TARTAK tär’ tăk (תַּרְתָּ֑ק). An idol set up in Samaria by the Avvites when Sargon, king of Assyria, settled them there after 722 b.c. (2 Kings 17:31). A deity with this name is not known in Assyrian religion. It is possible that the word is a corruption of Atargatis, a goddess worshiped in Mesopotamia. The Avvites brought with them another idol, Nibhaz, who was apparently worshiped in the form of an ass.