the reproductive power of nature, accompanied by ceremonies which were a reproach to the country. The city of Erech, originally a seat of the worship of Anu, was now one of the foremost cities in this Ishtar worship. Certainly Ishtar is represented in the legends as living at the time, and as being the widow of Dumuzi, the ruler of Erech, and it is pos-
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Bowareyeh Mound at Warka (Erech), Site of the Temple of Ishtar.
sible there may have been some basis for the story in a tradition of some dissolute queen whose favour Izdubar refused; but we have to remember that these Izdubar legends were not intended for history, but for historical romance, and the whole story of Ishtar may be only introduced to show the hero's opposition to this worship, or to make an attack upon the superstition by quoting Izdubar's supposed defiance of the goddess.
