Kevelaer, Germany: 1993. Conversely, when destroyed, these cult symbols can be described as being cut down, hewn down, or uprooted; they can also be said to be burned, overturned, or broken. The discussion of these texts revealed that scholars differ about the interpretation (of the Kuntillet el-'Ajrud inscriptions), reading either 'Asherata' or 'his Asherah' and also about the question whether only the sacred pole is implied. WebAn Asherah pole was a sacred pole (or sometimes a tree) that was used in the worship of the pagan goddess Asherah. Thegoal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. On occasion in Ugaritic myth, Asherah performs the maternal role of wet nurse. It was closely associated with the worship of Baal: The Israelites did evil in the LORDs sight. Manasseh, King of Judah, followed the despicable practices of the pagan nations. A little leaven would work through the whole lump and before long they were fully engaged in syncretic worship; having idols, like Asherah, in the very temple of YHWH. Even while idolatry is reviled in the Hebrew Bible, ample archaeological evidence suggests that those living outside the metropolis idolized statuary and cult objects as part of their religion, leading one scholar to opine: Folk religion can be defined as everything that those who wrote the Bible condemned.. The "asherahs" were usually upright wooden objects, often standing beside altars, and in at least eight instances they are described as carved. Nearly all instances of Asherah in the Bible refer to a sacred pole constructed by human hands and erected in honor of the fertility goddess. Ready for a unique experience? You have proven without doubt the disobedience of the chosen people of , to run after the gods of other nations. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. Ancient Cults Do Not Shed Light On The OT http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/asherah-and-the-asherim-god… [], [] http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/asherah-and-the-asherim-god… [], Oops! Women in Scripture. of Biblical Literature 105 (1986): 385408. Under ( The Met ). Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. Asherah While there are voluminous artifacts identified as Asherah in the region, there are still pieces missing from the puzzle. Maybe you should read the Bible a little more for better understanding? Since the 1920s, archaeologists have uncovered more than 850 terracotta female figurines throughout Israel and Judah dating to the eighth and seventh century BC. The Asherah pole was often mentioned in the Old Testament as one of the ways the Israelites sinned against the Lord and worshiped other gods. Hezekiah also cut down the Asherah but Manasseh, his wicked son, rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed andmade an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done (2 Kings 21:3). Scripture does tell us however that the Asherah or groves were usually set up near Baal images, and that Asherah and Baal together symbolized both male and female sexual properties. New York: 2000. Despite these and other references associating Asherah with apostasy, contemporary discoveries have further indicated that, at least in the opinion of some ancient Israelites, YHWH and Asherah were appropriately worshipped as a pair. Happy Womens History Month! Micah 5:14 shows God s anger towards them, [] #3. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. It seems as well in 2 Chronicles, that the goodness or wickedness of a king is determined by what they did with the Asherim. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright 2023, Crosswalk.com. Grove Archaeologists have been able to take a closer look at one of the United Kingdoms most famous shipwrecks. We see her worship in the form of a tree and right next to the altar. Who Is Asherah in the Bible? what does an asherah pole look like Yet increasingly, Asherahs influence in the region is becoming recognized by archaeologists and historians alike, with the expectation of further scrutiny and scholarship to come in this area. 7 Things I Would Do Differently if I Were Raising My Children California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Canaanites associated Asherah with sacred trees, an association also found in the Israelite tradition. I can go to the Temple and look like I'm really somebody in the community. From torch to toe the Statue of Liberty resembles a pole. The Statue of Liberty is an Asherah Pole He cut down her obscene pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley (1 Kings 15:1213, NLT; see also 2 Chronicles 15:16). Or perhaps the more fundamental question iswhat in the world is an Asherah pole? One of the primary reasons Israel fell to the Assyrians was because of Gods anger over their worship of Asherah and Baal (2 Kings 17:523). Article Images Copyright . What, then, was an Asherah pole? of Biblical Literature 112 (1993): 385401. Fairchild, Mary. In a world beset by hardship and drought, likely a concern for fecundity was what attracted the rural Israelites and Judeans to the goddess Asherah, whom they associated with abundance. Are the Misty Peaks of the Azores Remnants of the Legendary Atlantis? The mention of these deities in the plural may indicate that each locality had its Baal and Asherah. Yet even in these earlier materials, we sometimes see evidence of a phenomenon that comes to dominate in the exilic period: the impulse to assimilate the attributes of the many gods and goddesses of older polytheistic systems to the one god, YHWH. But the gospel teaches something different. Not only was the queen mothers position in the palace generally paralleled by Asherahs position as mother goddess in the heavens, but also the queen mothers status as the wife of the kings father suggests an affinity to Asherahs cult. This is one of the helpful points that the Puritan John Owen made in his work The Mortification of Sin. (2Ch 33:11-13, 15, 21-23) This made it necessary for righteous King Josiah, who succeeded Amon to the throne, to pull down the houses of the male temple prostitutes