In  Search  of  Asherah,                        The  Lost  Hebrew  Goddess    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             Mary  E.  Naples,  M.A.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Situated on the Mediterranean in today’s northern Syria, Ugarit, a second

millennium Canaanite port city, was the site of a major excavation in 1928 that unearthed

a veritable treasure of cuneiform alphabetic texts. Located in modern day Ras Shamra,

the ancient tablets date back to the fourteenth century BCE and had text very similar to

ancient Hebrew and Aramaic. The cuneiform text, which features the mythology of the

region, had likely flourished for several hundred years. Asherah, called Athirat in Ugarit,

figures prominently as the wife of El, the supreme god. In his preeminent book The

Hebrew Goddess, Rafael Patai asserts: “Asherah was ‘progenitor of the gods:’ all other

gods, numbering 70 were her children, including Baal and Anat, and other chief

protagonists of the Ugarit pantheon.”i For perhaps hundreds of years before Abraham (ca

2200-1700 BCE) migrated to what would become known as Israel, Asherah was revered

as Athirat, Earth Mother and Fertility Goddess.

Upon entering the region, the ancient Israelites soon adopted her and gave her the

Hebrew equivalent name of Asherah. Judith Hadley, professor of Theology and Religious

studies at Villanova University, in her paper “Asherah-Archeological and Textual

Evidence” states: “The discovery of the Ugaritic material has established the existence of

a goddess Asherah at Ugarit without any doubt. Although in Ugaritic her name appears as

Athirat, this is etymologically equivalent to Hebrew Asherah.”ii The Ugarit excavation in

1928 put Asherah, the goddess, on the map again after having lost her place for thousands

of years.

But who was Asherah to the ancient Israelites? And why is she often paired with

Yahweh, their supreme god? Based on scholarly research, historians and archeologists

 

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have pieced together Asherah’s narrative finding large chunks of it interwoven in the

artifacts from the region and in the sacred scriptures of the Hebrew Bible itself. The

purpose of this paper is to uncover the lost Hebrew goddess by analyzing both her role

within the ancient Israelite and Judaic cults and her relationship with Yahweh, the

supreme Hebrew god. We will do this by discussing a portion of the archeological

findings associated with Asherah from the region and some of the scholarship

surrounding them. Because evidence suggests that Asherah was observed in ancient Israel

and Judah as early as the twelfth century BCE to a few decades before the fall of the

southern kingdom of Judah (ca 587-588 BCE), we will focus on this pre-exilic period.

Researching the presence of a Hebrew goddess begs the question: how

monotheistic were the pre-exilic Israelites and Judeans? Certainly, the very notion of

polytheism is inherent in the quest for Asherah. Moreover, the many artifacts

representing Asherah and her cult from the region belies the biblical prohibition against

the creation of idols. Although discussing the intricacies of the Bible is beyond the scope

of this paper, we will assess a portion of the scholarly research associated with the bible

pertaining to Asherah the goddess, and asherah, her cult symbol.

Folk Religion versus Book Religion

For the purpose of our study it is imperative to review the differences between

popular or folk religion and the official or book religion of the high priests and ruling

classes in ancient Israel. Folk religion was primarily practiced away from the metropolis,

out in the country or in rural communities, of which most Israelites were a part. In his

paper titled “Women and Religion in the Old Testament,” Meindert Dijkstra maintains,

“In all periods of history, religion in ancient Israel has been more pluriform than the

 

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biblical writers wanted to indicate. In many instances they have only superficially

masked this pluriformity in religious tradition.”iii Because most Israelites and Judeans

lived a good distance from the Temple of Jerusalem, they were not as influenced by the

book religion and instead had their own religious beliefs and practiced their faith locally

and in many cases at home.

Dutch scholar of ancient religions, Karel van der Toorn in his book From Her

Cradle To Her Grave suggests, “The official religion is called official because it is the

religion of the upper social class or was so in the past. Folk religion began at the bottom

as a sort of compensation for what could or could not be done in the official religion.”iv It

was very likely that some form of folk religion had been passed down through the

generations making homespun beliefs an integral part of their everyday lives. By way of

contrast, an affinity between the intellectual community and the aristocracy produced a

text, which was written entirely from the perspective of the upper class.

It is important to remember that the Hebrew Bible has an inherent bias in favor of

a particular canonical angle. Therefore the historical accuracy of the tome is subordinated

to stay on message. To be sure, items that seem of minor importance in the Hebrew Bible

could in fact be most illuminating for the purpose of our study.

