Does Easter actually derive from the goddess Ishtar?

So there's this meme that you may have seen going around that says Easter ultimately derives from the worship of a Mesopotamian fertility goddess named Ishtar who used bunnies and eggs as her symbols. There's also one that links Easter with the goddess Eostre who was a Germanic fertility goddess who had a festival every spring. But are these connections legit or just social media nonsense? Let's dig in.

#archaeology #biblicalarchaeology #ancienthistory #bible #ancientneareast #easter #ishtar #memes #meme

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For more on Ishtar check out:

The Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Leiden: Brill, 1999.

Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia. London: The British Museum Press, 2004.

On Eostre:

Richard Sermon, Eostre and the Matronae Austriahenae, Folklore 132 (2022): 139-157.

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00:22 The Meme
01:17 Easter and Eostre
04:00 Easter and Ishtar
07:21 Pulling it together