EL was the name of the original god of Israel
In the Bronze Age El was chief of the deities
El, the mighty creator god
The Bible preserves the Canaanite name El
EL epithets in Genesis derive from worship of the Canaanite god
A number of divine names designated the high god, El
The name of “Israel” is an El name, not Yahwistic
The personal name Israel suggests EL was their chief god
Patriarchs worshipped the Canaanite God, El
Early personal names commonly included the name El
El names proliferated in the older narratives
The Hebrew word אשרה] asherah] appears 40 times in the Hebrew Scriptures
Asherah is used as a proper name at several places in the Hebrew Scriptures,.
Asherah was known throughout the region and in the Hebrew Scriptures as a
goddess
Asherah was the consort of EL and mother of 70 sons, all gods
The goddess Asherah had her own prophets
The term Asherah relates to a common religious object, tree
Asherah was the name of a goddess and of an upright wooden object, tree
The cult of the Canaanite mother-goddess Asherah penetrated the Hebrew religion
Their belief in Asherah and service of her was enormously significant for the
Hebrews
Asherah, an abomination to the Yahwists, provided strong emotional gratification for six centuries to the Hebrew people
Elijah challenged only the prophets of Baal, not the prophets of Asherah
The city of Samaria became the center of the Asherah cult, while Beth-el and Dan were centers of the Yahweh cult
For almost two-thirds of the temple’s existence, the statue of Asherah was present in the Temple
Manasseh restored Asherah into the Jerusalem temple
The cult for Asherah was conducted by some within the Davidic dynasty
Sections of the community worshipped several goddesses
Female figurines suggest an association with a goddess or goddesses
The term pantheon denotes the collection of deities in the divine realm.
EL was the head of the pantheon.
‘Aṯiratu (Hebrew: Asherah) was El’s wife.
They had 70 children, all were gods.
Elohim’s creative activity in Genesis 1 originally reflected the divine council or the divine couple El and Asherah.
The Divine Council was headed by El, never by Yahweh
The term ‘Asherah refers to the Goddess herself, not merely to a “symbol”
Asherah is the consort of El
Asherah figures prominently as the wife of El, the chief god
Asherah, El’s consort is the mother of the gods
The worship of Asherah was likely popular in ancient Israel
Images of Asherah were placed in the major cities
Statues of Asherah were frequently erected, normally in Jerusalem
Goddesses Asherah, Astarte, and Anath adopted the Hebrews
Asherah, the “Queen of Heaven” worship appears to have been, and is a “family” religion
People blamed famine and disaster on the Queen of Heaven, Asherah not being worshipped
Jer 44.18 may give evidence to the fact that all cults except Yahweh’s were discontinued during the
siege of Jerusalem in 587/586 B.C.:
“From the time we left off burning sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pouring drink-offerings to her, we have been in great want, and in the end we have fallen victims to sword and famine”
protest the people whom Jeremiah tries to convince of the Yahweh-alone idea. (Lang (1983), 34)
El-Asherah, the God of Abraham, rises from the ashes of time to uplift the world.