The Literate versus The Illiterate

In rural communities of the ancient world, literacy was close to non-existent.

Because of this, literary writing was left to the professional scribes in the employment of

those in the ruling classes. In his seminal book titled Did God Have a Wife? William

Dever, Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Archeology at the University of Arizona

asserts, “In the ancient world generally, the populace was almost totally illiterate. Even

 

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priests and kings could not read and depended on a small cadre of professional scribes to

communicate and to carry on their affairs.”v Indeed, even rudimentary writing does not

become widespread until the eighth century BCE at which time many were able to write

their names, numbers and the names of a few commodities for trade but certainly a long

way from being able to read the literary achievement that we find in the Hebrew Bible.

If the Bible were written by and large for the ruling class, how can we know the

way common people worshipped? In addition to looking at artifacts in the region to help

piece the puzzle into place, ironically we can also find many of the rituals practiced by

the common people from the Bible itself. In “Digging Up Deborah,” Susan Ackerman,

Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College writes about a passage in Jeremiah 44:25,

“To be sure, Jeremiah, as part of his efforts to promote a form of Israelite religion

devoted to the worship of Yahweh alone, speaks out against all aspects of the Queen of

Heaven’s cult and against all the goddess worshipers.”vi By and large the biblical writers

were unhappy that Asherah or the “Queen of Heaven” shared the platform with their male

deity, Yahweh and repeatedly tried to dissuade their union. Later in her paper Ackerman

suggests that one can define folk religion as everything that those who wrote the Bible

condemned.

Women and Religion

At this point the role of Hebrew women in the religion must be noted. If the

commoners, that is to say the majority of the population, were marginalized in terms of

their religious beliefs then it would follow suit that women within that population would

be further subjugated. Indeed, life in the agricultural society of ancient Israel and Judah

was difficult for everyone. But in a region known for its dominant men, women in the

 

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ancient Near East found themselves relegated into traditional roles, both in their homes

and within the community at large. It is likely that in this environment, women’s voices

often went unheard, muted against those of the authoritative male.

But did women have a role in religious life? Although to date, extra-biblical text

remains scant, thousands of figurines suggestive of female veneration have been found in

the region. Some of these figurines are thought to be associated with fertility and will be

discussed in greater detail later in this paper. Though artifacts are one source in

determining the role women played in religious life, the Hebrew Bible gives us a further

glimpse of women’s participation. Albeit, the Bible generally rails against women and

worship, we learn of several incidents, relating to the cult of Asherah in particular, where

their religious contribution is compelling.

Queen Maacah is one such case, though clearly no commoner, she is chastised for

making an “obscene object” for the Asherah in 1 Kings 15.13. Later, in 2 Kings 23.7 we

find women being scolded for expressing their devotion to Asherah by weaving veils for

her. Lastly, in Jeramiah 7.17 women bake cakes for the Queen of Heaven and are

admonished for having done so.vii These are just a few examples of many more available

in the Bible pertaining to women’s role in religion. Although the biblical writers revile

these women and find them disreputable, nonetheless their presence within the religious

community must have been felt.

Icons and Text

To be sure, aniconism was, and still is, inherent in the Hebrew Bible but ample

archeological evidence suggests that those who lived outside the metropolis—and indeed

sometimes right inside it—idolized statuary and cult objects as part of their popular or

 

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folk religion. In A History of God, Karen Armstrong declares, “Men and women created

religions at the same time as they created works of art.”viii While we have no text or

sacred scriptures from the folk religion of this considerable group of people, we do have

much in the way of artifacts from the region. Because artifacts do not have an agenda,

they cannot mislead and therefore tend to be far more accurate in terms of the historicity

than texts alone. Ziony Zevet, in his eminent book The Religions of Ancient Israel: A

Synthesis of Parallactic Approaches asserts, “Israelite religion is most approachable

through its manifestations in physical evidence discovered in archeological excavations

that have uncovered cultic artifacts and structure.”ix Thirty or so years ago most biblical

archeologists were also biblical scholars and tended to accept without examination the

stories we find in the Judeo-Christian Bible as fact. However biblical archeologists today

tend to be more objective and their research more revealing. As a result, most conclude

that archeological evidence is the essential authority for discerning the ancient Israelite

religion.x Iconography tends to be more redolent of the past than mere words and,

examined together with the Bible and extra-biblical text, can provide us with a deeper

understanding of the religio-historical evolution than a purely text-oriented approach.

