Asherah: “Was God’s Wife Edited Out of the Bible” - Discovery News
"Was God's Wife Edited Out of the Bible?"
Discovery News explores this question at http://news.discovery.com/history/religion/god-wife-yahweh-asherah-110318.htm
Asherah as Queen of Heaven
"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 in the streets of Jerusalem." - Biblical text, Jeremiah 44:17-18.
Asherah as Hebrew Semitic Mother Goddess
Asherah, the Hebrew Semitic Mother Goddess who appears in Akkadian writings as Ashratum/Ashratu and Hittite as Asherdu and Ugaritic Athirat.
She is the wife/consort of Sumerian Anu or Ugaritic El, the oldest deities in the pantheons. Allat is "goddess par excellence".
In book of Jeremiah (628 BC) calls her queen of heaven. In Ugaritic texts (1200 BCE) she is 'lady of the sea'."
Photo and quote from en.wikipedia.org
Asherah haElah - 'Asherah, the Goddess’ reconstructs the original Hebrew text of Proverbs 31:28
~ Asherah haElah ~
" ' Asherah, the Goddess', is a short movie which presents a conjectural reconstruction of the original Hebrew text of Proverbs 31:28.
One of the most common methods which was used by the priestly editors of the Tanakh (the basis of "the Old Testament") in order to obfuscate all traces of earlier polytheistic tradition was to replace words which they intended to suppress with others that had similar-sounding syllables. . . .
The memory of Asherah was never fully erased from Jewish mystical tradition.
It resurfaces in Qabalistic works such as the Pardes Rimmonim ("The Orchard of Pomegranates") and the Book of Zohar as one of the earliest names of the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit who is the Bride of God.
The Shekinah is still invoked in Sabbath hymns which contain the chorus of "Bo-i Kallah, Shekinah" (come to us, O Bride, Shekinah)."
Photo and quote from http://vimeo.com/9256708
Masmiyeh plaque of Asherah as Vegetative Goddess
Vegetation was a matter of live or death in ancient cultures, your family lived or perished dependent upon a bountiful vegetation season. Blessings offered through the goddess were essential.
Stylistically similar to, and identified with, the Egyptian goddess Qds, this plaque is one of hundreds discovered in the Syro-Palestinian corridor.
This Masmiyeh plaque dates to ~1500-1150 BCE.
"Why the BBC's new face of religion believes God had a WIFE"
Kuntillet Ajrud's "ceramic inscription that suggests ancient Israelites worshipped a God AND Goddess in the same temple." -Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363113/Why-BBCs-new-face-religion-believes-God-WIFE.html
Asherah - 40 times in the 9 Bible books
This informative presentation encapsulates several dimensions of the Asherah-as-YHWH's-wife controversy.
A Doctor of Theology and a pastor, Andrew Stehlik discusses archaeology, biblical religion, Asherah
in Ugarit's religious texts, Khirbet el-Qom, Kuntillet Ajrud, Asherah
iconography, Asherah in the Bible, Asherah as Lady Wisdom and biblical
divine androgyny.
Through his analysis of this historical data,
Stehlik describes the evolution of Asherah and YHWH as a divine couple
prior to the rise of monotheism.
Dr. Stehlik’s analysis can be found at http://andrewstehlik.blogspot.com/2012/03/did-yhwh-have-wife.html
Asherah as Vegetative Prosperity Goddess
Holding vegetative stalks, a crowned Asherah stands atop her signature lion on this bronze plaque/pendant.
Dating to ~1300 BCE, this is a depiction of Asherah in her aspect as Qds, a Vegetative Prosperity Goddess. See Facebook for a detailed analysis of this bronze pendant.
Finds in Israel add weight to theory God “had wife”
Female figurines and inscribed prayers to a "divine couple" found in temples in Israel suggest that the “one God” of the Bible may not have been entirely alone.
A find by Jerusalem at Tel Motza, "suggests that Iron Age religion in the area around Jerusalem may not have been monotheistic just before the time the Hebrew Bible – the basis of the Old Testament - started to be written."
Double-Throned Temple Shrine of Asherah and ???(Someone!)
According to both the Bible and archaeology, the ancient Jews and early Christians worshipped a Mother God alongside Father God.
Framed by epiphanies of Asherah (lions and a dove), this double-throne, temple model shrine attests to Asherah worship alongside another deity.