What Scripture says
Jesus was crucified and rose at the time of Passover (Matthew 26:2, John 19:14, ESV), the festival celebrating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Paul writes, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival” (1 Corinthians 5:7–8). Jesus rose “on the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2), and early Christians met on that day (Acts 20:7).
What the evidence says
History
The claim
A popular internet meme claims that Easter was originally a celebration of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex, and that eggs and bunnies were her symbols. A similar claim appeared earlier in Alexander Hislop’s anti-Catholic tract The Two Babylons (1853), which argued many Catholic practices were Babylonian paganism.
What the word “Easter” is called around the world
Most languages call the festival by a name taken from Pascha, the Greek and Latin form of the Hebrew Pesach, “Passover”:
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Greek | Pascha |
| Spanish | Pascua |
| French | Pâques |
| Italian | Pasqua |
| Dutch | Pasen |
| Russian | Paskha |
| Afrikaans | Paasfees |
Only English and German use a different word: “Easter” and Ostern.
Where “Easter” comes from
The English word’s origin is unclear. The 8th-century English monk Bede wrote that the month around April was called Eosturmonath after a goddess named Eostre, whose feasts were once held then. That is the only ancient mention of Eostre, and some scholars doubt she existed. Others link the word to an old Germanic word for “dawn” or “east”.
Either way, “Easter” is a Germanic word, and Ishtar is a Mesopotamian name. Linguists such as Philip Shaw of Oxford say the link between Easter and Ishtar is linguistically impossible: the words only sound alike in modern English.
Ishtar’s symbols
Ishtar was associated with love, war and the planet Venus. Her symbols were the lion and an eight-pointed star, not eggs or rabbits.
Eggs and rabbits
- Eggs became associated with Easter in medieval Europe, partly because eggs were forbidden during the Lent fast and eaten again at Easter. Christians saw them as a symbol of new life and the empty tomb.
- The Easter hare first appears in German sources in the 17th century.
When Christians celebrated
Christians celebrated the resurrection at Passover time from very early: Melito of Sardis preached his Easter sermon On Pascha around AD 170, and in the 2nd century, churches debated whether to keep it on the date of Passover or on the following Sunday. This was long before any contact with Germanic peoples.
Where they meet
Easter isn’t a pagan Ishtar festival. Most languages call it Pascha (Passover). The English word’s origin is unclear, but it’s unrelated to Ishtar.
What’s still open
Whether the goddess Eostre existed, and the precise origin of the English word.
Bottom line
No. Most languages call it Pascha (Passover). The English word’s origin is unclear, but it’s unrelated to Ishtar. This is rated Settled.