Because most people in ancient Israel and Judah were functionally illiterate,

iconography was of primary importance to them. From the many tens of thousands of

artifacts excavated from the region we know that the Israelites and Judeans expressed

devotional adherence by statuary and iconography. The idolatry that is often scorned in

the Hebrew Bible is indicative of the prevailing activity of the region.

 

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The Inscriptions at Kuntillet Ajrud

Although Asherah is mentioned in the Bible forty separate times, the findings at

Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom have further solidified the role she played in the

Yahweh “pantheon.” An obscure ancient Hebrew inscription and accompanying diagram

has sparked a lively and at times irascible debate within the academic community.

Excavated in 1975-76 near the river of Egypt in northeast Sinai by Judah’s south border,

Kuntillet Ajrud was a ninth to eighth century BCE Israelite caravanserai with an attached

shrine. The inscriptions under contention were found on sherds from two large pithoi or

storage jars uncovered within the caravanserai. The ambiguous inscription reads: “I have

blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah.” The same text is found a number of

times with geographical differences, leading one scholar to speculate that perhaps the

locations; Samaria, Jerusalem and Teman were sites of Yahweh sanctuaries, as one such

sanctuary is known to have existed for Yahweh in Samaria.xi Thus, the scribe at Kuntillet

Ajrud may have had familiarity with these sanctuaries of Yahweh where the presence of

“his Asherah” ought to have been felt.

As background, it is interesting to note that the possessive pronoun or the Hebrew

pronominal suffix “his Asherah” appears in probably the oldest text we have referencing

the goddess in the Hebrew Bible. In Deuteronomy 33.2-3, “YHWH came from Sinai and

shone forth from his own Seir, He showed himself from Mount Paran, Yea, he came

among the myriads of Qudhsu, at his right had his own Asherah, Indeed, he loves the

clans and all his holy ones on his left.”xii Because “Yahweh….his Asherah” is quoted in

both biblical and extra-biblical texts the phrase must have been widely recognized and

 

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perhaps used often in the region indicating a close relationship between the pair within

the cult.

But what is “his Asherah” supposed to mean? Most scholars agree Asherah, the

goddess or asherah, her cult object was associated with Yahweh. In his paper titled “I

Have Blessed You By Yahweh of Samaria and His Asherah,” Dijkstra writes: “From the

outset most scholars differed about the question whether Asherah means the name or title

of the goddess or the word refers to the cultic object which is known from the modern

Old Testament translations as sacred pole.”xiii Regardless if the inscription refers to the

goddess herself or her cult object, the intent remains the same; Yahweh is linked to

Asherah.

The associated cultic object for which Asherah was known was a wooden or

sacred pole, which is referenced many times in the Bible such as in Deuteronomy 16:21-

22, “You shall not plant any wooden thing as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your

God which you shall make. And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God

hates.” That prohibitions need to be set implies observance at some level. Ostensibly,

worship of Asherah was being upheld by the Israelites or else forbiddance would have

been superfluous. Indeed, Asherah’s symbolism alongside that of Yahweh’s suggests a

relationship between the two seemingly antithetical deities. Since the findings of

Kuntillet Ajrud, a preponderance of the academic community is in agreement that likely

Asherah functioned as Yahweh’s consort, if not in the official religion then most

assuredly in the popular religion of the average people.

Whether the inscription refers to a cult object, which symbolized their worship of

her or the goddess herself is largely up for speculation. J.A. Emerton in his paper

 

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“Yahweh and His Asherah” talks about how the plural of Asherah is used in some of the

inscriptions, which presents difficulty when referring to a goddess but not so in reference

to her cult object. He discusses several instances in the Hebrew Bible where the plural

term “asherim” is used signifying multiple sacred poles or trees, “An examination of the

places ‘aserim” appears in the Old Testament supports the view that it is, in fact, used as

the symbol of the goddess.”xiv Comparing the grammar used in the Hebrew Bible to that

found in the inscriptions is wise as the same group of people wrote both at approximately

the same time. Although not all scholars agree with his interpretation, most concur that

the inscriptions at Kuntillet Ajrud are referring to Asherah’s cult object and not to the

goddess herself.

