Išartu

Išartu functioned as the divine hypostasis of righteousness.[1] Julia Krul describes her as the feminine equivalent of Mīšaru.[2] Volkert Haas assumed that in Mariote tradition they were regarded as twins.[3] In the god list An = Anum (tablet III, line 247) she is described as his spouse.[4] Manfred Krebernik argues that the pair represented the concept of law and order.[5]

Like Mīšaru, Išartu belonged to the circle of deities associated with Adad.[5] Paul-Alain Beaulieu notes that both of them show affinity with another deity from this group, Uṣur-amāssu, and presumes the latter's own association with justice was influenced by this.[6] Two known instances of the word išartu being used as an epithet of Shala, a balag composition and an eršaḫunga prayer, are presumed to be related to Išartu's presence in Adad s circle too.[4]

Išartu should not be confused with the theonym ^dI-šìr-tu₄ known from a single late god list, which is instead assumed to mean "the ten gods."[4]

The deity Išar, presumed to be identical with Išartu, first appears in Old Akkadian theophoric names.[4] She was worshiped in Bad-tibira during the reign of Shu-Sin of the Third Dynasty of Ur[7] and appears in an offering list from Mari (ARM 24 263) alongside Mišaru.[8] In the latter city both forms of the name were used,[4] with the longer one attested in the offering list ARM 23 264, between Dagan and Yakrub-El.[9] A possible reference to her is also present in the Old Babylonian god list from Isin, but the signs are damaged and the name cannot be restored with certainty.[4]

According to Daniel Schwemer, the only source of evidence regarding the worship of Išartu in later periods are documents from Uruk.[4] She was a member of the local pantheon in the Seleucid period, but she is not attested in earlier sources from this city.[10] She is one of the deities mentioned in a description of a parade accompanying Ishtar during the akitu celebrations; among other participants are chiefly figures typically associated with this goddess or the city of Uruk, such as Nanaya, Ninsianna, Ninigizibara or Ninmeurur.[1] Despite her presence in religious texts, Išartu is not attested in legal formulas or theophoric names from the late Uruk text corpus.[10]