The 10 Words of Ishtar: Chief Goddess of the Sumerian People
Ishtar was the chief goddess of the Sumerians,
a highly enlightened civilization in ancient Iraq.
She was revered both for her power to heal and her power to destroy.
Cuneiform Writing
Cuneiform writing has the unique feature of being created with a stylus, or a sharpened reed, pressed onto a clay tablet. The marks left behind easily represented the number of animals and herds.
Human imagination soon took hold of this new tool, using it to carve into the hard clay poetry, prayers, the histories of goddesses and gods, and even human emotions.
It perhaps allowed humanity, for the first time, to express their despair. In those ancient times, the question that weighed heaviest was:
Why the suffering of the good man? Yes, why?
Meanwhile, true scoundrels suffered no illness at all!
The height of incomprehension was the suffering of priests and priestesses, who, by their proximity to the gods, should logically have been protected.
But it was not so. Ultimately, one had to resign oneself and wait until the gods went off to occupy their boredom by tormenting another victim.
Later, a Hebrew religion emerged, stemming from a Semitic current of thought. A religion meant to protect the believer through respect for a set of civil and religious prescriptions. Its accusatory nature blamed the patient for their own suffering, claiming they were predisposed to illness through their sins and impiety.
Of course, this was not the true cause of their ailments. Yet, following carefully written obligations and principles gave the practitioner a sense of reassurance.
Submitting to the rules of a divine law was believed to spare one from suffering and disease.
Much later, this was challenged by a certain Jesus — a mysterious prophet, radically good, feminist, and healer — who paid a high price for it.
It was in his time that cuneiform writing disappeared, along with the Sumerian civilization that had invented it. Buried beneath the sands, it fell into oblivion.
Gradually, it was replaced by the flexibility and ease of Aramaic writing.
Priestesses of Ishtar
The priestesses of Ishtar can be considered the first known female prophets.
For men, there has always been a multitude of male prophets to guide and shape their lives, bringing with it all the advantages that come with such guidance:
A sense of importance.
A sense of power.
A sense of invulnerability.
A sense of infallibility.
A sense of being irreplaceable.
A sense of being bound by a shared destiny.
A privileged access to eternal life.
In general: the feeling of being a privileged being, chosen by the gods or by a god.
Women, on the other hand, enter life with the handicap of having no prophet to guide them, no support to give meaning to their suffering.
But it has not always been so. It is not that civilizations never revealed female prophets — it is that the religious authorities, drawing their power from fundamentalism and supported by men who endorsed their cause, killed them.
They could not tolerate any deviation from their precepts, under threat of losing their authority. One does not share the power granted by a male god.
To find these prophetesses, one must go far back in time.
5,500 years ago! And change their names. Here, we will speak of priestesses.
The priestesses of Ishtar were likely the most intelligent women of their era. Their voices were precious and heard.
For those who are not daunted by journeys into history, you are about to take a leap 5,500 years back in time.
But with joy!
Figurine of Ishtar – Mesopotamian Goddess of Love and War
Dating from 2004 to 1595 BCE (likely the Isin-Larsa period or the First Babylonian Dynasty), this molded terracotta figurine was discovered at Eshnunna (Tell Asmar, Iraq).
The goddess Ishtar is depicted standing, wearing a ruffled robe, holding her animal-headed scepter and her weapon, symbols of her authority. At her feet rests a lion, her symbolic animal, emblem of power and domination.
Despite its modest size (11.9 cm tall), this figurine embodies the full force of Ishtar, a deity both benevolent and formidable.
Preserved in the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities at the Louvre, it attests to the importance of Ishtar in the spirituality and art of the ancient Near East.
The 10 Words and Teachings of Ishtar
01 – Words on Everyday Life
It is forbidden to interrupt a hope in the making, carried by a woman or a man.
Those who break this law commit a mortal offense.
For everyone, it is better that a feeling of shame for wrongdoing guides your life.
And rejoice, without envy, in the success of others.
For the future of each one of you will also be secured by that of others.
02 – Words on Justified Anger
Anger allows one to oppose an injustice that harms your body.
To resist deliberate mistreatment, which destroys the hope within your body, is supported by the Gods.
03 – Words on Judgments
Every offense must be measured by the danger posed to the victim.
If the victim is among those whose hearts were forged on the anvil of darkness,
what point is there in wasting your skill judging such evildoers?
