Women’s Worship of Asherah:
The primary source of information regarding the cult of YHWH and the worship of the ancient Israelites is still the Bible. However, the text does not include essential details concerning women’s religious activities. The authors typically denigrate women’s worship and acts of devotion that are described. The Bible does not venerate women’s worship; nevertheless, a close reading of specific passages provides many clues to the queen mothers’ cultic obligations in Judah’s kingdom. According to Ackerman, “…the queen mother did have an official responsibility in Israelite religion: it was to devote herself to the cult of the mother goddess Asherah within the king’s court…the queen mother’s devotions to Asherah stand behind and are fundamental to the role accorded to her in matters of succession”[1]. There is evidence that at least four of Israel’s queen mothers were part of Asherah’s cult and that their worship of her was one of their central roles in the royal court.
The queen mother Ma’acah, mother-in-law of Jezebel, is described as worshipping the goddess Asherah and making a cultic statue for her in 1Kgs 15:13[2]. Whether Jezebel devoted herself to the cult of Asherah as entirely as Ma’acah did is still in question. However, there is sufficient evidence to support the belief that Jezebel was an active participant in Asherah’s cult. Jezebel is most noted in the Bible for her worship of the Canaanite god Baal. Still, she likely participated in Asherah’s cult while Ahab’s queen as part of her marital responsibilities and as part of her obligation to the state. We can speculate that Jezebel continued to participate in the cult after Ahab’s death when she became the queen mother[3].
Athaliah, the daughter of Judah and Jezebel, who served as queen regent, was also a possible Asherah follower. Athaliah is believed to have been responsible for the building of a temple to Baal in Judah. If this is the case, then we can presume that Athaliah also aligned herself with other cults that her mother followed. Since Asherah’s worship was a standard part of Yahwistic devotion, we can assume that Athaliah would have been a follower of Asherah as the queen mother. The final queen mother who may have been a participant in Asherah’s cult was Nehushta, Jehoiachin’s mother. Nehushta’s name nehusta’ is most likely derived from the root nahas meaning “serpent.” Also, “…as the ‘serpent lady,’ the gebira Nehushta bears, I would suggest, an epithet of Asherah, whose associations with snakes[4] are attested to in multiple sources.” With numerous sources linking Asherah and serpents, it is very likely that Nehushta, like Ma’acah, Jezebel, and Athaliah, was a devotee of Asherah.
In Judean royal ideology, YHWH was believed to be the king’s adopted father; so, if Asherah was considered the consort of YHWH in the state and popular cult, it follows that Asherah was believed to be his adopted mother. Ackerman acknowledges that the language of divine adoption implies that YHWH is a surrogate father and that Asherah was a surrogate mother. If the queen mother was perceived to be the earthly counterpart to Asherah, she might have been considered the human representative or surrogate of Asherah.
Such a direct correspondence would explain why those queen mothers in the Bible who are described as having cultic allegiances are depicted to be patronesses of the goddess Asherah. It would be appropriate for these queen mothers to devote themselves to their divine alter-ego. In Judah’s royal ideology, it might have been part of their cultic obligation to the country. It may even have been necessary for the queen mother to make this association because “…if the queen mother is considered the human representative of Asherah in the royal court, she should be able to legitimate her son’s claim to be the adopted son of YHWH. Indeed, the queen-mother, speaking as the goddess and as YHWH’s consort, is uniquely qualified to attest to her son’s divine adoption”[5].
Asherah worship was common among the everyday people of Judah as well. In Jeremiah 14:15-25, the prophet admonishes the people for their worship of Asherah. The men reply, “We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time, we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine” (Jer. 14:17-18). The women then respond, “When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?” (Jer. 14:1). Asherah’s role in YHWH’s cult lasted for several centuries, but eventually, the people turned to a more monotheistic belief system.
The Shift Toward Monotheism:
Beginning in Exodus and continuing through Joshua and 2Kings, we see more challenges to alternative divine figures by the ancient Israelites. The different prophets called people away from other gods’ worship, and the Biblical kings are labeled as good or evil based upon their devotion and loyalty to YHWH. In 622 BCE, Josiah’s reforms demonstrate how idolatry had become common in the southern kingdom, even entering the temple precincts and the temple prayers[6]. Josiah is written to have removed Asherah’s vessels as part of her sacrificial cult
from the Temple in Jerusalem. He also and tore down the structures within the Temple compound where women wove garments to be draped over Asherah’s cult statue[7].
