Melekhet appears only in the phrase melekhet hashamayim, 'queen of heaven,' designating a goddess whom Judean women worshipped with incense, drink offerings, and cakes bearing her image. Jeremiah fiercely condemns this cult (Jer 7:18; 44:17-19, 25), and the women defiantly insist that prosperity attended their devotion. The deity is commonly identified with the Mesopotamian Ishtar (Venus) or Canaanite Astarte. Some scholars read the word as melekhet from melakhah ('work, worship'), but the traditional vocalization as 'queen' is widely accepted.