Ishtar (DIŠTAR, the Queen of the Night. Characteristics Ishtar is a goddess of fertility, love, war, and sexWilkinson, p. 24 In the Babylonian pantheon, she "was the divine personification of the planet Venus".Guirand, p. 58 Ishtar was above all associated with sexuality: her cult involved sacred prostitution; her holy city Uruk was called the "town of the sacred courtesans"; and she herself was the "courtesan of the gods". Ishtar had many lovers; however, as Guirand notes, Ishtar was the… (More on Ishtar)