IL Archive The name that crossed millennia
EN

Independent research archive Texts · Ideas · Civilizations

Menu

Entity · Concept

Asherah cult symbol

A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.

Asherah as a cult object or symbol, often wooden in biblical contexts; relation to the goddess and inscriptional ʾšrth remains debated.

Modern distinction between goddess, ritual term and inscription reading. No invented excavated wooden pole; symbol and goddess not always mutually exclusive
Modern distinction between goddess, ritual term and inscription reading. No invented excavated wooden pole; symbol and goddess not always mutually exclusiveIL Archive · original diagram · CC BYImage source

Text

Biblical cutting, burning and removal verbs establish object usage in some contexts. A symbol may also relate to the goddess’s history; an object reading does not automatically deny all such links. [1]

For “YahwehYahwehThe divine proper name written YHWH in the Hebrew Bible.Glossary · Click to read the explanation and his asherah,” scholars discuss symbol, consort and other readings. The wording and its referent must be distinguished; a tree image alone does not establish an asherah. [1][2]

References and notes

  1. Judith M. Hadley. Evidence for Asherah. Bible Interp, 2008. Read sections on Athirat, Kuntillet ʿAjrud/el-Qom inscriptions, drawings, figurines, biblical terminology and reform. Hadley favours a wooden symbol representing the goddess; not attributed an exclusively wife-based interpretation. Reported disagreements not treated as consensus. Return to the text ↑
  2. Émile Puech. L’inscription 3 de Khirbet el-Qôm revisitée et l’Ashérah. Revue Biblique 122 (2015), 5–25. DOI: 10.2143/RBI.122.1.3149557. Publisher abstract only: ʾšrh as shrine. Full revised decipherment not evaluated or presented as consensus. Return to the text ↑

Research history

Substantive changes are retained here. Minor copy edits remain in the internal operational log.

  1. Edition 2 · 11 October 2026 · editor:aladmin

    Substantive record update

    Read this revision in its original language (Arabic)

Suggest a correction · Suggest a source for this record

Cite this record

IL Archive, «Asherah cult symbol», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/asherah-cult-symbol