Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?
Exploring the Biblical and archaeological evidence
This four-tiered cult stand found at Tanaach is thought to represent Yahweh and Asherah, with each deity being depicted on alternating tiers. Note that on tier two, which is dedicated to Asherah, is the image of a living tree, often thought to be how the asherim as a cult symbol was expressed. Photo: © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Israel Antiquities Authority (photograph by Avraham Hay).
Who is Asherah? Or, perhaps, what is asherah?1 The Hebrew means “happy” or “upright” and some suggest “(sacred) place.” The term appears 40 times in the Hebrew Bible, usually in conjunction with the definite article “the.” The definite article in Hebrew is similar to English in that personal names do not take an article. For example, I am Ellen, not the Ellen. Thus it is clear that when the definite article is present that it is not a personal name, but this does not eliminate the possibility of it being a category of being (i.e., a type of goddess). There are only eight cases where the term appears without an article or a suffix—suffixes in Hebrew can be used to express possession, e.g., “his,” “their,” etc. Interestingly, the plural of the term, asherim, occurs in both masculine and feminine forms.
This diversity of grammar leads to the two questions at the beginning of this article: Who is Asherah? What is asherah? The reference may be to a particular goddess, a class of goddess or a cult symbol used to represent the goddess. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish what meaning is intended (cf. Judges 3:7).
This goddess is known from several other Ancient Near Eastern cultures.2 Sometimes she is known as “Lady Asherah of the Sea” but could be taken as “She who walks on the sea.” As Athirat, a cognate name for Asherah, she is mother of 70 children (this relates to the Jewish idea of the 70 guardian angels of the nations). Arguments have been made that Asherah is a figure in Egyptian, Hittite, Philistine and Arabic texts. Egyptian representations of “Qudshu” (potentially the Egyptian name for Asherah) show her naked with snakes and flowers, sometimes standing on a lion. Whether this should be interpreted as Asherah is contested and thus should be viewed with caution. Another suggestion is Asherah is also the Hittite goddess Asertu, who is married to Elkunirsa, the storm god (she is often viewed in connection with the regional storm god).
As Athirat in Arabian inscriptions there is a possibility that she is seen as a sun goddess (this is perhaps a connection in Ugaritic literature as well). In Phoenician, she is the mother goddess, which is different from Astarte, the fertility goddess; there is some debate regarding a confusion of the two relating to 1 Kings 18:19. In Akkadian, she might be Asratum, the consort of Amurru (chief deity of early Babylon). The connection is made because the Akkadian kingship (early 14th century B.C.E.) takes the title “servant of Asherah.”
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The Ugaritic texts provide the most insight into the goddess. Ras Shamra (located on the Syrian coast) texts, discovered in 1929, portray her as Athirat, the wife of El. Their sexual encounter produces dusk (Shalim) and dawn (Shahar), among others. Her relationship with Baal is complicated, and it is suggested that Baal has killed large numbers of her children.3 In these texts, she intercedes with El to get Baal a palace, after Anat’s (his “sister” and her “daughter”) request is refused. She supplies a son to reign after Baal descends into the netherworld. The relationship is further complicated by debates as to whether she is the mother of Baal or his consort or both. The idea of her being a consort comes from later Phoenician sources, where scholars have associated Asherah with Tinnit. Yet, the connections are tentative, and many scholars question the association. A hypothesis also suggests that Baal usurped El’s position and also took his consort, Asherah, which would make the relationship very oedipal.
This inscription found on a pithos at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud (similar to an inscription found at Khirbet el-Qom) refers to “Yahweh and his Asherah.” This has led some scholars to believe that in popular religion Asherah was understood to be the wife of Yahweh, much the same as she under her cognate Athirat was considered to be the wife of El. Photo: Courtesy Dr. Ze’ev Meshel and Avraham Hai/Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology.
Asherah or asherim refer to more than just the person of the deity. These terms are often, especially in the Biblical texts, used for consecrated poles. These poles represent living trees, with which the goddess is associated. Some scholars believe that asherim were not poles, but living trees (like the one depicted on the Tanaach Cult Stand). The poles were either carved to look like trees or to resemble the goddess (this could also be reflected in the numerous pillar figurines found throughout Israel). Remains of these poles are determined by postholes and rotted timber, which resulted in differently hued soil. There is great debate as to whether the cult symbol lost its ties to Asherah (and became a religious symbol on its own without the worshippers knowing anything about the goddess who originated it) or is seen as a representation of Asherah herself (similar to the way the cross is a representation of Jesus to Christians).