The Drawings at Kuntillet Ajrud

Found next to the text of “Yahweh and his Asherah” is a drawing of two figures

in the foreground, and another in the background. Because the sherds contain both the

inscription and the drawing it is assumed by some scholars, though not all, that the sketch

is representative of “Yahweh and his Asherah.” Might this drawing be further proof that

it was Asherah, the goddess and not her cult object who was referred to in the

inscription? But if that is the case, why are there three figures? That question has stumped

many scholars into concluding the text and the drawings are unrelated. Pirhiya Beck in

her paper “The Drawings from Horvat Teiman,” is among one group who argues that the

two figures in the foreground represent the minor Egyptian deity Bes and his female

counterpart and are completely unrelated to the inscription. Part of the reasoning behind

the latter is that the figures were done with a thicker brush than the inscriptions.xv The

most ingenious explanation on what the drawings symbolize comes from Dever who

 

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asserts that the lyre player in the background is actually Asherah, the goddess. He has

many reasons for his claim but first and foremost is that the depiction of the lyre player is

similar with respect to dress and manner of other deities from Ugarit in the Late II Bronze

Age.xvi Although Dever’s appraisal is engaging many scholars are not in accordance.

Ultimately, as with most of the findings on Kuntillet Ajrud, the scholarship community is

divided between one which thinks that the diagrams are exhibitive of the inscriptions, and

the other, which finds them to be totally unrelated to each other.

One of the ancillary drawings found near the inscription is of the “Asherah Tree”.

The wooden pole with which Asherah was associated was also symbolic of the “tree of

life.” Mark Smith in “God Male and Female in the Old Testament” writes, “Asherah was

a nurturing mother goddess. The religious symbol of the goddess, the asherah, was in

Israel a wooden pole, or perhaps a tree, representing the ‘tree of life.’”xvii The ‘tree of

life’ was a recurrent theme in the ancient Near East. In an arid region trees were revered

as symbols of life and nourishment and so became associated with the goddess and her

cult. We see this “tree of life” in the Garden of Eden allegory.

In her book When God Was A Woman, Merlin Stone discusses the acrimony the

patriarchy felt toward the “asherim” which she calls a major symbol of the female

religion, “It would not be too surprising if the symbolism of the tree of forbidden fruit,

said to offer the knowledge of good and evil, was included in the creation story to warn

that eating the fruit of this tree had caused the downfall of all humanity.”xviii It would

appear that amongst the average people, much to the disdain of the ruling elite, Asherah’s

name was increasingly linked to Yahweh’s. Because of this union the writers of the

 

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Bible may have felt the need to propagandize against goddess worship by integrating the

story of the fall of mankind to a tree that clearly was associated with her.

In addition to the living Asherah tree, the appearance of a lion can be found in this

drawing as well. It should be noted that very often lion iconography accompanies images

of Asherah making her known throughout the region as the “Lion Lady.”xix We will

review more of this imagery a little later in the paper.

Archeological findings at Khirbet el-Qom

In 1968, an inscription was found in an ancient burial ground west of Hebron at a

site called Khirbet el-Qom. The inscription found on a tombstone reads:

Blessed by Uriah by Yahweh, Yea from his enemies by his Asherah he has saved him By Oniah By his Asherah And by his A(she)rah. The inscription has been dated to ca 750 BCE and the syntax has the same ambiguity as

the inscriptions found at Kuntillet Ajrud. As noted previously, “Yahweh… and his

Asherah” was a phrase that had to have been fairly common in the area as sixty or so

miles separates Kuntillet Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom, not an easy jaunt considering the

limited transportation options available at the time. Furthermore, the inscription was

found at an ancient burial site signifying the sanctity with which the phrase “Yahweh and

his Asherah” was regarded in the region. As with the findings at Kuntillet Ajrud,

scholarship is divided, though most accede that the text refers to asherah as cult object.

In her book Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah,

Susan Ackerman summed it up best:

In the ancient Near East the idol was god. ‘Srth at Kuntellet Ajrud or Kh. el- Qom could refer to Asherah’s cult object, the stylized tree, or even to some

 

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hypostatized aspect of the female side of Yahweh. But what was the stylized tree or the hypostasis of the female side of Yahweh to the average worshipper? Nothing other than Asherah, the goddess. xx Indeed when Israelites were revering Asherah’s cult object or sacred pole they were not

worshipping a pole but the symbol of a deity, namely Asherah. Not unlike present day

adherents of any religion venerating an object, which represents to them their sacred

deity.

