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Why do scholars consider Asherah a consort of Yahweh and not a pagan god that Yahweh despised?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
We know that in ancient Hebrew religion Asherah was the beloved consort of Yahweh because archaeological records show this to be so.
Among the many objects discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud were two large pithoi or storage jars. Once restored it was clear that each pithos contained drawings in red and black ink accompanied by religious inscriptions written in Hebrew. The Hebrew inscriptions have been translated them with reasonable consistency. Pithos A seems to be a dedicatory inscription and reads, in part:
"I bless you by Yahweh, our guardian, and by his Asherah ..."
A second pithos at Kuntillet Ajrud reveals a nearly identical formulation. The relevant lines read:
"Amaryau says: Say to my lord X: I bless you by Yahweh [our guardian], and by his Asherah"
One of the inscriptions found on the base wall of a tomb at the Makkedah site dates to between 750-700 BCE. The French epigraphist André Lemaire translates a section of it as:
"Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his asherah; from his enemies he saved him! "
Asherah is, of course, well known from the Ugarit texts and is associated with the thousands of fertility figurines found throughout Israel.
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∙ 13y ago
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Does Yahweh the Creator have a female consort?
AnswerYes, God once had a female consort, the goddess Asherah. Archeological evidence of this is in inscriptions found in ancient Israel and Judah during the Hebrew period, as well as the presence of numerous figurines of Asherah found in the same areas. The worship of Asherah seems to have ceased during the Babylonian Exile, when the veneration of Lady Wisdom (Sophia) seems to have begun. One two storage jars found at Kuntillet Ajrud contains a dedicatory inscription that reads, in part, "I bless you by Yahweh, our guardian, and by his Asherah." A second jar at the same site also contains a script that includes, "Amaryau says: Say to my lord X: I bless you by Yahweh [our guardian], and by his Asherah." Another artefact associated with the Makkedah site says, "Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his asherah; from his enemies he saved him!" or possibly, "May Uriyahu be blessed by Yahweh my guardian and by his Asherah. Save him."
Did God the Father have a best friend?
Two quite separate archaeological finds from the period of the early monarchy refer to the goddess Asherah, who is also quite frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. In those archaeological finds, Asherah appears to be the consort of God.
Where was Asherah worshiped?
A:Asherah was worshipped in and around Palestine, from Bronze Age times down until the Babylonian Exile. Israelite inscriptions at Kuntillet 'Ajrud and elsewhere indicate that she may have been the consort of Yahweh (God), at least during part of the Iron Age II period. As the fertility goddess, Asherah was typically associated with a stylised tree, called an 'asherah' in the Bible, and the Bible indicates there was an asherah in the Jerusalem Temple for most of the monarchical period.
What is the asherah pole mentioned in the Old Testament?
Until the Ugaritic tablets were deciphered from the 1930s onwards, most scholars did not even imagine that the biblical "asherahs" might symbolise a goddess. They interpreted "the asherahs" as either wooden poles, cult objects from Baal worship, or groves of trees. Very few linked "the asherahs" to a goddess found in passages such as I Kings 18, in which "prophets of Asherah" served Queen Jezebel. The first detailed study of Asherah in the Hebrew Bible after the Ugaritic discoveries concluded that "the asherah" represented both a wooden cult object and a goddess. It is now evident that Asherah was the Hebrew fertility goddess. Numerous small statuettes of an erotically pregnant female have been found all over Israel and identified with Asherah. Inscriptions have even been found at two different sites, describing Asherah as the consort of Yahweh (God). The "asherahs" were usually upright wooden objects, often standing beside altars, and in at least eight instances they are described as carved. So it seems they were not merely wooden poles, but probably quite large carved images. According to the Bible, an image of Asherah stood in the Temple in Jerusalem for about two-thirds of its existence.
Is Asherah the consort of Yahweh of Judah?