The relationship between Asherah and Israel is a complicated one.4 Does the text refer to the goddess or her symbol?5 Jeroboam and Rehoboam fostered Asherah worship (1 Kings 14:15, 23). Worship of Asherah was highly encouraged by Jezebel, with the presence of 400 prophets who held a place in the court of her husband King Ahab (1 Kings 18:19). Worship of Asherah is given as a reason for deportation (2 Kings 17:10,16). Attempts to eradicate the worship were made by Asa, Josiah, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Gideon (Exodus 34:13-14; Deuteronomy 7:5; Judges 6:25-30; 1 Kings 15:13/2 Chronicles 15:16; 2 Kings 23:4,7/2 Chronicles 34:3,7; 2 Kings 21:7/2 Chronicles 33:3,19; 2 Chronicles 19:3; 2 Kings 18:4). However, devotion to the cult symbol remained (Isaiah 27:9; Jeremiah 17:1; Micah 5:14). It is particularly interesting that objections to Asherah are found mostly in Deuteronomistic literature, rather than in the prophets. In both cases, the authors are much more concerned about the worship of Baal rather than Asherah.
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This apparent lack of concern might be due to a popular connection between Yahweh and his Asherah. Inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud (on a pithos; see image above) and Khirbet el-Qom (on walls) contain the phrase “Yahweh and his Asherah.”6 Some take this to mean it was believed that she was seen as the wife of Yahweh and represents the goddess herself. Yet, the presence of the suffix could suggest that it is not a personal name. This has led others to believe it is a reference to the cult symbol. A more obscure opinion claims it means a cella or chapel; this meaning is found in other Semitic languages, but not Hebrew. Because of the similarities between El and Yahweh, it is understandable that Asherah could have been linked to Yahweh. While some readers might find the idea that Yahweh had a wife disturbing, it was common in the ancient world to believe that gods married and even bore children. This popular connection between Yahweh and Asherah, and the eventual purging of Asherah from the Israelite cult, is likely a reflection of the emergence of monotheism from the Israelites’ previous polytheistic worldview.
Ellen White, Ph.D. (Hebrew Bible, University of St. Michael’s College), formerly the senior editor at the Biblical Archaeology Society, has taught at five universities across the U.S. and Canada and spent research leaves in Germany and Romania. She has also been actively involved in digs at various sites in Israel.
Notes
1. One of the most influential studies on Asherah is Saul M. Olyan, Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel, Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988). Olyan’s study provides background for this piece.
2. For a detailed study of Asherah outside of the Biblical texts, see Walter A. Maier, Asherah: Extrabiblical Evidence, Harvard Semitic Monographs (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986).
3. Olyan, Asherah, pp. 38–61.
4. For one of the best treatment of Asherah and Israel, see Judith M. Hadley, The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah: Evidence for a Hebrew Goddess, University of Cambridge Oriental Publications (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
5. For a really good analysis of the Biblical passages involving Asherah, see C. Frevel, Aschera und der Ausschliesslichkeitsanspruch YHWHs, Bonner biblische Beitrage (Weinheim: Belz Athenaum Verlag, 1995).
6. For more details, see William Dever, Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. 176–251.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on November 4, 2014.
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You have proven without doubt the disobedience of the chosen people of יהוה, to run after the gods of other nations. I think the mere evidence of their present condition easily confirms that as well. None the less, they were and have been instructed not to do this by the WORD of יהוה. Baruch haba b’shem Adoni YAHUAH….
Though we have only 3 archaeological references that are indicative of a priestly blessing in the name of “Yahweh and His Asherah,” the prevalence of this goddess in ancient Israel was downplayed by the author of Deuteronomy, which recieved its final composition in the second temple period after the Jews eradicated all traces of this goddess. In the final revision of the history of the first temple period, Asherah is only a foreign deity that needed to be banned, though the Samaritans and Edomites still worshiped her after the Jews returned from captivity in Babylonia.
