asherah

asherah Latest

The fateful encounter between Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar is depicted in this 17th-century painting by Dutch artist Gerbrand van den Eeckhout

May 10 Blog

Sacred Prostitution in the Story of Judah and Tamar

While some scholars suggest that temple prostitution was practiced in ancient Israel, Edward Lipiński argues that neither the Bible nor archaeology provides any clear evidence that Israelite religion incorporated the sexual rites of Canaanite goddesses.

Opening credits of The History Channel series 'Bible Secrets Revealed'.

Mar 17 Blog

Bible Secrets Revealed, Episode 3: “The Forbidden Scriptures”

By: BAS Staff

Read what Bible Secrets Revealed consulting producer Dr. Robert Cargill reveals about the third installment of the History Channel series.

Bowl decorated with recumbent lions and calves before the symbol of the god An (BLMJ 4564). Photo: David Harris

Mar 10 Blog

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

By: David Moster

10 The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.

Feb 7 Blog

Puzzling Finds from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud

By: BAS Staff

“Yahweh and his Asherah” is written across the top of this eighth-century B.C. drawing on a ceramic pithos from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud in the eastern Sinai. Some scholars have theorized that these figures resembling the Egyptian god Bes are in fact a drawing of God and his consort.

Ta’anach Cult Stand. Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Israel Antiquities Authority (photograph by Avraham Hay)

Jan 20 Blog

Asherah and the Asherim: Goddess or Cult Symbol?

By: Ellen White

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.

Sep 18 Blog

How Bad Was Jezebel?

By: Janet Howe Gaines

For more than two thousand years, Jezebel has been saddled with a reputation as the bad girl of the Bible, the wickedest of women. But just how depraved was she?

Jul 12 Blog

The Enduring Symbolism of Doves

By: Dorothy Willette

Few symbols have a tradition as long and as rich as the dove. Read about what it represents and how its use has been shared, adapted and reinterpreted across cultures and millennia to suit changing belief systems.

A rock-hewn altar carved out of limestone located about a mile from Shiloh. The four corners point to the four directions on a compass (Exodus 27:1-2). Photo: Yoel Elitzur

Jun 12 Blog

High Places, Altars and the Bamah

By: Ellen White

The open-air altar shrine, called a bamah (plural bamot), is known through several books of the Biblical canon. Often referred to as “high places” in translations of the Bible, bamot were worship sites that usually contained an altar.

Furniture plaque carved in relief with a “woman at the window.” Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Feb 14 Blog

Women, Windows, and Death

By: John Drummond

“The Woman at the Window” is an intriguing artistic motif that was popular among the elite of the ancient Near East during the Iron Age […]

Eighth-century mosaic of the Tree of Life from Hisham’s Palace in Jericho. Tamar Hayardeni (Tamarah)

Jan 29 Blog

The Tree of Life Beyond the Bible

By: Nathan Steinmeyer

A central feature in the Garden of Eden story, the Tree of Life is one of the Hebrew Bible’s more memorable symbols. But this biblical […]

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life

Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

More Free eBooks

Join Us on an Educational Journey

For more than 40 years, the Biblical Archaeology Society has partnered with world-renowned hosts and guides to provide you exceptional educational offerings in the archaeology of the Biblical lands and in Biblical studies.

Learn More