:''For the small research submarine, see Asherah (submarine).'' Asherah (from Hebrew language אשרה) generally taken as identitical with the Ugarit goddess Athirat (more pedantically but accurately ’Atirat) was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing occasionally also in Akkadian sources as Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittites as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s). In the Ugaritic texts (before 1200 BC) Athirat is three times called ''’atrt ym'', ''’Atirat yammi'', 'Athirat of the Sea' or as more fully translated 'She who treads on the sea', the name understood by various translators and commentators to be from the Ugaritic root ''’atr'' 'stride' cognate with the Hebrew root ''’šr'' of the same meaning. In those texts, Athirat is the consort of the god El (god) and there is one reference to the 70 sons of Athirat, presumably the same as the 70 sons of El. She is clearly distinguished from Ashtart (better known in English as Astarte). She is also called Elat (the feminine form of El) and Qodesh 'Holiness'. Among the Hittites this goddess appears as Asherdu(s) or Asertu(s), the consort of Elkunirsa and mother of either 77 or 88 sons. In Egypt, beginning in the 18th dynasty, a Semitic goddess named Qudshu ('Holiness') begins to appear prominently, equated with the native Egyptian goddess Hathor. Some think this is Athirat/Ashratu under her Ugaritic name Qodesh. This Qudshu seems not to be either ‘Ashtart or ‘Anat as both those goddesses appear under their own names and with quite different iconography and appear in at least one pictorial representation along with Qudshu. But in Persian Empire, Hellenistic and Ancient Rome periods there was a strong tendency towards syncretism of goddesses and Athirat/Ashrtum then seems to have disappeared, at least as a prominent goddess under a recognizable name. Biblical references have been taken to indicate that a goddess Asherah was worshipped in Israel and Judah, as the Queen of Heaven whose worship Jeremiah (prophet) so vehemently opposed: :"Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." :::—Book of Jeremiah 7:17–18 :"...to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem" :::—Jeremiah 44:16 The Hebrews baked small cakes for her festival. But the word ''asherah'' also refers to a standing pole of some kind, pluralized as a masculine noun when it has that meaning. Among the Hebrews' Phoenician neighbors, tall standing stone pillars signified the numinous presence of a deity, and the ''asherahs'' may have been a rustic reflection of these. Or ''asherah'' may mean a living tree or grove of trees and therefore in some contexts mean a shrine. These uses have confused Biblical translators. Many older translations render Asherah as 'grove'. There is still disagreement among scholars as to the extent to which Asherah (or various goddesses classed as Asherahs) was/were worshipped in Israel and Judah and whether such a goddess or class of goddesses is necessarily identical to the goddess Athirat/Ashratu. Most of the 40 references to Asherah in the Hebrew Bible derive from sources edited by the Deuteronomist. In her study ''Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament'' (1997, p. 141), Tilde Binger noted that there is warrant for seeing an Asherah as, variously, "a wooden-aniconic-stela or column of some kind; a living tree; or a more regular statue." For Asherah often a wooden-made rudely carved statue planted on the ground of the house was her symbol, and sometimes a clay statue without legs and stood in the same way. Her idols were found also in forests, carved on living trees, or in the form of poles beside altars that were placed at the side of some roads. When the young reformer Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah: "He removed the high places, and broke the pillars (''massebahs''), and cut down the Asherah." (2 Kings 18.4). In the Authorized Version of the Bible, the name Asherah is always mistranslated "grove": that error caused a theory that "the Hebrews cut down all the sacred groves, whereupon the land soon stopped flowing with milk and honey": see deforestation. ==Asherah and other gods== Two painted inscriptions "Yahweh of Samaria/the guardian and his Asherah" on fragments of the type of large terracotta pot that archaeologists call a ''pithos'' were found in the site of a caravanserai of the 8th century BCE at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud (in Hebrew Horvat Teman) in the Negev. They have raised great speculation. Other gods appear in the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud graffiti— along with the title Baal. There are accompanying drawings (not a Hebrew custom) and an oasis is a center of the religious cross-fertilization called syncretism. However, from a site west of Hebron, identified as Biblical Makkedah, a furtively excavated inscription reads "Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his asherah; from his enemies he saved him!" (Berlinerblau) Although forbidden by Hebrews, the cult of goddesses lasted during the Roman occupation in Israel in the hidden form of temple prostitution, until emperor Constantine I of the Roman Empire closed those houses after converting to Christianity. ==Ashira in Arabia== A stele, now at the Louvre, discovered in the ancient oasis of Tema (the modern transcription is Tayma) in southwestern Arabia by Charles Huber in 1883, and believed to date to the time of Nabonidus's retirement there in 549 BCE, bears an inscription in Aramaic language which mentions Ṣalm of Maḥram and Shingala and Ashira as the gods of Tema. This Ashira might be Athirat/Asherah. Since Aramaic has no way to indicate Arabic ''th'', corresponding to the Ugaritic ''th'' (more pedantically written as ''t''), if this is the same deity, it is not clear whether the name would be an Arabian reflex of the Ugaritic ''Athirat'' or a later borrowing of the supposed Hebrew/Canaanite ''Asherah''. ==Asherah and ‘Ashurah== In the ancient lunar calendar that has become the Islamic calendar, the Day of ‘Ashurah, transliterated also as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the "Day of Aashurah", it has been observed ever since as a day of mourning by Shi’ites. The name ''‘Ashurah'' is interpreted as meaning 'Ten' in Arabic. (The normal Arabic word for 'ten' is ''‘asharah'' cognate to the Hebrew root ''‘śr'' 'ten', the differing forms of ''s'' being the normal correspondence found in cognate roots between Arabic and Hebrew.) Some try to connect the Arabic ''‘Ashurah'' instead to the goddess ''Athirath''/''Asherah'' through the Ashira of Tema. But ''‘Ashurah'' with initial letter ‘ain is difficult to equate with ''’Asherah;'' with beginning ’alef (here indicated by an apostrophe but normally omitted initially in popular transliterations from Semitic languages). It is as though in English one were to say that the word ''juice'' refers to the god ''Zeus''. The sound difference is very distinctive to Arabic ears. ==External links== * Asherah ** [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1942&letter=A&search=Asherah ''Jewish Encyclopedia'': Asherah] ** [http://www.theology.bham.ac.uk/guest/Ancient%20Israel/asherah.htm University of Birmingham: Deryn Guest: Asherah] ** [http://assets.cambridge.org/0521662354/sample/0521662354WSC00.PDF Judith M. Hadley, ''The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah''] (PDF.) * Kuntillet inscriptions ** [http://itp.lcc.whecn.edu/bibint2/articles/berlinerblau5.htm Jacques Berlinerblau, "Official religion and popular religion in pre-Exilic ancient Israel"] (Commentary on Yahweh's Asherah.) ** [http://www.ancientneareast.net/kuntillet_ajrud.html ANE: Kuntillet bibliography] ** [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/second.htm Jeffrey H. Tigay, "A Second Temple Parallel to the Blessings from Kuntillet Ajrud" (University of Pennsylvania)] (This equates Asherah with ''an'' asherah.) Ancient Israel and Judah Fertility goddesses Torah West Semitic goddesses
In this paragraph User:Rickyrab inserted the last italicized line: In the lunar Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as Aashurah, Ashura or Aashoorah, falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still the Day of Aashurah, it is observed as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. ''Whether or not Ashurah festival has anything to do with Asherah, is unknown.'' The point that it was the Day of Asherah, and still is, wasn't made strongly enough, I guess. How about this, then: In the ancient lunar calendar that has become the Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the Day of Aashurah, it has been observed ever since as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. If I tell someone that Friday is "Freya's Day" and that the Crucifixion occured on a Friday, and they say "What does the Crucifixion have to do with Freya?" I'm a little stumped. User:Wetman 