Editing Inanna (section)

===Symbols===
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  | image1    = Kudurru Melishipak Louvre Sb23 n02.jpg
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  | caption1  = The eight-pointed star was Inanna/Ishtar's most common symbol.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pp=156, 169–170}}{{sfnp|Liungman|2004|page=228}} Here it is shown alongside the [[solar symbol|solar disk]] of her brother [[Shamash]] (Sumerian Utu) and the [[crescent|crescent moon]] of her father [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] (Sumerian Nanna) on a [[kudurru|boundary stone]] of [[Meli-Shipak II]], dating to the twelfth century&nbsp;BCE.
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  | caption2  = Lions were one of Inanna/Ishtar's primary symbols.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=118}}{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=113–114}} The lion above comes from the [[Ishtar Gate]], the eighth gate to the inner city of [[Babylon]], which was constructed in around 575&nbsp;BCE under the orders of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]].{{sfnp|Kleiner|2005|page=49}}
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Inanna/Ishtar's most common symbol was the [[eight-pointed star]],{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pp=156, 169–170}} though the exact number of points sometimes varies;{{sfnp|Liungman|2004|page=228}} six-pointed stars also occur frequently, but their symbolic meaning is unknown.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=170}} The eight-pointed star seems to have originally borne a general association with the heavens,{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pages=169–170}} but, by the [[First Babylonian dynasty|Old Babylonian Period]] ({{circa}} 1830 – {{circa}} 1531&nbsp;BCE), it had come to be specifically associated with the planet [[Venus]], with which Ishtar was identified.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pages=169–170}} Starting during this same period, the star of Ishtar was normally enclosed within a circular disc.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=170}} During later Babylonian times, slaves who worked in Ishtar's temples were sometimes branded with the seal of the eight-pointed star.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=170}}{{sfnp|Nemet-Nejat|1998|pages=193–194}} On [[kudurru|boundary stones]] and [[cylinder seals]], the eight-pointed star is sometimes shown alongside the [[crescent|crescent moon]], which was the symbol of [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] (Sumerian Nanna) and the rayed [[solar symbol|solar disk]], which was a symbol of [[Shamash]] (Sumerian Utu).{{sfnp|Liungman|2004|page=228}}

Inanna's [[cuneiform]] [[ideogram]] was a hook-shaped twisted knot of reeds, representing the doorpost of the storehouse, a common symbol of fertility and plenty.{{sfnp|Jacobsen |1976}} The [[rosette (design)|rosette]] was another important symbol of Inanna, which continued to be used as a symbol of Ishtar after their syncretism.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=156}} During the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian Period]] (911 – 609&nbsp;BCE), the rosette may have actually eclipsed the eight-pointed star and become Ishtar's primary symbol.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pages=156–157}} The temple of Ishtar in the city of [[Aššur]] was adorned with numerous rosettes.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=156}}

Inanna/Ishtar was associated with lions,{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=118}}{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=113–114}} which the ancient Mesopotamians regarded as a symbol of power.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|page=118}} Her associations with lions began during Sumerian times;{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=113–114}} a chlorite bowl from the temple of Inanna at Nippur depicts a large feline battling a giant snake and a cuneiform inscription on the bowl reads "Inanna and the Serpent", indicating that the cat is supposed to represent the goddess.{{sfnp|Collins|1994|pages=113–114}} During the Akkadian Period, Ishtar was frequently depicted as a heavily armed warrior goddess with a lion as one of her attributes.{{sfnp|Black|Green|1992|pp=119}}

Doves were also prominent animal symbols associated with Inanna/Ishtar.{{sfnp|Lewis|Llewellyn-Jones|2018|page=335}}{{sfnp|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|page=35}} Doves are shown on cultic objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium&nbsp;BCE.{{sfnp|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|page=35}} Lead dove figurines were discovered in the temple of Ishtar at Aššur, dating to the thirteenth century&nbsp;BCE{{sfnp|Botterweck|Ringgren|1990|page=35}} and a painted fresco from [[Mari, Syria]] shows a giant dove emerging from a palm tree in the temple of Ishtar,{{sfnp|Lewis|Llewellyn-Jones|2018|page=335}} indicating that the goddess herself was sometimes believed to take the form of a dove.{{sfnp|Lewis|Llewellyn-Jones|2018|page=335}}