The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah: Evidence for a Hebrew GoddessRecent archaeological discoveries have encouraged scholars to reinvestigate the Israelite religion. In this book, Judith Hadley uses these discoveries, alongside biblical material and non-biblical inscriptions, to examine the evidence for the worship of Asherah as the partner of God in the Bible. By investigating the Khirbet al-Qom and Kuntillet 'Ajrud inscriptions, for example, where the phrase 'Yahweh and his Asherah' is frequently in evidence, the author asks what the ancient Israelites meant by this, how they construed the relationship between Yahweh and Asherah, and whether in fact the term actually referred to an object of worship rather than to a goddess. The author also evaluates more recent scholarship to substantiate her conclusions. This is a detailed and brilliant study which promises to make a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the exact nature of Asherah and her significance in pre-exilic Israel and Judah. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
An introduction to asherah | 4 |
2 Asherah as both a goddess and her image | 7 |
B A brief survey of previous research | 11 |
1 WL Reed | 12 |
2 T Yauuishiw | 13 |
3 T A Holland | 15 |
4 A L Perlman | 16 |
2 Line I | 87 |
3 Line 2 | 89 |
4 Line 3 | 90 |
5 Line 4 | 100 |
6 Lines 5 and 6 | 101 |
7 The hand | 102 |
C Final observations | 104 |
The finds from Kuntillet Ajrud | 106 |
5 J R Entfle | 19 |
6 U Winter | 21 |
7 S M Olyan | 23 |
8 R J Pettey | 25 |
9 W A Maier III | 27 |
10 S Schroer | 28 |
11 S A Wiggins | 30 |
12 R HuniikerRodewald | 32 |
13 C Frevcl | 33 |
C Final remarks | 37 |
The goddess Athirat | 38 |
1 Biuilshouse | 39 |
2 The Kcrct epic | 41 |
B The origin and etymology of Athirat | 43 |
2 Etymology | 49 |
Asherah in the Bible | 54 |
B The deuteronomistic influence | 55 |
C Asherim and Josiahs reform | 57 |
D The use of the definite article with asherah | 59 |
E Passages which may mention the goddess | 63 |
2 I Kings xv 13 and II Chronicles xv 16 | 64 |
3 I Kings xviii 19 | 66 |
4 II Kings xxi 7 | 68 |
5 II Kings xiii 47 | 71 |
F Two passages which may allude to the goddess | 75 |
2 Amos viii 14 | 77 |
Inscription no 3 from Khirbet elQom | 84 |
B Authors transcription and translation | 86 |
B The inscriptions | 120 |
1 Inscription no 1 | 121 |
2 Inscription no 2 | 125 |
3 Inscription no 3 | 129 |
4 Inscription on plaster | 130 |
C The drawings | 136 |
1 The Besfigures | 137 |
2 The lyre player | 144 |
D Concluding remarks | 152 |
Other related finds | 156 |
2 Other finds | 161 |
B The Pella cult stands | 165 |
C The Taanach cult stands | 169 |
2 Selliris stand | 176 |
D The Ekron inscription | 179 |
E The Jerusalem pomegranate | 184 |
F Conclusions | 187 |
Female figurines | 188 |
1 Concubine figurines | 189 |
2 Goddess figurines | 191 |
B Pillar figurines | 196 |
Conclusion | 206 |
Bibliography | 210 |
| 235 | |
| 239 | |
| 241 | |
| 245 | |
Common terms and phrases
Aḥituv Amorite Amurru Anat ancient appears asherah pole asherim Assyrian Astarte Athirat atrt attested Avigad Baal Beck believes biblical blessing century BCE chapter Chron Chronicler considers consort cult object cultic stand deity depicted Deut deuteronomistic Dever discovered discussion dots Ekron Engle evidence ewer excavations female fertility figures Frevel Furthermore Gitin goddess Asherah Hadley Hebrew Bible Hestrin identified II Chron indicate inscription interpretation Iron Age Israel Israelite Jerusalem Judaean Judah Keel and Uehlinger Khirbet el-Qom Kuntillet Ajrud Lachish Late Bronze Age Lemaire letters lions lyre player mentioned Meshel Müller Nimrud notes Old Testament Palestine parallel passages perhaps Perlman Pettey Phoenician pillar figurines Pithos pomegranate possible Puech qdš Qudshu reading refer Samaria sanctuary scholars Schroer shrine similar stylized tree suffix symbol Taanach Tadmor Teman temple term asherah tion translation Uehlinger 1992 Ugaritic Uriyahu verb verses Wiggins wooden worship xxiii Yahweh Yamashita yhwh Zevit