Eostre, Ishtar and the truth about Easter
The term “Easter” has been claimed to have originated from the ancient pagan goddesses, Eostre, also known as Ostara or Eastre and Ishtar or Astarte. Although this view is widespread, there is a lack of supporting evidence in ancient pagan texts.
Myths about Easter, Eostre or Ostara
The original source of this myth actually comes from a Christian text from the 8th century. In the writings of the monk Bede, he noted that Eostre was an ancient goddess for whom feasts were once held during the paschal month:
“The first month, which the Latins call January, is Giuli; February is called Solmonath; March Hrethmonath; April, Eosturmonath; May, Thrimilchi; June, Litha; July, also Litha; August, Weodmonath; September, Halegmonath; October, Winterfilleth; November, Blodmonath; December, Giuli, the same name by which January is called. …Nor is it irrelevant if we take the time to translate the names of the other months…. Hrethmonath is named for their goddess Hretha, to whom they sacrificed at this time. Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance. “- From De ratione Temporum 15. (The reckoning of time, tr. Faith Wallis, Liverpool University Press 1988, pp.53-54) more can be found at tertullian.org
Historians have been unable to confirm Bede’s assertion and establish a connection between Eostre, Ishtar and Easter. It is more likely that the word Eostre was only a name for a holiday, rather than the name of an ancient goddess:
“Eostre is a very obscure Goddess, and uniquely Anglo-Saxon Pagan. She is not mentioned at all in the Norse corpus and only fleetingly in the Old English by Bede in De Temporum Rationale. Her material is so scant that some scholars have speculated she was not a Goddess at all, but that Eostre was merely a name for the holiday.” – Wednesbury Shire History of Anglo-Saxon Paganism
Thus, Bede made an error in connecting the word with an observance in honor of a pagan goddess in the spring:
“It is equally valid, however, to suggest that the Anglo-Saxon “Estor-monath”simply meant “the month of opening”, or the “month of beginning”, and that Bede mistakenly connected it with a goddess who either never existed at all, or was never associated with a particular season, but merely, like Eos and Aurora, with the Dawn itself.” [Stations of the Sun, p.180]
It seems most likely that Bede, thinking that all ancient month names were linked to a god or goddess, simply made an assumption that historically can not be proven. What is known is that the word Easter was the name of the Christian observance of the death and ressurection of Christ.
“No Norwegian, Icelandic or other Scandinavian primary source mentions ‘Ostara’. In fact, the name ‘Ostara’ isn’t found anywhere in connection with a goddess. ‘Ostara’ is simply the Old High German name for the Christian Festival of Easter.”- manygods.org.uk
Ostara and Eostre were only words, not goddesses:
“The English word Easter, which parallels the German word Ostern, is of uncertain origin. One view, expounded by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century, was that it derived from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. This view presumes—as does the view associating the origin of Christmas on December 25 with pagan celebrations of the winter equinox—that Christians appropriated pagan names and holidays for their highest festivals. Given the determination with which Christians combated all forms of paganism, this appears a rather dubious presumption. There is now widespread consensus that the word derives from the Christian designation of Easter week as in albis, a Latin phrase that was understood as the plural of alba (“dawn”) and became eostarum in Old High German, the precursor of the modern German and English term. The Latin and Greek pascha (“Passover”) provides the root for Pâcques, the French word for Easter.” -Current Online Edition Encyclopedia Britannica
It is believed that the word Easter or Ostern also meant, “to the East”.
From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
The word “Easter” comes from Old English, meaning simply the “East.” The sun which rises in the East, bringing light, warmth, and hope, is a symbol for the Christian of the rising Christ, who is the true Light of the world. – Easter
Given that fact that Christians historically prayed towards the East along with burying the dead in graves facing to the East, the theory that the word Easter simply meant East makes sense.
Myths about Easter, Ishtar and Astarte
Alexander Hislop wrote that the word Eostre derived from Astarte which was another name for the pagan goddess Ishtar.
In his work, the Two Babylons, Hislop wrote:
What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. This name as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar.
Hislops work was found to have been based on his own assumptions rather than historical evidence. Unlike Eostre, ancient text on Ishtar do exist. Yet, nothing in these text support a connection with the word Eostre or practices similar to Easter in Christianity.
Scholars, such as Candida Moss, state that the connection of Easter to Eostre or Ishtar is all myth with no truthful foundation:
Among the rash of sensationalist stories we can expect through the season, the annual “Easter was stolen from the pagans” refrain has sprouted again just in time for Holy Week.
Don’t believe the hype.
Perhaps most misinformed theory that rolls around the Internet this time of year is that Easter was originally a celebration of the ancient Near Eastern fertility goddess Ishtar.
This idea is grounded in the shared concept of new life and similar-sounding words Easter/Ishtar. There’s no linguistic connection, however. Ishtar is Akkadian and Easter is likely to be Anglo-Saxon.
Just because words in different languages sound the same doesn’t mean they are related. In Swedish, the word “kiss” means urine. – Did Christians really ‘steal’ Easter?, CNN Blogs, Candida Moss
Thus, the word Easter is Christian in origin.
Note: We have included a link below to the original ancient text on Ishtar, known as the Epic of Gilgamesh for further study. In this text, you will find that there is not one mention of any of the traditions we keep in Easter for Christ.
Other Sources:
Eostre and Easter Customs-manygods.org.uk
The Epic of Gilgamesh-ancienttext.org
For More from us on Christianity and Paganism Myths:
For more on the Myths about Christianity see below:
Ishtar and the Easter Connection
The Sabbath, Sunday Observance and the Early Church
The Crucifixion is a Historical Fact
Modern Scholarship Proves the New Testament is More accurate than Any Other Historical Text
Extra Biblical Evidence for Jesus
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