Asherah, in Semitic mythology, is a mother goddess who appears in a number
of ancient sources. She appears in Akkadian writings by the name of
Ashratum/Ashratu, and in Hittite as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or
Asertu(s). Asherah is generally considered identical with the Ugaritic
goddess ʼAṯirat. She is also mentioned in the Hebrew Bible by names such as
Ashtaroth and Ashtoreth. Asherah is identified as the consort of
the Sumerian god Anu and Ugaritic El, the oldest deities of their respective
pantheons. This role gave her a similarly high rank in the Ugaritic
pantheon. The name Dione, which like 'Elat means "Goddess", is clearly
associated with Asherah in the Phoenician History of Sanchuniathon,
because the same common epithet of "the Goddess par excellence" was used to
describe her at Ugarit. The Book of Jeremiah, written circa 628 BC, possibly
refers to Asherah when it uses the title "Queen of Heaven", stating: "pray thou
not for this people...the children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the
fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the Queen of Heaven,
and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to
anger."(Hebrew: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם‎) in Jer 7:18 and Jer 44:17–19, 25.
In Ugarit In the Ugaritic texts Athirat is almost
always given her full title rbt ʼaṯrt ym, rabat ʼAṯirat yammi, 'Lady Athirat
of the Sea' or as more fully translated 'she who treads on the sea'.
This occurs 12 times in the Baʿal Epic alone. The name is understood by various
translators and commentators to be from the Ugaritic root ʼaṯr 'stride', cognate
with the Hebrew root ʼšr, of the same meaning.
Her other main divine epithet was "qaniyatu ʾilhm" which may be translated
as "the creatrix of the Gods". In those texts, Athirat is the consort
of the god El; there is one reference to the 70 sons of Athirat, presumably the
same as the 70 sons of El. She is clearly distinguished from ʿAshtart in
the Ugaritic documents although in non-Ugaritic sources from later periods
the distinction between the two goddesses can be blurred; either as a
result of scribal error or through possible syncretism. In any case, the
two names begin with different consonants in the Semitic languages;
Athirat/Asherah with an aleph or glottal stop consonant א and `Ashtart/`Ashtoreth
with an `ayin or voiced pharyngeal consonant ע), indicating the lack of any
plausible etymological connection between the names.
She is also called Elat and Qodesh, 'holiness'. Athirat in Akkadian texts
appears as Ashratum, the wife of Anu, the God of Heaven. In contrast, Ashtart
is believed to be linked to the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar who is
sometimes portrayed as the daughter of Anu while in Ugaritic myth, Ashtart is
one of the daughters of El, the West Semitic counterpart of Anu.
Among the Hittites this goddess appears as Asherdu(s) or Asertu(s), the consort
of Elkunirsa and mother of either 77 or 88 sons.
Among the Amarna letters a King of the Amorites is named Abdi-Ashirta, "Servant
of Asherah". In Egypt
In Egypt, beginning in the 18th dynasty, a Semitic goddess named Qudshu begins to
appear prominently, equated with the native Egyptian goddess Hathor. Some
think this is Athirat/Ashratu under her Ugaritic name. This Qudshu seems not to
be either ʿAshtart or ʿAnat as both those goddesses appear under their own
names and with quite different iconography and appear in at least one
pictorial representation along with Qudshu.
But in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman periods in Egypt there was a
strong tendency towards syncretism of goddesses and Athirat/Ashratum then
seems to have disappeared, at least as a prominent goddess under a recognizable
name. In Israel and Judah
Between the 10th century BC and the beginning of their exile in 586 BC,
polytheism was normal throughout Israel; it was only after the exile that worship
of Yahweh alone became established, and possibly only as late as the time of the
Maccabees that monotheism became universal among Jews. Some biblical
scholars believe that Asherah at one time was worshiped as the consort of
Yahweh, the national God of Israel. There are references to the worship of
numerous gods throughout Kings, Solomon builds temples to many gods and Josiah
is reported as cutting down the statues of Asherah in the temple Solomon built
for Yahweh. Josiah's grandfather Manasseh had erected this statue.
