First Keynote Speaker. The goddess Ištar has multiple gendered agencies in Mesopotamian texts. She features as a lover, mother, daughter, as well as an independent sexual agent who is capable of transgressing gender boundaries. In the wake of James Frazer's influential theories of sacred marriage and sacred prostitution, Ištar's distinctly sexual agency has been clearly overemphasized. Nevertheless, her involvement in sexual activities and her different roles in the love life of people and of her own are prominent issues in Mesopotamian texts, and can be studied independently from the Frazerian framework. This paper examines Ištar's sexual agency in Akkadian love poems and incantations, in which the goddess features not only as a sexual agent but even as a matchmaker and guardian of human love and lovemaking. Additional Authors: Shaking the Tree, Breaking the Bough: Frazer's Golden Bough at 100 (Conference); Tully, Caroline Jane; Budin, Stephanie Lynn; University of Melbourne;

1 video file. ms150-40-006_nissinen-martti_ishtar-akkadian_2023-02-11.mp4 .mp4 741.85 MB 777,890,177