Very Fine Neo-Babylonian Terracotta Fertility Figure

A very fine ceramic figure of the female deity Astarte. She appears with arms clasped in front, wearing a headdress and facing forwards. The item comes with custom made stand. Astarte represents the Hellenized form of the goddess Ishtar (Akkadian) , Astarte (Phoenician) , or Inanna (Sumerian) . She was the most important female deity in Mesopotamia through the second millennium BC. She was identified with the planet Venus, and the sunrise. She was the goddess of both sexual love and warfare. The Greeks identified her with Aphrodite as her worship spread through Cyprus. This type of figurines are the most common type of Babylonian votive. Measurements: 11. 2cm height. Provenance: Ex private collection, SM, London, acquired 1970-99.