While the author or authors of both the inscriptions and the drawings can never be

known, there seems little doubt in the academic community that Asherah played a large

role in the belief practices of the pre-exilic Israelite-Judean community and was quite

possibly known throughout the region as a consort of Yahweh.

Figurines of Asherah

Anthropomorphically Asherah is represented many times in various forms

scattered throughout the region. However, for the purposes of this study we will focus on

those which are most prolific in the area: the pillar figurines. The figurines first started

appearing in the late tenth to ninth century BCE and had become very common from the

eighth through the seventh centuries. There is now considerable evidence that these

figurines signify Asherah. The term “Images of Asherah” is used often in the Hebrew

Bible, it is thought that “pillar figurines” are what the writers of the bible had in mind.

The figurines have been found in two varieties: one with an elaborately molded

head and the other with a “pinched nose”. The heads on the “molded head” variety appear

to be mass-produced, yet the bodies are hand-made, leading one scholar to suggest that

the person for whom the figurine was intended individually crafted the figurine’s body.xxi

This would help explain the rough manner in which the bodies were assembled. The

 

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“pinched nose” variety was likely for those who were unable to acquire a molded head.

Plain as the pinched nose figurines are, their being found in large quantities underscores

the importance that acquiring one of these figurines may have played in the community.

But what were these figurines meant to convey? And why were they important to

the Judean community? Because the breasts are exaggerated with the hands more or less

supporting them they are thought to symbolize the nurturing aspect of the mother

goddess. Interestingly, although her cult objects are in public worship spaces, the pillar

figurines are found mostly in private houses, which suggest the domesticity of the

figurines.xxii Dever is among a growing number of scholars who assert that the pillar

figurines were representative for women of fertility. He declares, “I am suggesting that

the female figurines were connected principally though not exclusively with

reproduction. They are better understood as images representing the goddess Asherah,

used as talismans to secure her favors.”xxiii Though the figurines may have been used

principally by and for women with regards to fertility, because many of them were found

in tombs, their somber nature is highlighted. Leading Elizabeth Bloch-Smith to assert:

Whether the figurines represented Asherah, the cult symbol asherah, an appeal to Yahweh’s nurturing concerns or simply a superstitious or folk-loric practice, their presence in tombs throughout Judah including Jerusalem indicates widespread concern for adequate lactation to nourish newborns and infants and an acceptance of the use of figurines for sympathetic magic.xxiv Considering survival was the ultimate concern for the average Israelite or Judean,

apprehension about lactation, and perhaps fertility was probably widespread. Sadly

lactation and fertility concerns are indicative of some type of famine for which the

region was prone.

 

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At this point it is useful to consider how difficult life was for the average Judean

or Israelite. Surrounded by the resource rich empires of Egypt and Mesopotamia, Israel

and Judah were not only vulnerable to invasion but also lacked natural resources and a

friendly climate for agriculture with which to support themselves. In a capricious world,

religion was wrapped around the quest for survival and appeasing the deities was of

ultimate concern. To an ancient Israelite there was no difference between life and

religion. Indeed, when they were not toiling to support their families, they were engaged

in religious and ritualistic practices both in the cultic community and in their individual

homes. It is in this context that the figurines should be contemplated.

The pillar figurines have mostly been found in the Judah region, many in the

metropolis of Jerusalem itself. Both Bloch-Smith and Hadley concur that these figurines

are small clay counterparts to the sacred wooden asherah poles. Because their elongated

base is suggestive of a tree it is easy to visualize how they might look on a pole. As

discussed previously, trees were symbolic of the nourishing aspect of the goddess,

Asherah.

Hadley adds that “for several centuries asherah poles stood in the temple of

Jerusalem.”xxv Although it is enchanting to speculate that asherah cult objects were in the

First Temple of Jerusalem, could it be true? Surprisingly, Hadley’s assertion is based on

Hebrew Bible itself. In 2 Kings 23 dating from the late seventh century during King

Josiah’s reforms, the biblical writer talks about purging the temple of all the cult regalia

of Asherah. If her cult regalia could be found in the First Temple of Jerusalem then the

Asherah cult was not only revered in the folk religion of the common people but more

importantly her cult was incorporated into the state or official religion as well.

 

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Christopher Uehlinger asserts, “Judahite pillar figurines seem to have disappeared some

time during the later seventh century.”xxvi Perhaps along with her figurines, the sacred

poles had also disappeared, as the late seventh century date would be in line with the

biblical timeline mandating the purge of her cult objects from the temple. Sadly, because

of the perishable nature of wood no asherah sacred pole artifacts have been found in any

of the excavations from the region.