that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women were weaving tent shrines for the sacred pole.2Ki 23:4-7. First Person: Did the Kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon Actually Exist? I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds, about 7,500-year-old Juniper Stump Is Believed Oldest Goddess Asherah Idol, about Tracing The Footprints Of The Philistines To Minoan Knossos On Crete, about The Resurrection of Asherah, Mother-Goddess of Humankind, about Goddess NinkharsagAncient Powerful Mother who Faded into The Holy Ghost, about Unravelling the Roots of Hera, the Wrathful Goddess of Marriage, Dizzying Inca Rope Bridges Were Grass-Made Marvels of Engineering. AtAncient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. The 4.What Is an Asherah Pole and Does it Have Biblical Significance? And the history that we see of the Asherah pole is fitting for our own battle with idolatry. By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. What does asherah pole mean? Literacy was close to non-existent in the rural communities, thus the book religion as practiced in the cities would have little meaning in the lives of those inhabiting the outlying areas. You so want to say God (Yaweh) had a wife. What we see with the new covenant is that God changes our hearts. I will tell your enemies to take you as captives to a foreign land. The degraded worship of Asherah came to be practiced in the very temple of Jehovah. It was closely associated with the worship of Baal: The Israelites did evil in the LORDs sight. The Queen Mother and the Cult in Ancient Israel. Journal : ]. The Wikipedia page on Khirbet el-Qom is about one of the sites where a reference to Yahweh and His Asherah was found in a double tomb near Hebron and the account of Abraham purchasing the Cave of Machpelah (Genesis 23:9) or the Cave of the Two Tombs that was for Sarah (who was possibly a priestess of the moon god Sin), was given a connection to the first ancestors in the book of Zohar: However, we need to understand that they were committing their idolatry in private. Before Israel entered and took possession of the promised land, God warned them not to worship Canaans gods (Deuteronomy 6:14-15). She is most commonly depicted as a carved wooden image rather than by a proper name, which is why the Bible usually mentions her in the grammatical form as either an adjective or a noun (compare 2 Kings 23:6 vs. Scripture also references carved images of Asherah (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 21:7). Root them out of the land. We will consider what/who is Asherah and the significant role it plays within the biblical narrative. Her principal epithet was probably She Who Walks on the Sea.. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made an obscene Asherah pole. Many scholars believe that Asherahs tree functioned in the Garden of Eden parable. This is because southern royal ideology typically described the kings metaphorical father as YHWH. God says that their wickedness was the same as sticking that idol (and what they were doing) right in His noseright in His face. Either way, God made it clear that the people of Israel shouldnt flirt with such syncretism. Hence the woman being proclaimed as the Hurrian goddess Hepa, Heba, Heva, or Eve, the mother of all living (hai) (Genesis 3:20), that is also Eywa, the mother creation goddess in the film Avatar. Asherah And Ahab made an Asherah. When I read that verse my first instinct is to say, I sure hope he had a tissue. Is an Asherah a good thing, or a bad thing? what does an asherah pole look like Let us be your passport to Laos and much more. In 1 Kings 14, we see that Jeroboam and his followers would be judged by the Lord because they have made their Asherim, provoking the LORD to anger. The same judgment would befall Maacah, the mother of Asa, because she had made an abominable image for Asherah. And nowhow much close can be Yahweh to Baal ? But there is more than removal of idols (more than keeping yourself from temptation) that must take place if real holiness and dedication are to be the result. Canaanite goddess Asherah, 13th century BCE. The bible itself denounced the Israelites several times for their polytheistic tendencies they worshipped the idols left by both Gideon and Moses (Moses brazen serpent), An article on the slow change among the Israelites going from saying, "Our god is the best god" to "Our god is the only god" would probably go well with this one, There is a footnote on the explanation of this thesis. | The Word Ministries, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_09825.html, http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200273085, http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200270520, http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/asherah-and-the-asherim-god…, http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduanna.html, http://www.transoxiana.org/0108/roberts-enheduana.html. ], the goddess Asherah) or his asherah (meaning YHWHs sacred pole that represents the goddess Asherah and that sits in his temple or beside his altar). Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. See what over 150,000 subscribers are already receiving each day. They are not the last word, only the Bible . The presence of Asherahs cult in Israel also raises questions about the nature of the monotheistic confession that is often assumed to be a core principle in Israelite faith. ( Public Domain ), Whereas Asherahs influence was restrained in the official religion, her presence loomed large in the rural communities, most often in the form of figurines which are prolific in the region. So I will hand over my holy mountainalong with all your wealth and treasures and your pagan shrinesas plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land. That's all I have for now this was a very exciting Article to read thanks for Posting it much appreciated. (Ex 34:13; De 12:3) They may have simply been uncarved poles, perhaps even trees in some instances, for Gods people were instructed: You must not plant for yourself any sort of tree as a sacred pole.De 16:21.