In the above article the author mentions Asherah as being the mother of the 70 gods of the Canaanite pantheon. Their father was El, and it is from this deity that the name Elohim is derived, meaning “God” or “gods” (70 gods or offspring of El). The extra-biblical information we have concerning Asherah comes from the city of Ugarit from the 14th-12th-centuries B.C.E.:
“Asherah of the Sea, as she is called there, was the consort of the old god El, the head of the pantheon, and she was the ‘creator of the gods,’ their mother” (“Did God Really Have a Wife?” by Shmuel Ahituv, BAR, Sept./Oct. 2006, p.64).
It’s possible that the divine name “Yahweh Elohim” that appears in connection with the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 may refer to “Yahweh and His Asherah.”
Correction: According to Ephraim Stern in “Pagan Yahwehism; The Folk Religion of Ancient Israel” in the May/June 2001 issue of BAR (p.28), it was the Jews in Judea (former Judahites) and the Samaritans (former mixed population settled in Samaria by the Assyrians) who discontinued the use of the clay goddess figurines, while it was the Idumaens (former Edomites) who also dwelt in the province of Judah and Galileans (populated by mostly Phoenicians) that continued the worship of the goddess during the period of the post-Exilic Persian Empire.
The Wikipedia page on Khirbet el-Qom is about one of the sites where a reference to “Yahweh and His Asherah” was found in a double tomb near Hebron and the account of Abraham purchasing the Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:9) or the Cave of the Two Tombs that was for Sarah (who was possibly a priestess of the moon god Sin), was given a connection to the first ancestors in the book of Zohar:
“When Abraham first entered the cave, he saw a light, then dust scattered, revealing two graves. Meanwhile Adam arose in his image, saw Abraham, and smiled, so Abraham knew he was destined to be buried there” (“The Zohar” by Daniel Matt, vol.2, p.221).
“He (Abraham) saw a light radiating from the cave, so there he prayed, and there the blessed Holy One spoke with him. Therefore he asked for it, since his desire focused constantly on that site” (p.221).
There is also a connection with Abraham whom the Hittites referred to as a prince and an ancient tradition of self-governance in Canaan; “Hear us my lord, you are the prince (nesi) of God among us” (Genesis 23:6). According to Giovanni Pettinato in “Archives of Ebla; An Empire Inscribed in Clay” (p.278-279), it is suggested that the word “nesi” referred to “ruler” in ancient Ebla and is related to the Egyptian term “nsw” or “king (of upper Egypt)” and the Sumerian term “ensi” or “ruler” and that these terms were imposed into the vocabulary of Sumer and Egypt when the Canaanite exerted their influence over them. Hence the term “nesi” is related to the word “ns” which means “to lift up,” and in the Sumerian term “ensi” it refers to a ruler in the capacity of having his/her legitimacy derived from the local deities in their respective cities.
I think Ashera was all of the above: A goddess (in Ugarit it was the proper name of a specific goddess); A title for goddesses (such as “the great goddess”, “the queen goddess” or “the spouse of the god X or Y”); And, of course, a Cult Symbol – such as a sacred tree, or a pole in a shape of a tree, or even a “Menorah” in a shape of a tree – which stood in temples, and symbolized (at least originally, in the earlier days), the presence of these goddess in the worship sites…
The suffix in the form of affiliation modifier (אשרתהו = “his Asherah”) which is found in the inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom, and which, in Hebrew, is typical for nouns and not for proper names, may refer to either a still cult object (in the form of a noun), or to a title of a goddess (then “Yahweh and his Asherah” might mean “Yahweh and his queen-goddess”)… As for the suffix in the plural form which we find the Bible – this is typical to the manner in which the Bible refers to other gods too, such as “Ba’al” (we find the form “Be’alim” which means “Ba’als”) and “A’ashtoret” (we find the form “‘Ashtarot” which means “‘Ashtarots”)…
And here are some pictures to wrap it all up:
[Broken URLs removed by site admin.]
Perhaps I’m opening a “Pandora’s Box,” but this goddess never really was eradicated from Judaism because the sacred tree of Asherah was so universal in ancient times so that (almost) everyone would understand that the position of the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden (Genesis 2:9) referred to the all-pervading cultural influence where this iconic image appeared everywhere like the pithos from Kuntilet Ajrud depicting two ibexes flanking a stylized tree and on the cult stand from Tanaach on the third tier from the bottom that features two goats flanking a tree, with both examples having depictions of lions that are identified with Asherah. Hence the woman being proclaimed as the Hurrian goddess Hepa, Heba, Heva, or Eve, the “mother of all living (hai)” (Genesis 3:20), that is also “Eywa,” the mother creation goddess in the film “Avatar.”
