
When it comes down to it and one really takes the time to study the actual origins and not the assumed ones, the “Easter = Ishtar” myth manages to be anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and anti-pagan (because it peddles a false version of pagan belief) which, when you really think about it, is quite an achievement, really. But it’s utter nonsense.
This music doesn’t fit at all
No one was sacrificing babies dumb dumb
Easter is about the Lord not eggs and bunnies
No, Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. You know who else wasn’t? Horus, the sun god.