But if the victim held hope for good, then Ishtar’s anger will be unleashed.
04 – Words on Life and Birth
Listen carefully:
You owe your place on Earth only to your presence here,
and to the powerful breath of your lungs, which expels the sound of your voice.
And you owe your presence on Earth only to your birth.
For without your birth, you would not exist.
Even if your potential exists everywhere in the universe,
it can only be realized through your birth.
Thus, birth is the source of all existence and all powers.
And you have no part in it.
For none of your plans have contributed to it.
05 – Words on Wealth and Courage
Do not cling too tightly to material fortunes,
so that you are not undone if, by some twist of fate, they are taken from you.
Look around you.
Your courage will be admired far more than your desire to possess.
06 - Words on Self-Revelation and Thoughts
Each of your thoughts attracts those who correspond to it.
Only they will adhere to it.
Thus, do not let the admirers of darkness invade you.
Their place is in darkness. But you, support the spirits of good.
There you will find the comfort of the Gods.
All are called to this comfort, even if the chosen will reveal themselves as few.
Weakened by your own constitution and by your own inclinations,
those who darken your life.
Therefore, help one another.
For each person will find their place in society at the time of their life.
And for every way of thinking, those who correspond will reveal themselves in that time.
Thus will the power of those who would never have had it be revealed,
in a hierarchy of thought from another era.
07 – Words on Numbers
Your number already contains the seeds of the active and of their opposers.
And the prevailing thought will bring about the rise of some, or of others.
But those whose hearts have been forged on the anvil of darkness
can exist only through the complicity of a power favorable to them.
Hear this well, and let there be no misunderstanding:
they will bring upon themselves the destruction unleashed by the anger of the Gods.
08 – Words of the Eternal Women
I, Ishtar, Goddess of Light and of all the Incandescences of Good, greet you.
Now that you question your body, listen to what I have to tell you.
I declare this to you :
Ordained by me, Ishtar, Goddess of Light, and by Oumm, God of Combinations,
of Attraction and of Chance :
Where you shall create, no eye shall ever see.
And within you begins the greatest of all odysseys.
Your womb shall be the shimmering cavern of all the men of light.
They shall part from those whose hearts were forged upon the anvil of darkness.
Forget this not : your destiny is eternal, and you cannot alter it.
For once the beginning has been set in motion, none can change it — not even I.
Such is the condition of eternity.
Thus, by our will, your creations shall all be different.
And to survive, you must rely on the mutual aid of all beings.
Your worth shall be measured by the piercing gaze of the Gods.
But for you, your power shall be to bring forth bodies.
Thus shall women be the creators of bodies.
For this power sleeps within you — and you alone can bear its weight.
You have been chosen by the Gods to carry the body of bodies.
And all men shall cherish it, for without it they would perish.
Their lives are numbered, and they shall draw renewal from you.
Unto them it shall be given to discover the conditions of existence — and to teach them.
For all things exist only through the conditions that allow them to be.
Thus I speak to you — I, Ishtar, Goddess of Goddesses,
She who is the source of every horizon and of every destiny,
She who stands apart from all.
Listen, and be at peace.
09 – Words on the End
At your end, you may see nothing.
Only the Gods shall decide otherwise for you.
Only the beginning holds true importance, for the end brings forth no renewal.
Thus, your life rests upon the effervescence of your beginning,
and not upon your end.
And through women, that beginning is made eternal.
So, adjust your questioning well.
For apart from life, there is nothing.
Without the effervescence of the beginning, there is nothing.
And within the effervescence of the beginning, there is everything.
10 – Words on the Beginning
In the beginning was energy — the brilliance of lightning.
And within the brilliance of lightning, my light shone.
And when my light spread to the farthest reaches of the four regions,
it illuminated the universe.
And within the universe, the Earth emerged.
Upon this Earth intertwined the energies of the Goddesses and the Gods.
At the peaks of the mountains, they made their dwelling
and began their great work.
They called upon the tears of the four regions,
and the tears rushed forth, splashing upon the Earth to create the waters.
With their gaze piercing the ground, they saw the empty plains.
So they created messengers — women first,
and then their mirrors, the men.
To each they gave a voice, each one different,
so that every seven days, at the passing of the Moon’s star,
they would tell the Gods of their blessings.
And to have different voices, you would be given different bodies.
And your voice would trace the guiding line of your destiny.