21:18, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC) Yeah, and how is the Muslim holiday (Ashora) connected to the goddess (Asherah)? Excuse me, but I thought Islam was always a monotheistic religion. User:Rickyrab 23:47, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC) ---- User:Jallan informs us that the word for "ten" in Arabic is Aashurah and removes the following text: :"In the lunar Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the Day of Aashurah, it is observed as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. As for the meaning of Asherah, non-Muslims will be interested to read that Muslims are taught the following: "The conventional meaning of Ashura in the Shariah refers to the 10th of Muharram-ul-Haraam. In his distinguished book, ''Ghuniyatut Taalibeen'', Sayyiduna Ghaus-ul-Azam, Sheikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (radi Allahu anhu) writes that the Ulema have a difference of opinion, as to why this day is known as Ashura. Since the reason has been explained in various ways, the consensus of the majority of the Ulema is that it is known as Ashurah because it is the 10th day of Muharram, while certain Ulema say that from the sacred days that Almighty Allah blessed the Ummat-e-Muhammadi with, this day is the 10th most important day, and it is for this reason that it is known as Ashurah. (''Ghuniyatut Taalibeen'', pg. 428)" The day sacred to Asherah falls on the tenth of Muharram. Asherah can be disguised as "Aashurah," but only suppression of all references to the fact that these are identical will satisfy Islamist concerns. Asherah is Aashurah, as Makkah is Mecca. Though the connection may be suppressed, we are not fooled. User:Wetman 14:57, 24 May 2004 (UTC) ----- I have temporarily removed the following text here to Discussion:''It is generally believed that her name is a shortening of the expression ''Athirat Yamm'' 'She who walks on the sea'. '' Names of gods are never shortenings. Quite to the contrary, secondary epithets always make the deity more local or more concrete. Besides, if this etymology were genuine, what would one make of Asherah's connection to Yahweh in the inscriptions at Kuntillet Ajrud, mentioned in the entry? Since Yam is the god of the wild sea, surely Asherah is the Queen or Consort of these other deities. User:Wetman 16:05, 24 May 2004 (UTC) ----- Whatever meaning is associated with the name, the name Ashirat Yammi does appear in the Ugaritic texts and the full translation of "Ashirat of the Sea" in books and articles if they mention any interpretation of the name is the one I gave, at least so far as I know. A quick check confirmed it as given on page 4 of John Gibson's ''Canaanite Myths and Legends'' and on page 21 of Frank Moore Gross's ''Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic''. The translation can probably be found in almost any book about the northwest Semitic gods or the Ugaritic pantheon. No-one so far as I know has questioned it, simply presenting without any special comment as though self-evident to anyone who can read Ugaritic. That doesn't mean it is correct. It wouldn't be the first time almost all scholars in a field have been wrong. But unless someone can provide a more recent theory as an alternative, "She who treads on the Sea" belongs in the article as the standard translation accepted by scholars. As to `Ashurah, stating that it is fact that `Ashurah does not really mean 'ten' and is actually related to Asherah does not make it a fact. I have nothing philosphically against the equation. But to me the suggestion appears to be crank linguistics of a very normal sort: the words look alike therefore there must be a relationship. I don't know Arabic, other than individual words in literary and linguistic contexts and very small amount of grammar. But I do know some Hebrew, Akkadian and Ugaritic and somewhat about proto-Semitic and the relationships between the Semitic languages. The equation looks wrong. I could be wrong, of course. But if anyone thinks the equation is not crank linguistics, then that person should provide evidence that it is not. User:Jallan 03:55, 27 May 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Asherah:
Asherah
Asherah
Asherah_(submarine)
Asherah
