Asherah (Hebrew אֲשֵׁרָה, Romanized
ʾĂšērā, Ugaritic 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, Romanized ʾAṯiratu; Akkadian 𒀀𒅆𒋥, Romanized
Aširat [3], Qatabanian 𐩱𐩻𐩧𐩩 ʾṯrt) [4] was
the principal Goddess of ancient Semitic religions, appearing in biblical texts but then systematically erased.
Asherah also appears in Hittite writings as
Ašerdu(š) or
Ašertu(š) (Hittite 𒀀𒊺𒅕𒌈, Romanized
a-še-er-tu) [5, 6] and as
Athirat in Ugarit as the consort of the main God of the Bible, ʾEl [7], who became
Yahweh (
YHWH,
Jehovah), as He announces in the Bible.
- The name "Canaan" appears throughout the Bible as the "Promised Land"...an ethnic catch-all term. More
- Thereafter Canaan became, for all practical purposes, the Land of Israel...all the tribes of Israel (britannica.com).
- The Goddess Asherah played a major and enduring role in the old Canaanite religion of future Israel, with mythical tales and stories influencing neighboring religions. Canaan is an old name for Israel.
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| If we had a Goddess, religion might be wonderful |
- What is the modern perception and worship of Asherah? Banned, erased, forgotten. Her influence spanned cultures over many centuries. Asherah began as an ancient Canaanite goddess of love, war, fertility, with priestesses aiding in the worship of the divine feminine.
- She is often portrayed as a nurturing fertility goddess, associated with fecundity and the fertility of the land. She was the consort of the Semitic peoples' God El, where She played a central role in the holy family and divine pantheon. Her worship involved ritual practices that included setting up sacred poles and offering sacrifices. Her significance in Canaanite mythology is evident in the archeological findings of inscriptions and artifacts dedicated to Her, highlighting Her enduring impact on the religious beliefs and practices... legendaryladieshub.com
Asherah was considered the Goddess of the Sea, while "Her husband El" was considered the God of "Heaven" [9] or the sky [apparently making a fallen Lucifer the satanic God of Earth in later interpretations, though Earth has always been conceived of as feminine for receiving rain from the sky that makes seeds grow], making her the
Queen of Heaven (long before
Mother Mary, the Catholic
Queen of Heaven, or
Kwan Yin).
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| Islam also remembers Asherah/Elat (al-Lat) |
- The El was the original name of the tribal Semitic God is attested to in many words still in use, such as IsraEL, GabriEL, MichaEL, RaphaEL, ELohim, Ba'EL, AzarEL, and so on.
- Judaism was never actually a monotheistic religion as many claim. It has always been henotheistic and for a long time quite polytheistic, in some even pantheistic.
Asherah was sometimes called ELat (
Elat, like
the pre-Islamic Goddess EL-lat or
al-Lat), the feminine equivalent of El [10] and held titles such as "holy" (
qdš), "lady" (
rbt), or "
progenitress of the gods" (
qnyt ỉlm) [9].
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| Fertility Mother Goddess Asherah |
Asherah's iconography frequently depicted Her with pronounced feminine sexual features, often combined with tree motifs like date palms, highlighting her role as
a fertility goddess. Some artifacts, such as the
Revadim Asherah figurines, illustrate her
breastfeeding children or
displaying sexual imagery, emphasizing her maternal and generative symbolism.
Asherah's worship may also be reflected in phallic
Asherah poles, "cultic" objects [turned occult ("hidden") by patriarchal priests wishing to erase her from his-story]
frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, though scholars try to debate whether these represent the Goddess Herself or sacred symbols of the holy [11, 7].
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| Phallic buxom Asherah pole figurine |
Asherah's influence extended across many regions, including
Israel and Judah (then
Judea),
Philistia (modern
Gaza in
Palestine),
Egypt,
Canaan, and
Arabia (the Arabian Peninsula later
Saudi Arabia), appearing -- like
the counterpart male God -- under many different
female names with many different roles rolled up into one omnipotent entity.
Asherah was considered
the consort of Yahweh in the ancient Levant, as suggested by inscriptions at
Kuntillet Ajrud and
Khirbet el-Qom. But modern (post erasure) interpretations vary, and some scholars try to argue that these references describe holy objects rather than the Goddess [12, 13, 7].
Asherah bore many similarities with other goddesses -- such as
Shapshu,
Hathor, and
Qetesh -- which strongly suggests her image and attributes influenced surrounding cultures.
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| What might have been if She were not erased? |
Asherah was for millennia also linked to sacred fertility rites, which may have included women of status in ritual activities and priestesses. The denigrating association with temple prostitution, which in ancient times involved males and females, is now debated (and was clearly an attempt to explain Her away in the cover up after she was reduced and erased).
Asherah's worship was suppressed over time due to imposed
monotheistic (
henotheistic) reforms, and in later texts, references to Asherah were systematically erased by being retranslated as "groves" or "sacred trees" rather than directly as the Goddess.
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