Asherah

Asherah (ăsh'uru) [key]or Asheroth (-roth) [key], Canaanite fertility goddess and the wooden cult symbol that represented her. She is the consort of El in the Ugaritic texts. Several passages in the Bible may refer to the planting of a tree as a symbol of Asherah, or the setting up of a wooden object as an asherah—the Hebrew words for “tree” and “wood” are the same.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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