alat_, or "queen," _Milkat_, of heaven, just
as the god himself was recognised as "master" or "king."* As a rule, the
goddess was contented with the generic name of Astarte; but to this was
often added some epithet, which lent her a distinct personality, and
prevented her from being confounded with the Astartes of neighbouring
cities, her companions or rivals.**

* Among goddesses to whom the title "Baalat "was referred,
we have the goddess of Byblos, Baalat-Gebal, also the
goddess of Berytus, Baalat-Berith, or Beyrut. The epithet
"queen of heaven "is applied to the Phoenician Astarte by
Hebrew (_Jer._ vii. 18, xliv. 18-29) and classic writers.
The Egyptians, when they adopted these Oanaanitish
goddesses, preserved the title, and called each of them
_nibit pit,_ "lady of heaven." In the Phoenician inscriptions
their names are frequently preceded by the word _Rabbat:
rabbat Baalat-Gebal_, "(my) lady Baalat-Gebal."

** The Hebrew writers frequently refer to the Canaanite
goddesses by the general title "the Ashtaroth" or "Astartes,"
and a town in Northern Syria bore the significant name of
Istarati = "the Ishtars, the Ashtaroth," a name which finds
a parallel in Anathoth = "the Anats," a title assumed by a
town of the tribe of Benjamin; similarly, the Assyrio-
Chaldaeans called their goddesses by the plural of Ishtar.
The inscription on an Egyptian amulet in the Louvre tells us
of a personage of the XXth dynasty, who, from his name,
Rabrabina, must have been of Syrian origin, and who styled
himself "Prophet of the Astartes," Honnutir Astiratu.

[Illustration: 229.jpg ASTARTE AS A SPHINX]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a copy of an original in chased
gold.

Thus she would be styled the "good" Astarte, Ashtoreth Naamah, or the
"horned" Astarte, Ashtoreth Qarnaim, because of the lunar crescent which
appears on her forehead, as a sort of head-dress.* She was the goddess
of good luck, and was called Gad;** she was Anat,*** or Asiti,**** the
chaste and the warlike.

* The two-horned Astarte gave her name to a city beyond the
Jordan, of which she was, probably, the eponymous goddess:
(Gen xiv. 5) she would seem to be represented on the curious
monument called by the Arabs "the stone of Job," which was
discovered by M. Schumacher in the centre of the Hauran. It
was an analogous go