:''For the small research submarine, see Asherah (submarine).'' Asherah (from Hebrew language אשרה) generally taken as identitical with the Ugarit goddess Athirat (more pedantically but accurately ’Atirat) was a major northwest Semitic mother goddess, appearing occasionally also in Akkadian sources as Ashratum/Ashratu and in Hittites as Asherdu(s) or Ashertu(s) or Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s). In the Ugaritic texts (before 1200 BC) Athirat is three times called ''’atrt ym'', ''’Atirat yammi'', 'Athirat of the Sea' or as more fully translated 'She who treads on the sea', the name understood by various translators and commentators to be from the Ugaritic root ''’atr'' 'stride' cognate with the Hebrew root ''’šr'' of the same meaning. In those texts, Athirat is the consort of the god El (god) and there is one reference to the 70 sons of Athirat, presumably the same as the 70 sons of El. She is clearly distinguished from Ashtart (better known in English as Astarte). She is also called Elat (the feminine form of El) and Qodesh 'Holiness'. Among the Hittites this goddess appears as Asherdu(s) or Asertu(s), the consort of Elkunirsa and mother of either 77 or 88 sons. In Egypt, beginning in the 18th dynasty, a Semitic goddess named Qudshu ('Holiness') begins to appear prominently, equated with the native Egyptian goddess Hathor. Some think this is Athirat/Ashratu under her Ugaritic name Qodesh. This Qudshu seems not to be either ‘Ashtart or ‘Anat as both those goddesses appear under their own names and with quite different iconography and appear in at least one pictorial representation along with Qudshu. But in Persian Empire, Hellenistic and Ancient Rome periods there was a strong tendency towards syncretism of goddesses and Athirat/Ashrtum then seems to have disappeared, at least as a prominent goddess under a recognizable name. Biblical references have been taken to indicate that a goddess Asherah was worshipped in Israel and Judah, as the Queen of Heaven whose worship Jeremiah (prophet) so vehemently opposed: :"Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger." :::—Book of Jeremiah 7:17–18 :"...to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem" :::—Jeremiah 44:16 The Hebrews baked small cakes for her festival. But the word ''asherah'' also refers to a standing pole of some kind, pluralized as a masculine noun when it has that meaning. Among the Hebrews' Phoenician neighbors, tall standing stone pillars signified the numinous presence of a deity, and the ''asherahs'' may have been a rustic reflection of these. Or ''asherah'' may mean a living tree or grove of trees and therefore in some contexts mean a shrine. These uses have confused Biblical translators. Many older translations render Asherah as 'grove'. There is still disagreement among scholars as to the extent to which Asherah (or various goddesses classed as Asherahs) was/were worshipped in Israel and Judah and whether such a goddess or class of goddesses is necessarily identical to the goddess Athirat/Ashratu. Most of the 40 references to Asherah in the Hebrew Bible derive from sources edited by the Deuteronomist. In her study ''Asherah: Goddesses in Ugarit, Israel and the Old Testament'' (1997, p. 141), Tilde Binger noted that there is warrant for seeing an Asherah as, variously, "a wooden-aniconic-stela or column of some kind; a living tree; or a more regular statue." For Asherah often a wooden-made rudely carved statue planted on the ground of the house was her symbol, and sometimes a clay statue without legs and stood in the same way. Her idols were found also in forests, carved on living trees, or in the form of poles beside altars that were placed at the side of some roads. When the young reformer Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah: "He removed the high places, and broke the pillars (''massebahs''), and cut down the Asherah." (2 Kings 18.4). In the Authorized Version of the Bible, the name Asherah is always mistranslated "grove": that error caused a theory that "the Hebrews cut down all the sacred groves, whereupon the land soon stopped flowing with milk and honey": see deforestation. ==Asherah and other gods== Two painted inscriptions "Yahweh of Samaria/the guardian and his Asherah" on fragments of the type of large terracotta pot that archaeologists call a ''pithos'' were found in the site of a caravanserai of the 8th century BCE at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud (in Hebrew Horvat Teman) in the Negev. They have raised great speculation. Other gods appear in the Kuntillet ‘Ajrud graffiti— along with the title Baal. There are accompanying drawings (not a Hebrew