இஸ்ரேலியரின் தெய்வம் யகோவா கர்த்தரின் மனைவி நீக்கியது யார்

இஸ்ரேலின் தொல்லியல் அகழாய்வுகள்படி இஸ்ரேலியர் தாய் தெய்வ வழிபாடு இயற்கை வழிபாடு கொண்டவர்களாக பொமு 6ம் நூற்றாண்டு வரையிலும் வாழ்ந்தனர் என்பது 1000க்கும் அதிகமான பெண் தெய்வ சிலை கிடைத்துள்ளது தெளிவாக காட்டுகிறது 

நீதிமொழிகள்: 29:26 . தன் இருதயத்தை நம்புகிறவன் மூடன்; ஞானமாய் நடக்கிறவனோ இரட்சிக்கப்படுவான்.

 ஜெருசலேமில் பொமு 700  லாகீஸ் பொமு 600 வாக்கிலான யாவே- கர்த்தர் மனைவி சுடுமண் சிற்பங்கள்

ஜெருசலேம் மற்றும் லாகீசு

 

ஜெருசலேம் பொமு 700 -அகழாய்வில்  வயிறு, பெரிய கொங்கைகள் சுடுமண் சிற்பங்கள் செழிப்பை தருவாள் எனும் பழைய நாடோடி வேட்டைக் கூட்டத்தை காட்டுகிறது 

பொமு 700 வாக்கிலான இடுகாட்டு கல்வெட்டில் யாவேயும் அவரது அஷேராவும் என மிகத் தெளிவாக கிடைத்துள்ளது

Burial inscription from Khirbet el-Quom, 8th cent. BC., Museum of Israel. Inscription: Uriyahu the prince wrote it: Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and his Asherah, for from his enemies he has saved him." (Nick Thompson/ CC BY NC SA 2.0 )

தொல்லியல் ஆய்வுகள்படி இஸ்ரேலியர் தாய் தெய்வ வழிபாடு செய்து வந்தனர் என்பது அங்கு கிடைத்த 1000க்கும் மேற்பட்ட யாவே தெய்வத்தின் மனைவின் எனும் அஷேரா உருவங்கள் காட்டும்.

  

ரோம் காலம் முன்பு இஸ்ரேலில் நாடோடி, வேட்டை, ஆடு மேய்க்கும் கூட்டமாக நாகரீகம் வளர்ச்சியில்லா சமூகம் 

 

கிரேக்கர் காலம் முன்புவரை நாகரீக வளர்ச்சி இல்லாத நாடோடிகளாய் வேட்டை ஆடல், ஆடு மேய்த்தல் போன்ற தொழில் செய்து வாழ்ந்தனர், எந்த ஒரு பெரு நகரமோ, நாகரீகமான கட்டுமானமோ இருந்தமைக்கு தொல்லியல் சான்றுகள் இல்லை. 

 Bible As Literature, Oxford University Press, written by 3 Professors John.A.Gabel, Charles B.Wheelr and Antony.D.York.

The small Corner of the Eastern Mediterranean, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it take up only Lower Third of that coast- particularly speaking was the Whole World to them.

Page-77

எபிரேயர்கள் அந்த சிறிய பாலைவன நாட்டை தங்கள் புராணக் கதையில் புனையப்பட்ட தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட நாடு, மக்கள் என்பதை அப்படியே ஏற்று அந்த சிறு பகுதியில் வாழ்ந்தனர். அந்தக் கடற்கரையேரப் பகுதியின் சிறு பகுதியே அவர்கட்கு முழு உலகமும்.

images

With Just a Few Exceptions, No Canaanite Or Israelite City before the Roman Period occupied more area than that of an American University Football Stadium, most Villages were hardly bigger than the Playing Field itself. King’ David’s Jerusalem is estimated to have measured about 300 x 1300 foot. Inside the City-walls houses would be crammed together according to no particular pattern, leaving room for Passages but not for Streets. Before the Greek Period there were no Public Building of the Kind that we take for granted, provided by the Municipal Government.

Pages- 87,88

ஒரு சில தவிற கானானிய அல்லது இஸ்ரேலின் எந்த ஒரு நகரமும் ரோமன் எகாதிபத்த்ய ஆட்சிக்குக் கீழ் (பொ.ச.மு.63) வரும் முன்பு ஒரு அமெரிக்க கால்பந்து மைதான அளவு தான் இருந்தது. கிராமங்கள் கால்பந்து விளையாடும் பகுதி மட்டும் தான். தாவிதின் ஜெருசலேம் என்பது 300’ -1300 அடிகல் கொண்டது. ஜெருசலேம் நகர எல்லைக்குள் வீடுகள் கொச்சை- கொச்சையாக ஒரு வரிசையின்றி, செல்வதற்கு சிறு பாதை மட்டும்- தெருச் சாலை கிடையாது. கிரேக்கர் ஆக்கிரமிப்புக்கு முன் பொது மக்களுக்கு என அரசினால் ஏற்படுத்தப்படும் எந்த ஒரு பொதுக் கட்டங்களும் கிடையாது என்பது பழைய ஏற்பாடு -கொண்டு வரலாற்று ஆசிரியர்கள் தரும் உணமை.

