Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/89

 RELIGION. 69 to the fact that she had already a long life behind her when she first came to establish herself on the Syrian coasts. She was the Istar of Mesopotamia, with the same name, slightly modified, and the same attributes. The double of a male god, Astarte was identified with the moon, the pale reflection of the sun. 1 She was also the goddess of the planet Venus. The Jewish prophets must have had her in their minds when they spoke of the " Queen of Heaven" 2 (Meleket-has-sama'im), who must have formed a pair with (Baal-samdim), or " King of Heaven," and been worshipped with him. FIG. 23. Upper part of the stele of Jehawmelek. In M. L. de Clercq's collection. Astarte was, as it were, nature herself ; she was the true sovereign of the world, presiding over a never-ending process of creation and destruction, destruction and creation. By war, by disease and plagues of every kind, she thinned out the useless and aged ; she removed those who had played their parts and finished 1 " Astarte, in my belief, is the moon," says the intelligent and well instructed author of the treatise Upon the Syrian Goddess, which has been handed down to us among the works of Lucian ( 4). 2 JEREMIAH vii. 18; xliv. 17, 18, 19, 25.