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
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.
Proffering vegetation, the Hebrew Mother Goddess Asherah personifies the vital life forces of nature in her aspect as a Vegetative Prosperity Goddess on this clay plaque.
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.
-History’s Vanquished Goddess Asherah
"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 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.
-History’s Vanquished Goddess Asherah
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.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/finds-in-israel-add-weight-to-the…
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,sacred tree fonts and a dove), this double-throne, temple model shrine attests to worship of Asherah and a companion deity.
-History’s Vanquished Goddess Asherah