“Tammuz of the Babylonian cult and Horus of the Egyptians were represented by the divinity of the sun, so it follows that the Greeks worshipped Mithras the sun god and like Horus and Tammuz, he was ceremonialized as reborn on December 25th, the winter solstice. This emphasis on the winter solstice and the adoration and deification of the sun are evocative of the mythology of the moon goddess Astarte, also called Ishtar or Ashtoreth through whom the sun god is reborn.”
S. David Carson 