One of the principal female goddesses of the Canaanite pantheon, familiar equally from Canaanite mythology and from biblical references. Her name first appears at the time of the First Dynasty of Babylon as Ashratum, consort of Amurru. She is thus a goddess of the Semitic Amorites. In the Canaanite myths found in the city of Ugarit in northern Syria, Asherah appears in several roles. Most often she is known as the Lady of the Sea. As such she is consort of the chief god El and mother of the gods. She also plays the role of interceder in the myth of Baal and the Waters. In her role as mother goddess, Asherah is often confused with another Canaanite goddess - Ashtoreth (Astarte), who seems to have replaced Asherah in the 1st millennium B.C. As goddess of fertility, Asherah takes the form of a tree, symbolizing the Tree of Life on which the animal kingdom feeds. Her sacred emblem in this role is a tree or a wooden post which is a stylized form of a Tree of Life. Such a post is called Asherah in the Bible. The cult of Asherah as goddess of fertility connected with sacred trees was pervasive in ancient Israel. It was already practiced in the times of the Judges (Judg 6:25-28) together with the cult of Baal, and continued under the direction of some of the kings of Israel themselves (I Kgs 16:33; 18:19, II Kgs 12:6; 13:6; 17:10). During the religious reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah, kings of Judah, the trees of Asherah were cut down (II Kgs 18:4) including the one installed by King Manasseh inside the Temple (II Kgs 21:7; 23:6). The cult of Asherah probably had elements of divination and was quite promiscuous (Hos 4:12-13).
Why is Wisdom referred as 'she' in the Bible?
Prior to the Babylonian Exile, Jews worshipped the fertility goddess Asherah as the consort of God. There are many references to Asherah in the Bible, and archaeological finds throughout Israel and Judah attest to her role in Israelite belief. However, the Jews returned from Babylon as strong monotheists, and Asherah was no longer acceptable. We find her replaced in Judaic belief by Lady Wisdom. Wisdom was venerated in Judaism until the end of the first century CE and is even mentioned in the New Testament gospels.
Does God have a wife?
A pithos or storage jar found at Kuntillet Ajrud s this question. On it, was inscribed "I bless you by Yahweh, our guardian, and by his Asherah". A second pithos at Kuntillet Ajrud reads: "Amaryau says: Say to my lord X: I bless you by Yahweh [our guardian] and by his Asherah". Again, on the base wall of a tomb dated to between 750-700 BCE: "Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his Asherah; from his enemies he saved him!"Archaelogists see these as saying that Asherah was the wife of Yahweh.So, if God had a wife she would be the goddess Asherah.
Why do Christians refer to God as a male?
OpinionIt is a long standing tradition to refer to God as a male. The origin of this tradition could go all the way back to pre-Exilic Judaism and even earlier. Two large, splintered, pithoi or storage jars have been discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud, containing drawings in red and black ink accompanied by religious inscriptions written in Hebrew, which scholars have translated with reasonable consistency as describing the goddess Asherah as the consort of Yahweh (God).
What is Poseidon's consort?
what is Poseidon consort
How do historians know what really happened?
The people of ancient times left many written records, often of religious significance. Even a stone column boasting of military conquests might first give thanks to the gods. There are temple ruins and religious statues or cult figures. If the people of one nation did not leave any records known to us, there may be references to the beliefs of that nation left in the records of a neighbour. Sometimes, archaeologists build up a picture of a religious cult from several sources, so that if a pottery fragment contains little more than the name of a god, they can begin to infer that that god was probably worshipped. For a long time, scholars thought that the Israelites had always been monotheistic, apart from some biblical episodes wherein the people inexplicably began to worship foreign gods. Scholars now know that they were not foreign gods at all, but that later authors altered the record to make it seem so, in order to support their monotheism. A puzzling example was the frequent biblical references to the groves and high places, as well as the frequent, usually antagonistic references to asherah. Scholars now know that the "high places" were sacred altars, that the groves were columns sacred to Asherah and that Asherah was a Semitic goddess, worshipped throughout Israel and Judah in pre-Exilic times. Numerous cult figurines of a voluptuous goddess, found throughout Israel, are believed to be of the fertility goddess Asherah. And two stellae have been found, attesting that Asherah was the consort of Yahweh - the God of Judaism.
Do all religions come from a male point of view?
Some polytheistic religions have both gods and goddesses, although the principal god is usually male. Biblical and archaeolocal evidence shows that the Hebrew people worshipped Asherah, apparently as the consort of God, prior to the Babylonian Exile. After the return from Babylon, Asherah seems no longer to have been worshipped, but a new spirit or goddess called Lady Wisdom had taken her place and did not disappear from Judaism until the first century CE.
Who is Gaea's consort?
Gaea's consort is Uranus.
