Editing Inanna (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Inanna receiving offerings on the Uruk Vase, circa 3200-3000 BCE.jpg|thumb|Inanna receiving offerings on the [[Uruk Vase]], circa 3200–3000 BCE]]
Scholars believe that Inanna and Ishtar were originally separate, unrelated deities,{{sfnm|1a1=Leick|1y=1998|1p=87|2a1=Black|2a2=Green|2y=1992|2p=108|3a1=Wolkstein|3a2=Kramer|3y=1983|3p=xviii, xv|4a1=Collins|4y=1994|4p=110–111|5a1=Brandão|5y=2019|5p=43}} but were conflated with one another during the reign of [[Sargon of Akkad]] and came to be regarded as effectively the same goddess under two different names.{{sfnm|1a1=Leick|1y=1998|1p=87|2a1=Black|2a2=Green|2y=1992|2p=108|3a1=Wolkstein|3a2=Kramer|3y=1983|3p=xviii, xv|4a1=Collins|4y=1994|4p=110–111}}{{efn|With exception of [[#Akkadian_version|Ana Kurnugê, qaqqari la târi]] and [[#Epic of Gilgamesh|Sha naqba īmuru]] who use the name Ishtar, all others texts use the name/are about Inanna.{{sfnp|Brandão|2019|p=65}}}}  Inanna's name may derive from the [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] phrase {{transliteration|sux|nin-an-ak}}, meaning "Lady of Heaven",{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=86}}{{sfnp|Harris|1991|pp= 261–278}} but the cuneiform sign for ''Inanna'' ({{cuneiform|4|𒈹}}) is not a [[Ligature (writing)|ligature]] of the signs ''lady'' ([[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]: {{transliteration|sux|[[EREŠ|nin]]}}; cuneiform: {{cuneiform|4|𒊩𒌆}} SAL.TUG{{sub|2}}) and ''sky'' (Sumerian: {{transliteration|sux|[[DINGIR|an]]}}; cuneiform: {{cuneiform|4|𒀭}} AN).{{sfnp|Harris|1991|pages= 261–278}}{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=86}}{{sfnp|Wolkstein|Kramer|1983|pages=xiii–xix}} These difficulties led some early [[Assyriologists]] to suggest that Inanna may have originally been a [[Proto-Euphratean]] goddess, who was only later accepted into the [[Sumerian pantheon]]. This idea was supported by Inanna's youthfulness, as well as the fact that, unlike the other Sumerian divinities, she seems to have initially lacked a distinct sphere of responsibilities.{{sfnp|Harris|1991|pages= 261–278}} The view that there was a Proto-Euphratean substrate language in Southern [[Iraq]] before Sumerian is not widely accepted by modern Assyriologists.{{sfnp|Rubio|1999|pages=1–16}}

The name ''Ishtar'' occurs as an element in personal names from both the pre-[[Sargon of Akkad|Sargonic]] and post-Sargonic eras in Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia.{{sfnp|Collins|1994|page=110}} It is of [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] derivation{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=96}}{{sfnp|Collins|1994|page=110}} and is probably etymologically related to the name of the [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] god [[Attar (god)|Attar]], who is mentioned in later inscriptions from [[Ugarit]] and southern Arabia.{{sfnp|Leick|1998|page=96}}{{sfnp|Collins|1994|page=110}} The morning star may have been conceived as a male deity who presided over the arts of war and the evening star may have been conceived as a female deity who presided over the arts of love.{{sfnp|Collins|1994|page=110}} Among the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, the name of the male god eventually supplanted the name of his female counterpart,{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=110–111}} but, due to extensive syncretism with Inanna, the deity remained as female, although her name was in the masculine form.{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=110–111}}