Foreign Countries appear in the OT only as Military Allies or Enemies of the Israelites or as the Habitat of Alien Gods; otherwise, not a Slightest interest is shown in them.

Page-77

The Best Opportunity for Economic Development, it might seem was One they never took; Commerce by Sea with Mediterranean always at their door, the Israelites stubbornly remained a Land Locked People. They were effectively Shut off from the Coast at first by the Philistines, but the warfare between the two, more had to do with the Philistines attempt to expand toward the east than with any desire of the Israelite to gain access to Sea. Although the Palestinian Coast has no natural Harbors south of Carmel, this need not have been a Permanent Obstacle.

The Israelites were Content to Let others – Phoenicians and Egyptians conduct their Merchant Shipping for them, almost as though they Believed the Covenant Language in its Narrowest Sense as a Promise of Land and Nothing Further.

It is clear from their writings in the OT THAT THE SEA WAS ALWAYS to them, had no significant part to Play in their Thought.

Pages 86-87.

வெளிநாடுகள் பழைய ஏற்பாட்டில் ஒரு ராணுவ ரீதியான் நட்போ-எதிரியோ என்றும், இஸ்ரேலின் சிறு எல்லைக் கடவுள் கர்த்தர் தவிற மற்ற கடவுள்களின் மக்கள் என்றே பார்த்தனர், மற்றபடு மற்றநாடுகளைப் பற்றி சிறு ஆர்வமும் இல்லை.

பொருளாதார வளர்ச்சிக்கு இருந்த எளிதான வாய்ப்பான- கடல் வாணிகம் எப்பொழுதுமே செய்யவில்லை, தங்களை அந்த தரைப் பகுதி எல்லையினுள் அட்க்கி வாழ்ந்தனர். ஆரம்பத்தில் பிலிஸ்தியரால் கடல் வாணிகத்தில் ஈடுபடுவதைத் தடுக்கப் பட்டாலும், இருவருக்குமான போர்கள் பைபிள்படி- பிலிஸ்தியர் இஸ்ரெலை ஆக்கிரமிப்பு தடுக்கவே. எந்த ஒரு தடுப்பும் இன்றியும் கடலோர நாடான இஸ்ரேலியர் கடல் வாணிகம் செய்யவே இல்லை.

இஸ்ரேலியர்-பக்கத்து நாட்டினர் பினீசியர்கள்- எகிப்தியர் கடல் வாணிகத்தில் ஈடுபடவிட்டனர். இஸ்ரேலியர்-பழைய ஏற்பாட்டின் மூட நம்பிக்கையான தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப் பட்ட பகுதி- தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப் பட்ட மக்கள் என்ற ஒரு சிறு விஷயத்திலேயே உழன்றனர்.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did God Have a Wife?: Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel- William Dever

 

 

https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-religions/asherah-0010611

26 AUGUST, 2018 - 22:41 ANYA LEONARD

Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife

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Those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition may be surprised to learn that the god we were told was singularly sacred once had a wife. How do we know? Asherah figures prominently as the wife of El—the supreme god—in a treasure trove of cuneiform texts found in the second millennium port city of Ugarit (in today’s Northern Syria). For perhaps hundreds of years before Abraham migrated to what would become known as Israel, Asherah was revered as Athirat, Earth Mother and Fertility Goddess. Upon entering the region, the ancient Israelites soon adopted her and gave her the Hebrew equivalent name of Asherah. The Ugarit excavation of 1928 put Asherah, the goddess, on the map again, after having lost her place for thousands of years.

Asherah, Partner of Yahweh

But who was Asherah to the ancient Israelites? And why is she often found paired with Yahweh, the Hebrew god? Historians and archaeologists have pieced together Asherah’s narrative and found large chunks of it interwoven in the artifacts from the region and in the scriptures of the Hebrew Bible itself. Evidence suggests that Asherah was observed in ancient Israel and Judah as early as the 12th century BC, to a few decades before the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah (587-588 BC), a time known as the pre-exilic period.