It must be remembered that within fifty to one hundred years of this period the

fall of Judah occurred (ca 586 BCE) making it all the more certain for a religious

alteration. As mentioned earlier in the paper, Asherah artifacts and textual references are,

for the most part, restricted to pre-exilic or the period proceeding the destruction of

Jerusalem and the First Temple of Jerusalem. From the vast scholarship on the subject we

know that the Israelites of the post-exilic period were manifestly more monotheistic than

their pre-exilic counterparts.

Conclusion

On our quest to find Asherah she has appeared in some unlikely places. We find

her writ large in the ancient mythology of a neighboring state. Later, in an obscure

blessing from the Hebrew Bible, we are introduced to the now familiar phrase

“Yahweh….and his Asherah.” The blessing, perhaps well recognized in the region,

comes up in a variety of settings, such as in a remote caravanserai and in a burial site

located quite a distance from it. Further, she is found in drawings illustrating her cult

imagery and perhaps depicting the sacred couple themselves alongside the now famous

inscriptions. We learned of her pillar figurines, primarily found in the southern kingdom

 

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of Judah, numbering in the thousands and what they might have signified about the

ancient Judeans’ devotion to her.

But nagging questions remain. Was Asherah Yahweh’s consort, as many scholars

believe? Was her worship confined to folk religion only, as we have seen from the

evidence, or was her influence felt in the official cult as indicated in the Hebrew Bible

itself? The artifacts and inscriptions linking her name to Yahweh’s are impressive but

like so much in this field not absolute. And although research finds her cult prominent

within the folk religion of the average person, evidence for veneration of her in the

official religion is inconclusive. Fascinating as it is, examining a topic that dates back

three millennia has its distinct disadvantages. And while there is voluminous scholarship

and artifacts associated with Asherah in the region, there are still a number of pieces

missing to the puzzle. Nonetheless, it has been my attempt with this paper to bring the

discussion into greater focus with the expectation and promise of further scrutiny and

more scholarship to come in this area.

                                                                                                               i  Raphael  Patai,  The  Hebrew  Goddess  (Detroit:  Wayne  State  University  Press,  1990),  37.  ii  Judith  M.  Hadley,  “Yahweh  and  His  Asherah:  Archeological  and  Textual  Evidence,”  Ein  Gott  allein?  Eds.  Walter  Dietrich  and  Martin  A.  Klopfenstein  (Gottingen:  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1994),  236.  iii  Meindert  Dijkstra,“Women  and  Religion  in  the  Old  Testament,”  in  Only  One  God?  Eds.  Bob  Becking  and  Meindert  Dijkstra  (New  York:  Sheffield  Academic  Press  Ltd,  2001),  165.  iv  Karel  Van  Der  Toorn  From  Her  Cradle  To  Her  Grave  (Wiltshire:  Sheffield  Academic  Press,  1994),  112.  v  William  G.  Dever,  Did  God  Have  a  Wife?  (Grand  Rapids,  MI:  Wm.  B.  Eerdsmans  Publishing  Co.,  2005),  28.  vi  Susan  Ackerman,  “Digging  Up  Deborah,”  Near  Eastern  Archeology  Vol.  66,  No  4  (December  2003):  179.  http://ehis.ebscohost.com  (accessed  October  9,  2010).  vii  Meindert  Dijkstra,  “Women  and  Religion  in  the  Old  Testament,”  164.  viii  Karen  Armstrong,  A  History  of  God,  (1994).    Quoted  in  Jonathan  Kirsch,  God  Against  The  Gods  (New  York:  Penguin  Books,  2004),  1.  

 