The removal of Asherah from the lives of the ancient Israelites, like all significant religious reforms, resulted from great upheavals in the people’s lives. In 722 BCE, Judah’s northern kingdom fell, and the southern kingdom followed in 587 BCE. The prophets and religious leaders believed that YHWH punishes Israel’s people for their idolatry, so they needed to identify the idolatry that offended him and remove it. Smith wrote that “A radical event like the exile to Babylon inspired a radical reading of Israel’s religious history.” Asherah became foreign for two reasons: first, she became associated with a Canaanite goddess of the same name. Second, over time the Israelite goddess Asherah had become associated with Baal in the royal cults of Samaria and Jerusalem[8]. So, Asherah became a foreign goddess in two ways, both of which associated her with Israel’s enemies.
Conclusion:
For centuries women in Christian faiths have struggled with their collective role as the irredeemable sin-eaters for humanity. From an early age, women were told that they had brought the first sin into the world and were responsible for the lustful behavior that turned men away from YHWH. Because of this shaming, there were few places in the Bible where women could find solace. This was in the stories of women such as Ruth, Sarah, and Mary. These were biblical women who had done what was asked of them by the husbands and YHWH and were venerated for obeying. For centuries, there was an influential female figure hidden in the Bible just waiting to be discovered by female worshippers.
Today, scholars of the Bible continually work on direct translations from the original text, uncovering more of YHWH’s ancient followers’ history. We also have archaeological evidence that points to joint worship among the ancient Israelites of YHWH and Asherah. This evidence has been widely translated and is easily found online, in magazines, or in books. Biblical scholarship has also changed in the intervening centuries; today, many scholars approach the Bible not as the absolute, unchanging word of G**, but rather as a piece of important literature collected and refined over millennia by many different cultures. Added to all this scholarship is a much higher literacy rate among laypeople and especially women.
These significant scholarships and literacy changes have made it possible for successive generations of scholars and women to find and embrace YHWH’s new co-deity from the long past. There is now a feminine consort to YHWH, described in the Bible and attested to in non-biblical sources. I can only wonder what Christianity and Judaism would look like today if Asherah had continued to be venerated. If the men in Jerimiah had instructed their wives to worship Asherah, make cakes as offerings, and burn incense asking for her help and protection.
I wonder if Asherah had not been scrubbed from the faith and the texts if today the Queen of Heaven would still be worshipped and praised? If Asherah had remained part of the Israelite religion, I do not doubt that she would today be part of Judaism. However, I do not believe that she would be part of Christianity.
Christianity is, to my mind, a much more patriarchal religious system. There were debates among Christian scholars for centuries if Mary could be venerated as Christ’s mother or if she was just an incubator for the Divine. The Gospels clearly show that the most loyal followers of Christ were women. Yet, Church teachings barred women from leadership positions or missionary work beyond being locked in a convent for centuries. Given this context, I do not doubt that Asherah’s worship would have been labeled as sinful and punished. She would have become one more reason to attack the faith of the Jews as separate from Christianity.
I believe that continued analysis of the Bible and non-biblical textual sources will continue to illuminate women’s worship in ancient times and goddesses’ influence on ancient people. Through this continued scholarship, women will find a deeper spiritual connection to this divine mother. She came from that long past of ancient Mesopotamia and made her way, however secretly, into two of the three major world faiths.
(End of the Essay)
(Meet Mago Contributor) Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.
[1] Ackerman, 1993. “The Queen Mother” p. 388.
[2] 1Kings 15:13 He also deposed his mother Ma’acah from the rank of queen mother because she had made an abominable thing for the goddess Asherah. Asa cut down her abominable thing and burnt it in the Wadi Kidron.
[3]Ackerman, 1993. “The Queen Mother”
[4] 2Kings 18:4 He abolished the shrines and smashed the pillars and cut down the sacred post. He also broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until that time the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to it; it was called the Nehushtan
[5] Ackerman, 1993. “The Queen Mother” p. 401
[6] Wenthe, 2009. “From creation to consummation”
[7] 2Kgs 23:7 He tore down the cubicles of the male prostitutes and in the House of the LORD, at the place where he women wove coverings for Asherah.
[8] Ibid.
Thank you for this very informative post. I learned a lot! I think a lot about what our world would be like if female deities had continued to be part of what are now monotheistic male-focused religions. Your thoughts on this are fascinating! I wonder if by considering what these religions might have looked like with development of female deities we can better envision a better and more balanced world.
Thank you Carolyn. I am also fascinated by these cultures because of their use of herbs and medicines to heal rather than making offerings to a deity as the only way to get a cure. It really shows their understanding of nature and the links between sickness and the body.