ASTARTE; ASHTORETH Fertility goddess of the Canaanites, the Sidonians (1 Kings 11:5) and the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:10, where the name appears in the plural form, Ashtaroth). Ashtoreth is the counterpart of Baal, god of storm and fertilizing rain. The Babylonians and Assyrians knew her by the name of Ashtar, goddess of fertility and love. In the Bible she is referred to as the Queen of Heaven (Jer. 7:18). The cult of Astarte was universal in Palestine in the Canaanite period and was also much favored, especially by women, in the Judean and Israelite kingdoms. Thousands of Astarte figurines made of clay have been found at most of the excavated sites of Canaanite and Israelite periods.

“ASTARTE; ASHTORETH” in The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, Rev. Ed., ed. Avraham Negev, 45.