IAROCCA-I'l"IT:-;:""l1IESEAI{EYOllllGODS, 0 ISRAEL" 57mighthavebeenerectedasawitnesstothepresenceofworshipers,and
thustheymightservetostandforeverinthepresenceofthegodinthe
worshipers'stead,
Anotherubiqllitoll:>thl:oll:ticala:>:>lI111ptiunaboLltanLil:nlbradill:rdi-
gionwasthatitpositioneditselfinoppositiontoathoroughgoingfertility
cultpracticedbytheCanaanites.Insuchareconstruction,Canaanitereli-
gionisinterestedinliuleelsebutissuesrelatedtosexualityandfertility.
Thus,anypre-Israeliteritualobjectsuncoveredwouldbelinkedsomehow
toareconstructionofCanaanitereligionfocusedsolelyonfertilityissues.
AnyIsraelitc-erJrCll13insuncoveredthathadfcaturesthatresembledthosc
oneexpectedtofindinafertilitycultwerelabeledexamplesofunortho-
doxorsyncretisticworshipbyerrantIsraelites.
ThenotionthatIsraeliterdigionpositioneditselfinoppositiontoa
thoroughgoingfertilitycultcangenerateseveralerrors,Thebroadercul-
lUre ofancient"Canaan"(which we areable toswdy from primary
sourcesuncoveredat RasShamra)continuestobereducedtothecari-
cature of religion presented by the anti-Canaanite polemics in the
biblicaltext.ThisprojectionofafixationwithfertilityontotheCanaan-
itesexclusivelyobscuresthefactthatancientIsraeliteswerealsoquite
concernedwithfertilityissues.Therearefigurines(knownaspillarfig-
urines')) {hat appear to be images of Asherah, a mothergoddess
worshipedinbothIsraelandCanaan.found throughouttheIronAge
strataofIsraelitesites.^6
HowTOAVOIDPITFALLI:LETTilEAlflll'ACTSSPEAK
FOil.TIlEM-;EI.VE,.\""lllIOt'TU'\'DO]Vll'RI'Il.ETATIO'\'PerhapscominglOtheanifactswith,I theoryalreadyinplace was
simplyanaccidentofthefactthatmostbiblical,Irch;leologistsbeganfirst
asscholarsofthetextandbecamearchaeologistslater,Asmoreandmore
scholarscometothearclueologicaldatafirst andtotheoriesabout the
natureofancienlreligionsecond.wemaybe~lblctoavoidthispitfall.This
isnotcertain,however.Somescholarswhoseprimary(rainingis 10 archac-
ologyare lesscritical than Iheymight beofolderscholarshipon the
phenomenologyofreligionandarecurrentlyresurrecting,perhapsunwit-
tingly,certainofthesesamelargelyunsupportabletheoriesforanewera
')Ihid..500.fiR.IUS
6 Um"tophUchlll1Rcr."Amhropomorphl(Lult~utuaryInImnAReJ'ale~t1ncandthe
Se:m:hforYahweh'sCult1111;lge~:in71J£'11II(j~/!a/ldI'M!jJook:Ico/licCII/IS,Anico/lism.and
IIJeRiseofBookReIiRi()//illIsmdamitbeAl/cil'l/ISeal'H(N.Ct-d K.vanderToom:l.euven:
PeCler".199~).122.