In the Kabbalah it is the attribute referred to as “Binah,” means “understanding”; “God founded the earth with wisdom and established the heavens with understanding (Binah)” (Proverbs 3:19); In a possible reference to the goddess; “Say to Wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and proclaim Understanding (Binah) a kinswoman” (Proverbs 7:4). I would guess that Eve was acquiring the attributes of the Queen of Heaven in a microcosmic way when she said, “I have gotten a man with the help of Yahweh” (Genesis 4:1) and there is no longer mention of Elohim since the woman is a partner with Yahweh. No wonder those clay figurines were so popular, enabling immediate access to the goddess, while the serpent is planning his trap like acting inquisitive to find out which fruit is prohibited and she says something like “Oh, I heard those cannabis cookies are a way too potent and those chocolate chip cookies are high in calories,” and the serpent knows that the ingredient in chocolate makes her feel satisfied and she is not “desiring for her husband” (Genesis 3:16) It also states that God would put enmity between (bein) the woman and the serpent and between (bein) her descendants and serpent (Genesis 3:15), whose head is located at the lowest part of the human brain where the baser instincts are located.
“The Talmudic explanation of Binah is ‘understanding one thing from something dissimilar.’ It is related to the word Bein meaning ‘between.’ Thus, Binah implies distance and separation. When you look at something logically, you have placed yourself at a distance from it” (“Innerspace” by Aryeh Kaplan, p.58).
“…He will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
In the beginning of the history of Israel as well as the beginning of history of many peoples, it mentions that Abraham’s wife was named Sarai which means princess and Nahor’s wife’s name was Milcah which means queen but in Assyrian, “Sarru” means king and” Malika/Malku” means prince.When God changes their name in Genesis 17 Abraham is told that “kings” shall issue from him (17:6) using the term “malekim” for kings but in Sarah’s case, she is told that” rulers” of people shall issue from her, using the term “malekai” and depending on which vernacular you are using, the “y” as a suffix can mean “my ruler.”
If you look at the Anchor Bible Series on the book of Psalms you will notice that they are full of expressions borrowed from Canaanite mythology. The account of the visitation by angels at the terebinth of Mamre (cult shrine centered on a sacred tree) has its parallel in the Tale of Aquat, who like Isaac, was blessed by a divine entity. The story starts with Aquat’s father Daniel (Ezekial 15:14,20) who upon seeing the approach of the craftsman god Kothar wa-Khasis (skillful and clever), tells his wife to prepare a lamb. Abraham prepares a calf for the visitors (Genesis 18:7) which happens to be the symbol of the fertility god Baal, who is noticably absent from the Tale of Aquat, perhaps off on a journey or just retired (1 Kings 18:27):
“Seven years shall Baal fail, eight the Rider of the Clouds. No dew, no rain; no welling up of the deep, no sweetness of Baal’s voice.”
Tradition has it that Abraham chased the calf until it led him to the Cave of Macpelah which he later purchased from the Hittites, and they also worshipped a storm god that they borrowed from the Hurrians, Teshub. The Hittites also had a pair of bull gods named “Hurri” and “Surri” and “Hurri” is obviously connected to the Hurrians, or “mountain folk,” while the name “Surri” is derived from the word “Sar” which means “lord, king,” perhaps referring to a ruling class. This name brings to mind the founder of the Akkadian Empire, Sargon, or “Sarukin” (legitamate king) and his descendant on the throne who was the last functioning emperor, “Sharkalisharri” (king of all kings). In a break with previous rulers, Sargon didn’t appropriate the highest religious office but instead appointed his daughter as high priestess of the moon god. He thus divided the administration of government between this Czar’s militaristic empire-building sphere and the cultic-religious sphere with his daughter in her capacity as patroness of the arts.
http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduanna.html
Oops! http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduanna.html
I watched a documentary on this made by PBS which is now on You Tube if i may say the name ?
[The goddess Asherah (Astarte) – is the name of the wife of the God of Israel? ]. Asherah is not Eve, nor is she the wife of God for God does not have a wife ( Jesus has a Bride ie the Church) . From what i know Asherah is a false god(dess) which the Children of Israel worshiped and abandoned God for. Micah 5:14 shows God ‘s anger towards them