Jewish Studies Commons^™

Evidence For The Role Of Asherah In Israelite Religion, Taylor Thomas

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

In the early days of Israelite religion, cultic practices and icon worship were common. One example of such practice involves the term asherah. In the Ancient Near East, asherah referred to a sacred object crafted from wood that was located near places of religious gathering. It is also possible that the term asherah is a reference to the ancient goddess Astarte worshipped by Ugaritic cultures. A third possibility, evidenced by the tendency of cultures of the ancient Near East to have little to no separation between deities and their physical representations and the non-static nature of religion, is that the …