2-580-394 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Seal showing the goddess Ishtar, Neo-Assyrian, c720-c700 BC. Assyrian cylinder-seal impression showing Ishtar, Mesopotamian goddess of sexuality and warfare. From the British Museum's collection. Ishtar's strength is shown by weapons rising from her shoulders. She appears to have been associated with the Sumerian goddess Inana and both deities are depicted with symbols of fertility, such as the date palm, and of aggression, such as the lion.