[3][4] In an account of a nocturnal vision of Ishtar of Arbela in the annals of Ashurbanipal, the goddess is described as carrying weapons: "Ištar who dwells in Arbail came in.

These descriptions accord with the image depicted on the dedicatory Stele from Til Barsip shown above, where she stands upon a lion and is equipped with a sword and two quivers.

There is a star on her headdress, possibly due to a connection with the planet Venus, and a circle with radiating lines is visible behind her to represent her divine radiance.

[11] Cultic texts from the 12th century BCE refer to clothing and sacrifices for the temple, and a bronze statue found at Lake Urmia for King Aššur-Dan (1178-1133 BCE) bears the following inscription: To the goddess Ištar, the great mistress who dwells in Egašankalamma, mistress of Arbail, [his] mistress: For the life of Aššur-dān, king of [Assyria], his lord, Šamšī-bēl, temple scribe, son of Nergal-nadin-ahi (who was) also scribe, for his life, his well-being, and the well-being of his eldest son, dedicated and devoted (this) copper statue weighing x minas.

A shrine was built at Milqia, near Arbela, where Shalmaneser III (859-824 BCE) reported celebrating the akitu festival in her honour.

Three watercourses were built to supply Arbela with water during the reign of Sennacherib, who described the city as "the dwelling of the goddess Ištar, the exalted lady".

Ashurbanipal's victorious campaign against king Teuman of Elam began with an act of worship at the temple of Ishtar in Arbela.

Ashurbanipal goes to her temple, bows before her, and weeps as he invokes the goddess:O Lady of Arbail, I am Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, the creation of your hands, whom Aššur king of the gods thy father desired and whose name he called to restore the sanctuaries of Assyria and renew their rites, to guard their secrets and to make their hearts glad.

O thou Lady of Ladies, goddess of war, lady of battle, who gives counsel to the great gods her fathers, who spoke favourably before Aššur, the father who begot you, (so that) by the lifting of his pure eyes he chose me to be king: because Teuman king of Elam who has rebelled against Aššur king of the gods, thy father, has [withheld his] tribute, mustered his troops, prepared himself for battle and sharpened his weapons in order to march on Assyria: may you, heroic one among the gods, in the midst of battle drive him away like a pack animal!

When the Assyrian forces returned from their campaign, they paraded Teuman and his wife in neck-stocks before Mulissu and Ishtar of Arbela before beheading the Elamite king.

[21] Administrative texts from the 7th century refer to loans of silver made by merchants associated with the temple of Ishtar of Arbela.

[23] Sources on Ishtar of Arbela during the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid periods are limited to a single administrative text from the reign of Cyrus the Great, found in Sippar.

[26] However, Dr. Joel Walker cautions against relying on this isolated martyr narrative, especially given that it is a fictional work modelled on older Edessan martyriological literature.

He notes that so far we have no reliable evidence of the cult of Ishtar of Arbela from after the Achaemenid period onwards, a situation which may change with further archaeology.

Professor Martti Nissinen has suggested that such divine gatherings were not solely abstract events, but were performed ceremonially by prophets.

He support this with accounts of the expenditures required for a gathering of divine council including numerous prophetesses in a list of festivals.