God Had A Wife

[David Morris]

Also significant, Stavrakopoulou believes, "is the Bible's admission
that the goddess Asherah was worshiped in Yahweh's Temple in
Jerusalem. In the Book of Kings, we're told that a statue of Asherah
was housed in the temple and that female temple personnel wove ritual
textiles for her."

J. Edward Wright, president of both The Arizona Center for Judaic
Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, told
Discovery News that he agrees several Hebrew inscriptions mention
"Yahweh and his Asherah."

J. Edward Wright, president of both The Arizona Center for Judaic
Studies and The Albright Institute for Archaeological Research, told
Discovery News that he agrees several Hebrew inscriptions mention
"Yahweh and his Asherah."

"Asherah was not entirely edited out of the Bible by its male
editors," he added. "Traces of her remain, and based on those traces,
archaeological evidence and references to her in texts from nations
bordering Israel and Judah, we can reconstruct her role in the
religions of the Southern Levant."

Asherah -- known across the ancient Near East by various other names,
such as Astarte and Istar -- was "an important deity, one who was both
mighty and nurturing," Wright continued.

"Many English translations prefer to translate 'Asherah' as 'Sacred
Tree,'" Wright said. "This seems to be in part driven by a modern
desire, clearly inspired by the Biblical narratives, to hide Asherah
behind a veil once again."