The Goddesses and the Gods shall listen closely —
they shall hear you.
Now live, and speak among yourselves.
Enough events shall mark your life;
they shall be your occasions to reread my words,
for they are essential.
The 10 Words and Teachings of the Goddess Ishtar
Here lies the essential content of the 10 Words and Teachings of the Goddess Ishtar — words imbued with power and wisdom.
A true delight — a return to what is essential.
Her Words on the Eternal Women speak directly to you.
The 10 Words and Teachings – Audio Version (in French)
01- Paroles sur la vie de tous les jours
02 - Paroles sur la colère légitime
03- Paroles des condamnations
04 - Paroles sur les existences, les pouvoirs et les accouchements
05 - Paroles sur les fortunes et le courage
06 - Paroles des révélations sur soi et ses pensées
07 - Paroles sur les nombres
08 - Paroles des femmes éternelles
09 - Paroles sur la fin
10 - Paroles sur la fin
Prayer at My End
I have fulfilled what I was meant to fulfill.
I entrust myself to the Goddesses, and I give them thanks.
I have found joy in the shaping of my beginning,
which led to my life and to my thoughts.
For this, I thank the Gods and the Goddesses.
Thank you to this eternal renewal
for having forged me as I am,
without ever asking my consent.
Thank you to my parents
for setting my destiny in motion —
for bringing forth this new creation.
Thank you to my mother
for having carried me and brought me into the world.
Thus, I depart in peace.
May it be so for all those who are yet to come,
through the infinite ages ∞.
What perspectives and destinies can one hope for from these Texts?
Without any doubt, these Texts reveal to us a Powerful Alternative to the 10 Commandments, too outdated and with exhausted perspectives.
This Alternative is Universal, for it is based on the reason for your unique existence.
That is to say, on your body — your body, which is your first and foremost heritage.
This Alternative will bring forth a new framework for life, from which may emerge new Vivaldis, Mozarts, and Chopins.
As well as the new women and men entrepreneurs who will shape our lives.
Do not neglect them.
Who does this concern?
Those who feel an emotion upon reading these Texts.
If these Texts move you, embrace them.
Their depth will be the greatest gift a Goddess can give you.
If you feel nothing, it is because these Words are not meant for you.
Origin of the Project to Translate the 10 Words and Teachings of Ishtar
This site is the result of an important realization for me:
Not to let these ancient teachings disappear — so useful and enlightening through their depth and timeless relevance.
Their loss would deprive us of guidance in our lives, derived from the reflections of a small number of intelligent beings, in constant dialogue with their deities.
Revealed in a distant era, when Humans, Gods, and Goddesses spoke to one another without taboo.
The specialists of these civilizations — born from the fervor of their rediscovery in the 19th and 20th centuries — are now either of advanced age or have disappeared. As time passes, their memory fades. Their books, often difficult to read, are forgotten, gathering dust in the back of old bookstores and libraries.
Fortunately, men and women have remained the same for 10,000 years. Their desire to create a reassuring framework for their lives, and their spiritual needs, were identical to ours today.
The only thing we now have is technology.
But in terms of reasoning and intelligence, the geniuses of antiquity may well have surpassed us.
The teachings they received from their Gods and Goddesses remain untouched by time — ageless for 10,000 years — and will continue to be relevant for millennia to come.
For us, all that remains is to wait for the advent of a hypothetical genetic mutation — one that might propel us into a new era, to a higher level of thought.
It will happen someday, inevitably… but not anytime soon. We can still wait.
And so, growing ever more accustomed to doing nothing of true value, perhaps one day this erudition will disappear — replaced by that lifeless knowledge held by AI.
AI… the last guardian of ancient wisdom?
Bernard
Your reactions
What do you think of this text and its translation?
Share your thoughts, or read the comments of other readers on the dedicated page.
We have now reached the end of the site
I hope it has touched you, and that you were able to make some of its important elements your own.
For everything here is important.
I invite you to keep a visual memory of it through this painting, which reflects it wonderfully.
It is an expression of a spiritual reflection on the dawn of a burst of light and energy — essential elements for all life.
Essential: a word I write willingly in french — Essenciel — ( ciel means sky ) a word so rarely spoken today, for nothing now seems essential.
So, let your eyes be absorbed by The Painting of an Unconventional Artist, which you can discover here: https://les100ciels.art/