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ix  Ziony  Zevet,  The  Religions  of  Ancient  Israel:  A  Synthesis  of  Parallactic  Approaches,  (2001),  Quoted  in  William  G.  Dever,  Did  God  Have  A  Wife?  46.  x  William  G.  Dever.  Did  God  Have  A  Wife?  54.  xi  Meindert  Dijkstra,  “El,  the  God  of  Israel”  in  Only  One  God?  Eds.  Bob  Becking  and  Meindert  Dijkstra  (New  York:  Sheffield  Academic  Press  Ltd,  2001),  117.  xii  Meindert  Dijkstra,  “El,  the  God  of  Israel,”  115.  xiii  Meindert  Dijkstra,  “I  Have  Blessed  You  by  Yahweh  of  Samaria  and  His  Asherah,”  in  Only  One  God?  Eds.  Bob  Becking  and  Meindert  Dijkstra  (New  York:  Sheffield  Academic  Press  Ltd,  2001),  25.  xiv  J.A.  Emerton,  “’Yahweh  and  His  Asherah’:  The  Goddess  or  Her  Symbol?”  Vestus  Testamentum  49,  no  3  (July  1999):  327.  http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.  dominican.edu/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid  (accessed  Sept,  14  2010).  xv  Pirhiya  Beck,“The  Drawings  from  Horvat  Teiman  (Kuntillet  Ajrud),”Tel  Aviv  9  (1982)  27-­‐31,  quoted  in  John  Day,  “Asherah  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,”  393.  xvi  William  G.  Dever,  “Asherah,  Consort  of  Yahweh?”  ASOR  16,  no.  255  (Summer  1984):  23,  http://www.jstor.org/stable/1357073  (accessed  October  30,  2010).  xvii  Mark  S.  Smith,  “God  Male  and  Female  in  the  Old  Testament:  Yahweh  and  His  ‘Asherah,’”  Theological  Studies  48,  no  2  (June  1987):  334.  xviii  Merlin  Stone,  When  God  Was  a  Woman,  (Orlando,  FL:  Harcourt  Brace,  1976),  217.  xix  William  G.  Dever,  Did  God  Have  a  Wife?,  151.  xx  Susan  Ackerman.  Under  Every  Green  Tree:  Popular  Religion  in  Sixth-­‐Century  Judah  (Atlanta:  Scholars  Press,  1992),  66.  xxi  Judith  M.  Hadley,  The  Cult  of  Asherah  in  Ancient  Israel  and  Judah  (Cambridge,  UK:  Cambridge  University  Press,  2000)  197.  xxii  John  Day,  Yahweh  and  the  Gods  and  Goddesses  of  Canaan  (Sheffield,  UK:  Sheffield  Academic  Press,  2000),  55.  xxiii  William  G.  Dever,  Did  God  Have  a  Wife?  194.  xxiv  Elizabeth  M.  Bloch-­‐Smith,  Judahite  Burial  Practices  and  Beliefs  About  the  Dead  (Sheffield,  UK:  Sheffield  Academic  Press  1991)  quoted  in  Judith  M.  Hadley  The  Cult  of  Asherah,  200.  xxv  Judith  M.  Hadley,  The  Cult  of  Asherah,  201.  xxvi  Christoph  Uehlinger,  “Anthropomorphic  Cult  Statuary  in  Iron  Age  Palestine,”  in  The  Image  and  The  Book,  ed.  Karel  Van  Der  Toorn  (Bondgenotenlaan:Uitgeverij  Peeters,  1997),  133.                        Bibliography    Ackerman,  Susan.  ‘Digging  Up  Deborah,”  Near  Eastern  Archeology  66,                    no.  4  (2003):  172-­‐184.    ________.  Under  Every  Green  Tree:  Popular  Religion  in  Seventh-­‐Century  Judah.                Atlanta:  Scholars  Press,  1992.    Armstrong,  Karen.  A  History  of  God:  The  4,000-­‐Year  Quest  of  Judaism,  Christianity                          

 

