No satisfactory account can at present be given of the etymology of either name; for the proposal to connect Ishtar with the Greek (Zend _starann,_ Sanscrit _tara,_ English _star,_ Latin _stella_), though it has great names in its favor, is not worthy of much attention.
Ishtar's aphrodisiac character, though it can scarcely be doubted, does not appear very clearly in the inscriptions.

She is "the goddess who rejoices mankind," and her most common epithet is "Asurah," "the fortunate," or "the happy." But otherwise her epithets are vague and general, insomuch that she is often scarcely distinguishable from Beltis.
She is called "the mistress of heaven and earth," "the great goddess," "the queen of all the gods," and again "the goddess of war and battle," "the queen of victory," "she who arranges battles," and "she who defends from attacks." She is also represented in the inscriptions of one king as the goddess of the chase.
The worship of Ishtar was wide-spread, and her shrines were numerous.
She is often called "the queen of Babylon," and must certainly have had a temple in that city.

She had also temples at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat), at Arbela, and at Nineveh.

It may be suspected that her symbol was the naked female form, which is not uncommon upon the cylinders.

[PLATE XXI., Figs.