Fortson's Gods & Goddesses of The Bible

The title "Queen of Heaven" is among the most ancient and persistent honorifics in human history. It does not refer to a single deity but to a status of supreme celestial authority. For over five thousand years, civilizations have looked to the night sky and personified the stars, moon, and planets as a divine female ruler who governs the cosmos, fate, and the hearts of humanity. This title has acted as a bridge between diverse cultures, often surviving the collapse of empires to be reborn in the liturgy of new religions.

Originally used in Sumer to describe Inanna, the goddess of the planet Venus, the epithet evolved alongside the civilizations of the Near East. It traveled from the Akkadian Ishtar to the Canaanite Astarte and the Egyptian Isis. In each iteration, the "Queen of Heaven" was a complex paradox: she was a virginal youth and a powerful mother, a bringer of life and a wielder of devastating storms, a protector of kings and a friend to the downtrodden. Her worship often involved specific domestic rituals, such as the baking of cakes, that proved so resilient they drew the ire of Biblical prophets.