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       and  Islam.  New  York:  Alfred  A.  Knopf,  1993.  Quoted  in  Jonathan  Kirsch,  God                  Against  The  Gods.  New  York:  Penguin  Books,  2004.    Beck,  Pirhiya,  “The  Drawings  From  Horvat  Teiman  (Kuntillet  Ajrud),”  Tel  Aviv  9                (1982):  27-­‐31,  quoted  in  John  Day,  “Asherah  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  Northwest                  Semitic  Literature,”  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature  105,  no.  3  (1986).    Bloch-­‐Smith,  Elizabeth  M.  Judahite  Burial  Practices  and  Beliefs  About  the  Dead.                  Quoted  in  Judith  M.  Hadley  The  Cult  of  Asherah  in  Ancient  Israel  and  Judah,              Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press,  2000.                    Cornelius,  Izak.  The  Many  Faces  of  the  Goddess.  Gottingen:  Academic                                                        Press  Fribourg,  2004.    Davis-­‐Weyer,  Caecilia.  Early  Medieval  Art  300-­‐1100:  Source  and  Documents.                  Englewood  Cliffs,  NY:  Prentice  Hall,  1971,  48.  Quoted  in  Leslie  Ross,  Art  and                    Architecture  of  the  World’s  Religions,  Vol  2  Santa  Barbara,  CA:  Greenwood                    Press,  2009.    Day,  John.  “Asherah  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  and  Northwest  Semitic                                  Literature,”  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature  105,  no.  3  (1986):  385-­‐404.    _______.  Yahweh  and  The  Gods  and  Goddesses  of  Canaan.  Sheffield,  UK:  Sheffield              Academic  Press,  2000.    Dever,  William  G.  “Asherah,  Consort  of  Yahweh?”  ASOR  16,  no.255  (Summer  1984).              http://www.jstor.org/stable/357073  (accessed  October  30,  2010).    _______.  Did  God  Have  a  Wife?  Grand  Rapids,  MI:  Wm.  B.                  Eerdmans,  2005.      Dijkstra,  Meindert.  “El,  the  God  of  Israel,”  Only  One  God?  eds.  Bob  Becking  and              Meindert  Dijkstra,  100-­‐129.  New  York:  Sheffield  Academic  Press,  2001.    _______.    “I  Have  Blessed  You  by  Yahweh  of  Samaria  and  His  Asherah”  Only  One              God?  eds.  Bob  Becking  Meindert  Dijkstra,  5-­‐30.  New  York:  Sheffield  Academic                Press,  2001.      ________.  “Women  and  Religion  in  the  Old  Testaments,”  Only  One              God?  eds.  Bob  Becking  and  Meindert  Dijkstra,  160-­‐185.  New  York:  Sheffield              Academic  Press,  2001.    Emerton,  J.  A.  “Yahweh  and  His  Asherah:  The  Goddess  or  Her  Symbol?”  Vetus  Testamentum  49,  no.  3  (1999):  315-­‐358      

 

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.dominican.edu/ehost  (accessed  September                  14,  2010).    Gilmour,  Garth.  “An  Iron  Age  II  Pictorial  Inscription  from  Jerusalem                  Illustrating  Yahweh  and  Asherah,”  Palestine  Exploration  Quarterly                  141,  no.  2  (2009):  87-­‐103.    Hadley,  Judith  M.  The  Cult  of  Asherah  in  Ancient  Israel  and  Judah.                  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press,  2000.    _________.  “Yahweh  and  His  Asherah:  Archeological  and  Textual  Evidence”  Ein                  Gott  allein?  ed.  Walter  Dietrich  and  Martin  A.  Klopfenstein,  234-­‐256.  Gottengen:                    Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1994.    Patai,  Raphael.  The  Hebrew  Goddess.  Detroit,  MI:  Wayne  State  University              Press,  1990.    Ruether,  Rosemary  Radford.  Goddesses  and  The  Divine  Feminine.                    Berkeley:  University  of  California  Press,  2005.    Smith,  Mark  S.  The  Early  History  of  God.  Dearborn,  MI:                                          Harpers  Books,  2002.    Smith,  Mark  S.  “God  Male  and  Female  in  the  Old  Testament:  ‘Yahweh  and                His  Asherah,’”  Theological  Studies  48,  no.  2  (1987):  333-­‐341.                  http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.dominican.edu/ehost/detail?vid+3&hid=12                  (accessed  September  25,  2010).    Stone,  Merlin.  When  God  Was  A  Woman.  Orlando,  FL:  Harcourt  Brace,  1976.    Uehlinger,  Christoph.  “Anthropomorphic  Cult  Statuary  In  Iron  Age                Palestine  and  the  Search  For  Yahweh’s  Cult  Images,”  The  Image  and                the  Book:  Iconic  Cults,  Aniconism,  and  the  Rise  of  Book  Religion  in              Israel  and  the  Ancient  Near  East,  ed.  Karel  van  der  Toorn,  99-­‐155.                Bondgenotenlaan:  Uitgeverij  Peeters,  1997.    Van  Der  Toorn,  Karel.  From  Her  Cradle  to  Her  Grave.  Wiltshire:  Sheffield  Academic                Press,  1994.    Wiggins,  Steve  A.  A  Reassessment  of  Asherah.  Puscataway,  NJ:                First  Gorgias  Press,  2007.    Zevek,  Ziony.  The  Religions  of  Ancient  Israel:  A  Synthesis  of  Parallactic  Approaches.                                              2001.  Quoted  in  William  G.  Dever,  Did  God  Have  A  Wife?        

 

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