Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

MEYEIlS:WIlERETilEGIIlLSARE 45

bythem.Suchbehaviorstypicallysurroundpregnancy,labor,andbirth;

theyaremeanttoachievefertility(andthustherearesomeprocedures

prescribedformen aswelD,ensurehe:ollthygestationanddelivery,and

sennelaUalioll<-lnd prutL:UlIL:wburns.Theritualsofhumanreprodu<.:-

tionmayindeedbethemostcommonofwomen'sreligiousbehaviors

andprobablytheleaststudied,perhapsbecau!)eoftheircharacteristic

atextuality,3O

Preciselybecausewomen'sreligiousculture involvesactivitiesand

thusalmostcertainlyobjects,it canbeinvestigatedbyconsideringarchae-

ologicallyrecoveredartifacts, byconsultingethnographicdata, andby

attendingtoa fewallusions in biblical texts, Before looking:ott these

sourcesofinformation, Jwanttoemphasizethat Jamnot particularly

concernedwithwhethertheritualbehaviorsI identifywerepartofthe

worshipofYahweh,Asherah,otherdeities,orsomecombinationthereof.

Itismoreimportanttoacknowledgetheexistenceofritualpracticessur-

rounding reproduction and 10 consider their dynamics, Indeed, the

behaviorsassociatedwithwomen'sreligiousculture,apartfromwhatever

meanings were attached to them or to whatever deities they were

directed,wereconservativeand probablyremained relatively constant

throughouttheIronAgeandbeyond,whatevertheidentityofthedeityor

deities 10 whichtheyweredirected.Theconservativenatureofsuch"folk

religion" means that ethnographic evidence gathered from traditional

MiddleEasternsocietiesbynineteenth-andearlytwentieth-centurytrJvel-

ersislikelytoberelevanL51

Thearchaeologicalremainsthatcanmostdirectlyheassociatedwith

ritualsoffemalereproductionarciconogr:lphic,namely,thesmallterra·

cotta figurinesrepresentingwomenin some stageofthereproductive

process,Sometimestheyarccalled"pillarfigurines,"atermpreferableto

thedesignation Astal1eorAsherahfigUrines, bothofwhich makethe

assumption,perhapsunwarranted,Ihattheseobjectsweremeanttorep-

resentcertainfemaledeitiesratherthantheirworshipers,Idonotruleout

thepossibilitythattheysymbolizegoddesses,but,intheabsenceofclear

markingsdenotingadivinity,thepossibilitythattheseareVOlaryobjects

representingwomenstrivingforfertility,safepregnancyandbirth,and/or

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