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240 Astarte Astrology

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Her name appears in the II Kings xxiii. 13) as " Ashtoreth," a distortion of "Ash tart," made after Babylonia as "Ishtar." Old Testament (I Kings

xi. 5



240

by the Prophets, had a profound

upon the

effect 7

moral life of Israel (see "Jour. Bibl. Lit.' x. 72-91; Budde, "Religion of Israel," ch. ii.-v.). Jeremiah (vii. 18; xiiv. 17, 18) and Ezekiel (viii. 14) attest various forms of this worship in their time, which may The refer to a direct importation from Babylonia. sacrificial use of swine's blood (Isa. lxv. 4, lxvi. 3) may be a reference to a form of the cult similar to that known in Cyprus, where swine were sacred to Astarte ("Jour. Bibl. Lit."x. 74, and"Hebraica," x. 45, 47). E. Meyer, Astarte, in Roscher, Lexikon der Griechischen und Romischen Muthologie; Barton, in Hebraica, ix. 133-165, x. 1-74; idem, Semitic Origins, eh. vii.; W. Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, Index.

Bibliography

See also Ashtokkth. j. jr.

Astarte as the Goddess of Love. (From

Ball,

" Light from the East.")

ASTI: Town

the analogy of " Bosheth " (compare Jastrow, in "Jour. Bibl. Lit.'' xiii. 28, note). Solomon is said to have built a high place to her near Jerusalem, which was removed during Josiah's reform (I Kings xi. 5, S3 II Kings xxiii. 12). Astarte is called in these passages " the abomination of the Zidonians," because, as the inscriptions of Tabnith and Eshmunazer show, she was the chief divinity of that city (see Hoffmann,

"Phoniziscbe Inschrif ten, "

57,

and "C.

I.

S." No.

In Phenician countries she was the female counterpart of Baal, and 3).

was no doubt worshiped with him by those Hebrews who at times

came

his devotees.

be-

This

proved by the fact that Baalim and Ashtaroth are used several times (Judges x. 6 I Sam. vii.

is



10) like the

xii.

4,

for

As-

u ishtarati " "gods and god-

syrian

desses.

" ilani

"

Astarte, wherever wor-

shiped, was a goddess of fertility and sexual love. trace of this among the Hebrews ap-

A

pears in Deut. xxviii. 4, 18,

lambs

are

vii.

13,

where the called

the

"ashtarot" of the flock. It is usually assumed that Astarte Worship was always a foreign cult among the Hebrews but analogy with the de-

velopment of other Semthe Phe-

itic deities, like

Astarte with Dove. (From a Phenician terra-cottainthe Mnsee da Louvre, Paris.)

nician Baal, would lead to the supposition that Astarte Worship before the days of the Prophets

may have somewhat pre j udiced that of Yhwh.

-

is a difficult one, the references to the cult in the Old Testament being so few and so vague. The reaction against Baal and Astarte, inaugurated

The problem



G. A. B.

the province of Alessandria, population Italy, on the left bank of the Tanaro Although now of no great importance, in 32,000. the Middle Ages Asti was a center of commerce and the capital of one of the most powerful republics of northern Italy. Owing to the relative freedom that prevailed in Asti, the major part of the French Jews expelled in 1322 by Charles IV. (compare Isidore Lob, in "Gratz-Jubelschrift," pp. 39 et seq. ) took refuge there, and adopted the French ritual called (from the initials of Asti, Fassano, and Monclavo, where it is employed) "Rite Afm," which has been retained The eighteenth of Iyyar is esto the present day. pecially celebrated in Asti, on which day hymns in



composed by Joseph Conzio are

recited.

A special

Seder for Passover evening service for Asti was written by Elia Levi. Asti was the birthplace of many Jewish scholars, among whom were: Isaac Santon d'Hugeli (1576), Judah b. Jacob Poggetto (sixteenth century), Elijah b. David Finzi (1643), Joseph b. R. Gehereseia Conzio and Joab b. Isaac Gallico (seventeenth century), David Mordecai Terracina (nineteenth century).

Bibliography:

Gratz, Oeseli. der Juden, 3d ed. viii. 70; Luzzatto, Mebo le-Mahzur Minliag Bene Roma, p. 7; Zunz, Ritus, p. 64.

g.

I.

ASTRAKHAN

Br.

Capital of the government of the same name in Russia, situated on the left bank of the Volga, about sixty miles from the Caspian It is generally supposed to have been built sea. near the site of Atel (or I til), the ancient capital of the Chazars. The only fact known concerning the Jews of Astrakhan, from the destruction of the kingdom of the Chazars by Prince Svyatoslav of Russia (969) to 1804, is that Jewish merchants carried on a considerable trade there. In 1804 Emperor Alexander I., by the "Regula tions" of Dec. 9, permitted Jewish agriculturists, artisans, etc., to settle in the province of Astrakhan; but the law was repealed under Nicholas I. in 1825. In 1883, probably as a result of the May Laws. the authorities of Astrakhan issued an order henceforth limiting to three da}r s the sojourn in the city The of all Jewish merchants not of the first gild. Christian merchants applied to the governor, urging him, in the interests of the commerce of Astrakhan, They showed that the sales of to repeal the order. fish to Jews amounted to more than five million rubles a year that the Russian importers numbered