Further evidence includes, for example, an 8th-century combination of
iconography and inscriptions discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the northern Sinai
desert where a storage jar shows three anthropomorphic figures and an
inscription that refers to "Yahweh ... and his Asherah". The inscriptions found
invoke not only Yahweh but El and Baal, and two include the phrases "Yahweh of
Samaria and his Asherah" and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah." There is general
agreement that Yahweh is being invoked in connection with Samaria and Teman;
this suggests that Yahweh had a temple in Samaria, and raises a question over
the relationship between Yahweh and Kaus, the national god of Edom. The
"Asherah" is most likely a cultic object, although the relationship of
this object to Yahweh and to the goddess Asherah, consort of El, is unclear. It
has been suggested that the Israelites might consider Asherah as a consort of
Baal due to the anti-Asherah ideology which was influenced by the
Deuteronomistic History at the later period of Monarchy. In another
inscription called "Yahweh and his Asherah", there appears a cow feeding
its calf. If Asherah is to be associated with Hathor/Qudshu, it can then be
assumed that the cow is what's being referred to as Asherah.
Further evidence includes the many female figurines unearthed in ancient
Israel, supporting the view that Asherah functioned as a goddess and consort of
Yahweh and was worshiped as the Queen of Heaven.
Asherah poles, which were sacred trees or poles, are mentioned many times in
the Bible. Ashira in Arabia
A stele, now at the Louvre, discovered by Charles Huber in 1883 in the ancient
oasis of Tema, northwestern Arabia, and believed to date to the time of
Nabonidus's retirement there in 549 BC, bears an inscription in Aramaic which
mentions Ṣalm of Maḥram and Shingala and Ashira as the gods of Tema.
This Ashira might be Athirat/Asherah. Since Aramaic has no way to indicate
Arabic th, corresponding to the Ugaritic th, if this is the same deity, it is not
clear whether the name would be an Arabian reflex of the Ugaritic Athirat
or a later borrowing of the Hebrew/Canaanite Asherah.
The Arabic root ʼṯr is similar in meaning to the Hebrew indicating "to
tread" used as a basis to explain the name of Ashira as "lady of the sea",
specially that the Arabic root ymm also means "sea". It has also been recently
suggested that the goddess name Athirat might be derived from the passive
participle form, referring to "one followed by", that is, "pro-genitress or
originatress", corresponding with Asherah's image as 'the mother of the
gods' in Ugaritic literature. See also
The Hebrew Goddess Khirbet el-Qom
Notes References
Binger, Tilde, Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament,
Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 9781850756378
Dever, William G., Did God Have A Wife?: Archaeology And Folk Religion In Ancient
Israel, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 9780802828521
Hadley, Judith M, The cult of Asherah in ancient Israel and Judah : the evidence
for a Hebrew goddess, University of Cambridge Oriental publications, 57,
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521662352
Kien, Jenny, Reinstating the divine woman in Judaism, Universal Publishers,
ISBN 9781581127638 Long, Asphodel P., In a chariot drawn by
lions: the search for the female in deity, Crossing Press, ISBN
9780895945754 Myer, Allen C., "Asherah", Eerdmans
Dictionary of the Bible, Amsterdam University Press
Park, Sung Jin. "Short Notes on the Etymology of Asherah". Ugarit
Forschungen 42: 527–534. Park, Sung Jin. "The Cultic Identity of
Asherah in Deuteronomistic Ideology of Israel". Zeitschrift für die
Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 123: 553–564. doi:10.1515/zaw.2011.036.
Patai, Raphael, The Hebrew goddess, Jewish folklore and anthropology., Wayne
State University Press, ISBN 9780814322710
Reed, William Laforest, The Asherah in the Old testament, Texas christian
university press, OCLC 491761457 Taylor, Joan E, The Asherah, the Menorah
and the Sacred Tree, Journal for the study of the Old Testament. no. 66:
University of Sheffield, Dept. of Biblical Studies, pp. 29–54, ISSN
0309-0892, OCLC 88542166 Wiggins, Steve A, A reassessment of
'Asherah' : a study according to the textual sources of the first two
millennia B.C.E, Alter Orient und Altes Testament, Bd. 235., Verlag Butzon &
Bercker, ISBN 9783788714796 External links
Asherah Asphodel P. Long, The Goddess in Judaism
– An Historical Perspective Asherah, the Tree of Life and the
Menorah Jewish Encyclopedia: Asherah
Rabbi Jill Hammer, An Altar of Earth: Reflections on Jews, Goddesses and the
Zohar University of Birmingham: Deryn Guest:
Asherah at Archive.org Lilinah biti-Anat, Qadash Kinahnu Deity
Temple "Room One, Major Canaanite Deities"
Kuntillet inscriptions Jacques Berlinerblau, "Official religion
and popular religion in pre-Exilic ancient Israel"
ANE: Kuntillet bibliography Jeffrey H. Tigay, "A Second Temple
Parallel to the Blessings from Kuntillet Ajrud"
Israelite Religion David Steinberg, Israelite Religion to
Judaism: the Evolution of the Religion of Israel