ASHTORETH
“a wife”.
Goddess of the Phoenicians and Sidonians, worshiped by Israel after the death of Joshua and also by Solomon. Josiah destroyed the emblems of her worship, introduced by Solomon (Judges 2:13; 10:6; 1 Sam. 7:3, 4; 12:10; 32:10; 1 Kings 11:5, 33; 2 Kings 23:13).
She was the consort of Baal. It was a cult derived from Babylon, where Ishtar represented the morning and evening stars. She passed from Babylon, with slight changes in her name, to all the nations around her.
In Canaan she became the moon goddess, while Baal was the sun god. The immoral rites that accompanied the cult of Ishtar in Babylon passed to Canaan, and were part of the idolatrous practices that the Israelites were called to eradicate. She is often called Astarte, the Greek name for her.