Were the pre-exilic Israelites and Judeans polytheistic ? In fact, the very notion of polytheism is inherent in the quest for Asherah. After all, Asherah’s place in the pantheon is alongside Yahweh’s, the supreme deity. Furthermore, the many artifacts representing Asherah and her cult from the region belies the biblical prohibition against the creation of idols. How then did they worship?

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Asherah figurines. ( ninapaley)

Differences Between Book and Folk Religion

At this point it is important to make a distinction between the book religion of the ruling classes in the metropolis and folk or popular religion as it was practiced in rural communities for which most Israelites were a part. Literacy was close to non-existent in the rural communities, thus the book religion as practiced in the cities would have little meaning in the lives of those inhabiting the outlying areas. Instead, rural communities had their own religious beliefs using statuary and other artifacts.

By way of contrast, the intellectual community in the metropolis produced a text, which was written entirely from the perspective of the upper or ruling classes. Perhaps surprisingly, Asherah is mentioned in the early Hebrew Bible some forty separate times, although most often as an object of derision. By and large, the biblical writers were unhappy that Asherah shared the same platform with their male deity, Yahweh, and repeatedly tried to dissuade their pairing.

Yahweh and his Asherah

As much as the ruling elite tried to inhibit Asherah and Yahweh’s “marriage,” their union appears solidified in an ancient blessing seen with some regularity at a number of excavation sites in the region. The inscription reads: “I have blessed you by Yahweh....and his Asherah.” Not only was this engraving found in the 9th-8th century BC Israelite caravanserai, Kuntillet Ajrud, the same text was found in a number of sites thought to be Yahweh sanctuaries, such as in Samaria, Jerusalem, Teman, and in the Biblical kingdom of Judah, at the ancient burial site of Khirbet el-Qom, dating to 750 BC.

In fact, this phrase “Yahweh and his Asherah” was so quotidian that it actually appears in the Hebrew Bible itself. The cryptic blessing is in an early rendition of Deuteronomy 33.2-3, when Asherah’s influence had not yet been fully subordinated. The full hymn reads: “YHWH came from Sinai and shone forth.... at his right hand his own Asherah.”

Asherim Poles

However, as the book religion solidified, Asherah became increasingly marginalized in the scriptures to the point of being reduced to her cult object—the stylized tree or wooden pole which became known as asherah or asherim. Trees were revered as symbols of life and nourishment in arid regions and so became associated with Asherah and her cult. Many scholars believe that Asherah’s tree functioned in the Garden of Eden parable. The ruling elite propagandized against goddess worship by integrating the story of the fall of mankind to the tree which was clearly associated with Asherah.

Whereas Asherah’s influence was restrained in the official religion, her presence loomed large in the rural communities, most often in the form of figurines which are prolific in the region. Even while idolatry is reviled in the Hebrew Bible, ample archaeological evidence suggests that those living outside the metropolis idolized statuary and cult objects as part of their religion, leading one scholar to opine: “Folk religion can be defined as everything that those who wrote the Bible condemned.”

Asherah Pillar Figures

Asherah is represented many times in various forms scattered throughout the region. But the most abundant of these are her pillar figurines which were popular from the 10th through the 7th centuries BC. The term “images of Asherah” is often used in the Hebrew Bible and it is thought that these pillar figurines are what the writers of the bible had in mind.

Israelite ceramic figure of a nude woman, identified as an Asherah pillar. ( The Met )

Because the breasts are exaggerated with the hands supporting them, they are thought to symbolize the nurturing aspect of the mother goddess. Predominantly, the pillar figurines were found in private homes, suggesting their domesticity. In a world beset by hardship and drought, likely a concern for fecundity was what attracted the rural Israelites and Judeans to the goddess Asherah, whom they associated with abundance.

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A small votive statue of the Mother Goddess of Asherah. ( Queen of Heaven )

Missing Pieces of the Puzzle

While there are voluminous artifacts identified as Asherah in the region, there are still pieces missing from the puzzle. Was Asherah Yahweh’s wife, as many scholars now contend? Was her worship confined to folk religion only, or was her influence felt in the book religion of the Hebrew Bible as well?

Indeed, unearthing a goddess who has been buried for close to two millennia has its distinct disadvantages. Yet increasingly, Asherah’s influence in the region is becoming recognized by archaeologists and historians alike, with the expectation of further scrutiny and scholarship to come in this area.

Plaque depicting Asherah. ( Looklex Encyclopaedia )

Top Image: ‘Veiled Mother of the World’ (Deriv.) (1930) by Russian esoteric Christian Nicholas Roerich. Source: northernway.org

By Mary Naples, Contributing Writer, Classical Wisdom Weekly