Ishara

Ishara is the Hittite word for "treaty, binding promise", also personified as a goddess of the oath. The word is attested as a loanword in the Assyrian Kultepe texts from the 19th century BC, and is as such the earliest attestation of a word of any Indo-European language.

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The name is from a PIE root *sh2ei "to bind (also magically)", also in Greek himas "strap" and Old Norse / Old High German seil "rope". Possibly also cognate is soul, and Welsh Gwen-hwyfar (Irish Find-abair, from Proto-Celtic *vindo-siabraid "white phantom", from a meaning "enchanted" of the extended root *sh2ei-bh-).

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As a goddess, Ishara could inflict severe bodily penalties to oathbreakers, in particular ascites (see Hittite military oath). In this context, she came to be seen as a "goddess of medicine" whose pity was invoked in case of illness. There was even a verb, isharis- "to be afflicted by the illness of Ishara".

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ishar (or eshar), oblique ishan-, the Hittite for "blood" is probably derived from the same root, maybe from a notion of "bond" between blod-relations (c.f. Sanskrit bandhu). The verb ishiya "to bind, fetter", "to oblige" is directly cognate to Sanskrit syati with similar meanings.

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Hittite: Hittite can refer to either:...

Treaty: A treaty is a binding agreement under international law concluded by subjects of international law, namely states and international organizations. Treaties can be called by many names: treaties, international agreements, protocols, covenants, conventions, exchanges of letters, exchanges of notes, et...

Goddess: A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a "god". A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities....