Omiss to not remind these Hebrew fertility Goddess , figurines which have been found all over Judah but about half (405 out of 822, to be exact) were found in Jerusalem, many only a short distance from the Temple Mount.
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The interesting part is that they find no more of these fertility Goddess figures post~exile from return from Babylon in the 500bc era & liberation by Persian King Cyrus, zero. Not so monothesitic after all but Moses supposedly solved this problem 800yrs before? Apparently not, better check your timeline there believer.
Israel Museum
Lovely ladies. Most of the figurines discovered from Judah are of females; of the many types, the most common is the pillar figurine. About 5 or 6 inches tall, the body is solid and shaped like a column, while the head was made separately. These figurines are usually identified as representations of Astarte, the fertility goddess, because of the exaggerated breasts that the goddess supports with her hands. Other, less common, styles include figurines with a bell-shaped body, those with “bird’s” heads and those made from a mold, sometimes wearing a necklace. Male figurines in Judahite culture, on the other hand, only came in two types: wearing a turban or riding a horse (<!---->see photograph<!---->). The latter is the most common, and, Stern suggests, probably represents a warrior god.
The plethora of figurines, cult stands and temples illustrating this article is in marked contrast to Israelite religion after the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C.E. From the post-Exilic period we have not a single cult figurine and the only temples to Yahweh are the Second Temple in Jerusalem and its Samaritan competitor on Mt. Gerizim. The Jews, Stern concludes, had removed cultic elements and purified their worship.
Like the figurines in the surrounding cultures, the Judahite examples are mostly female and about 5 to 6 inches high. They belong to the type known as “pillar” figurines. The head is made separately, from a mold. The body is usually solid and handmade, in the shape of a small column, to which are added exaggerated breasts supported by the statuette’s hands. Scholars usually identify these figurines as Astarte, the fertility goddess.
(Another common variation involves a handmade head with a kind of pinched face. These are often called “bird’s-head” figurines.)
Sometimes the goddess is playing a tambourine or holding a dove—a traditional emblem of goddesses in all periods throughout the ancient Near East. A few figurines, made in the Phoenician tradition, have a hollow, round body—a bell-shaped body, in scholarly jargon. Even rarer, but occasionally found, are figurines in the form of a plaque, flat on the back and impressed from a mold on the front.
The Judahite figurines were originally painted in strong colors such as white, black and red, but the paint has survived on only a few. Eyes and hair were made especially prominent, and occasionally a necklace was added.
Another surprising fact: Although these figurines have been found all over Judah, about half (405 out of 822, to be exact) were found in Jerusalem, many only a short distance from the Temple Mount.10 |
