126 i Flora Unveiled
his mother Maacah because she had made an “abominable image” of Asherah, and 1 Kings
18:19 makes mention of 400 prophets of Asherah who dine at Jezebel's table. Significantly,
a fragment of a jar was found in the Sinai desert dating to the eighth century bce site bear-
ing the inscription, “I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah.”^80 This and
other archaeological findings strongly suggest that Asherah was originally worshipped as
the wife of Yahweh and can therefore be characterized as a co- Creator and Mother Goddess
whose attributes were deliberately omitted from the canonical texts of the Bible. Evidence
for the association of Asherah with grain and probably wine appears in Jeremiah, wherein
the prophet denounces the Hebrew women who “knead their dough to make cakes to the
Queen of Heaven” ( Jeremiah 7:18), and the women defiantly declare that they will con-
tinue to make these “sacrificial cakes in her image” and “pour out drink offerings to her”
( Jeremiah 44:19) with the full knowledge and support of their husbands.^81
Like Inanna/ Ishtar, Asherah was called the “Queen of Heaven” by the ancient Israelites.
She was also closely associated with trees. The word Asherah was used to denote the sacred
tree or pole located next to her shrine. In Deuteronomy 16:21, God is said to have disap-
proved of Asherahs, whether they consisted of poles ("Do not set up any [wooden] Asherah
[pole] beside the altar you build to the Lord your God") or of living trees ("You shall not
plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God which you shall make”).
Nevertheless, at least one monarch, King Manasseh, placed an Asherah pole in the Holy
Temple (2 Kings 21:7). Sacred poles and pillars probably represent stylized date palms.
Indeed, the prophetess Deborah held court and dispensed justice under her own sacred
palm tree:
At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. She used
to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of
Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.^82Agricultural goddesses from Persian polytheistic religions from about the same
period were incorporated into another great monotheistic religion from the Near East.
Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastriansim in ancient Persia, is traditionally dated from the
late seventh century to the mid- sixth century bce, but the roots of the religion are prob-
ably much older. According to Zoroastrian cosmology, one Creator god, Ahuramazda,
rules over the universe. However, Zoroaster also retained elements from earlier polythe-
istic religions in the form of a hierarchy of lesser divinities. Chief among these are the
Amesha Spentas, or archangels. The female archangel Ameretat personifies immortality.
She is also closely associated with plants and is regarded as their protector. According to
a tradition written down in the twelfth century ce, when the earth was young, a demon
caused the primordial plant to wither. Ameretat crushed the dried plant and mixed it
with water. The rain god then spread the pulp— the life force of plants— over the earth,
causing plants to sprout up. The story can be viewed on one level as an allegory of agri-
culture in general and vegetative propagation in particular. The association of Ameretat
with both plants and immortality thus connects her to a widespread agricultural/ reli-
gious complex. The Persian pantheon also included the goddess, Azarvan, a protectress of
date palm trees. Zoroastrianism remained the dominant religion in Persia until 633 ad,