[63] Innanna may be separated into In = lord or lady, and nanna; in and nanna would then be elements added to "lady," conveying perhaps the idea of greatness. See Jensen's remarks, Keils Bibl. 3, I, 20, note 4.
[64] Rec. of the Past, N.S., ii. p. 104.
[65] Keils Bibl. 3, I, 16. See Jensen's note on the reading of the name.
[66] The fame of this temple outlasts the political importance of the place, and as late as the days of the Assyrian monarchy is an object of fostering care on the part of the kings.
[67] That the name is Semitic is no longer seriously questioned by any scholar. The underlying stem suggests etymological relationship with the god Ashur. If this be so, Ishtar may mean 'the goddess that brings blessing' to mankind, but all this is tentative, as are the numerous other etymologies suggested.
[68] The ideographs for 'country' and 'mountain' are identical Assyrian. The alternation in the title of Ishtar must not be taken to point to a mountainous origin of the goddess.
[69] A full account of this epic will be given at its proper place.
[70] Again, in the incantation texts she appears only as the daughter of Anu, coördinate with Sin and Shamash.
[71] Keils Bibl. 3, 1, 72, note. Some scholars, as Hommel (Gesch. d. alt. Morgenlandes, p. 68), propose to identify this place with the Assyrian Nineveh, but the conjecture lacks proof and is altogether improbable.
[72] Old Babylonian Inscriptions, I. pls. 30, 31. (See now Peiser, Keils Bibl. 4, pp. 64-66.)