custom) and an oasis is a center of the religious cross-fertilization called syncretism. However, from a site west of Hebron, identified as Biblical Makkedah, a furtively excavated inscription reads "Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh and by his asherah; from his enemies he saved him!" (Berlinerblau) Although forbidden by Hebrews, the cult of goddesses lasted during the Roman occupation in Israel in the hidden form of temple prostitution, until emperor Constantine I of the Roman Empire closed those houses after converting to Christianity. ==Ashira in Arabia== A stele, now at the Louvre, discovered in the ancient oasis of Tema (the modern transcription is Tayma) in southwestern Arabia by Charles Huber in 1883, and believed to date to the time of Nabonidus's retirement there in 549 BCE, bears an inscription in Aramaic language which mentions Ṣalm of Maḥram and Shingala and Ashira as the gods of Tema. This Ashira might be Athirat/Asherah. Since Aramaic has no way to indicate Arabic ''th'', corresponding to the Ugaritic ''th'' (more pedantically written as ''t''), if this is the same deity, it is not clear whether the name would be an Arabian reflex of the Ugaritic ''Athirat'' or a later borrowing of the supposed Hebrew/Canaanite ''Asherah''. ==Asherah and ‘Ashurah== In the ancient lunar calendar that has become the Islamic calendar, the Day of ‘Ashurah, transliterated also as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the "Day of Aashurah", it has been observed ever since as a day of mourning by Shi’ites. The name ''‘Ashurah'' is interpreted as meaning 'Ten' in Arabic. (The normal Arabic word for 'ten' is ''‘asharah'' cognate to the Hebrew root ''‘śr'' 'ten', the differing forms of ''s'' being the normal correspondence found in cognate roots between Arabic and Hebrew.) Some try to connect the Arabic ''‘Ashurah'' instead to the goddess ''Athirath''/''Asherah'' through the Ashira of Tema. But ''‘Ashurah'' with initial letter ‘ain is difficult to equate with ''’Asherah;'' with beginning ’alef (here indicated by an apostrophe but normally omitted initially in popular transliterations from Semitic languages). It is as though in English one were to say that the word ''juice'' refers to the god ''Zeus''. The sound difference is very distinctive to Arabic ears. ==External links== * Asherah ** [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1942&letter=A&search=Asherah ''Jewish Encyclopedia'': Asherah] ** [http://www.theology.bham.ac.uk/guest/Ancient%20Israel/asherah.htm University of Birmingham: Deryn Guest: Asherah] ** [http://assets.cambridge.org/0521662354/sample/0521662354WSC00.PDF Judith M. Hadley, ''The Cult of Asherah in Ancient Israel and Judah''] (PDF.) * Kuntillet inscriptions ** [http://itp.lcc.whecn.edu/bibint2/articles/berlinerblau5.htm Jacques Berlinerblau, "Official religion and popular religion in pre-Exilic ancient Israel"] (Commentary on Yahweh's Asherah.) ** [http://www.ancientneareast.net/kuntillet_ajrud.html ANE: Kuntillet bibliography] ** [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jwst/second.htm Jeffrey H. Tigay, "A Second Temple Parallel to the Blessings from Kuntillet Ajrud" (University of Pennsylvania)] (This equates Asherah with ''an'' asherah.) Ancient Israel and Judah Fertility goddesses Torah West Semitic goddesses
Asherah
In this paragraph User:Rickyrab inserted the last italicized line: In the lunar Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as Aashurah, Ashura or Aashoorah, falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still the Day of Aashurah, it is observed as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. ''Whether or not Ashurah festival has anything to do with Asherah, is unknown.'' The point that it was the Day of Asherah, and still is, wasn't made strongly enough, I guess. How about this, then: In the ancient lunar calendar that has become the Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the Day of Aashurah, it has been observed ever since as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. If I tell someone that Friday is "Freya's Day" and that the Crucifixion occured on a Friday, and they say "What does the Crucifixion have to do with Freya?" I'm a little stumped. User:Wetman 21:18, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC) Yeah, and how is the Muslim holiday (Ashora) connected to the goddess (Asherah)? Excuse me, but I thought Islam was always a monotheistic religion. User:Rickyrab 