God of the Week: Asherah
God of the Week 11/02/09: Asherah
Asherah is an ancient Levantine mother goddess that was worshiped at least as early as 12oo BCE. She has been depicted as the wife of Elohim/Yahweh.
The worship of Asherah proved to be very popular, which is why it, as well as other local religions, met with strong resistance during the religious revival in the 8th century BCE. The Old Testament book of 2 Kings, records King Hezekiah as having “removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah” (2 Kings 18:4)
“We do not know for sure what the belief in the god Yahweh meant for the average Israelite. Although the biblical text tells us that most Israelites worshipped Yahweh alone, we know that this is not true… The discoveries of the last fifteen years have given us a great deal of information about the worship of the ancient Israelites. It seems that we have to take the worship of the goddess Asherah more seriously than ever before.” – William Dever
an 8th century inscription reads, “I have blessed you by YHVH of Samaria and His Asherah”
Nova: Did God Have a Wife?:
Tags: Asherah, God of the Week
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