23:47, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC) ---- User:Jallan informs us that the word for "ten" in Arabic is Aashurah and removes the following text: :"In the lunar Islamic calendar, the Day of Ashurah, transliterated as ''Aashurah'', ''Ashura'' or ''Aashoorah'', falls on the 10th day of Muharram. On that day, in the year of the Hejira 61 (AD 680), Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of Muhammad was killed by Umayyad forces at the Battle of Karbala (now in Iraq). Still called the Day of Aashurah, it is observed as a day of mourning by Shi'ites. As for the meaning of Asherah, non-Muslims will be interested to read that Muslims are taught the following: "The conventional meaning of Ashura in the Shariah refers to the 10th of Muharram-ul-Haraam. In his distinguished book, ''Ghuniyatut Taalibeen'', Sayyiduna Ghaus-ul-Azam, Sheikh Abdul Qaadir Jilani (radi Allahu anhu) writes that the Ulema have a difference of opinion, as to why this day is known as Ashura. Since the reason has been explained in various ways, the consensus of the majority of the Ulema is that it is known as Ashurah because it is the 10th day of Muharram, while certain Ulema say that from the sacred days that Almighty Allah blessed the Ummat-e-Muhammadi with, this day is the 10th most important day, and it is for this reason that it is known as Ashurah. (''Ghuniyatut Taalibeen'', pg. 428)" The day sacred to Asherah falls on the tenth of Muharram. Asherah can be disguised as "Aashurah," but only suppression of all references to the fact that these are identical will satisfy Islamist concerns. Asherah is Aashurah, as Makkah is Mecca. Though the connection may be suppressed, we are not fooled. User:Wetman 14:57, 24 May 2004 (UTC) ----- I have temporarily removed the following text here to Discussion:''It is generally believed that her name is a shortening of the expression ''Athirat Yamm'' 'She who walks on the sea'. '' Names of gods are never shortenings. Quite to the contrary, secondary epithets always make the deity more local or more concrete. Besides, if this etymology were genuine, what would one make of Asherah's connection to Yahweh in the inscriptions at Kuntillet Ajrud, mentioned in the entry? Since Yam is the god of the wild sea, surely Asherah is the Queen or Consort of these other deities. User:Wetman 16:05, 24 May 2004 (UTC) ----- Whatever meaning is associated with the name, the name Ashirat Yammi does appear in the Ugaritic texts and the full translation of "Ashirat of the Sea" in books and articles if they mention any interpretation of the name is the one I gave, at least so far as I know. A quick check confirmed it as given on page 4 of John Gibson's ''Canaanite Myths and Legends'' and on page 21 of Frank Moore Gross's ''Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic''. The translation can probably be found in almost any book about the northwest Semitic gods or the Ugaritic pantheon. No-one so far as I know has questioned it, simply presenting without any special comment as though self-evident to anyone who can read Ugaritic. That doesn't mean it is correct. It wouldn't be the first time almost all scholars in a field have been wrong. But unless someone can provide a more recent theory as an alternative, "She who treads on the Sea" belongs in the article as the standard translation accepted by scholars. As to `Ashurah, stating that it is fact that `Ashurah does not really mean 'ten' and is actually related to Asherah does not make it a fact. I have nothing philosphically against the equation. But to me the suggestion appears to be crank linguistics of a very normal sort: the words look alike therefore there must be a relationship. I don't know Arabic, other than individual words in literary and linguistic contexts and very small amount of grammar. But I do know some Hebrew, Akkadian and Ugaritic and somewhat about proto-Semitic and the relationships between the Semitic languages. The equation looks wrong. I could be wrong, of course. But if anyone thinks the equation is not crank linguistics, then that person should provide evidence that it is not. User:Jallan 03:55, 27 May 2004 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
A
AB | AC | AD | AE | AF | AG | AH | AI | AJ | AK | AL | AM | AN | AO | AP | AR | AS | AT | AU | AW | AX | AY | AZ |Words begining with Asherah:
Asherah
Asherah
Asherah_(submarine)
Sponsored links: praca.
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
