Faces of the gods : Baal, Asherah and Molek and studies of the Hebrew Scriptures
The religion of ancient cultures has been captured in stone, clay, ink, gold and ivory. Huge wall reliefs down to tiny golden earrings or amulets have presented us with the faces of the gods. And which god is which, and what god did what, and who worshipped whom are questions that have fuelled the fires of many a scholar's imagination. As scholars have attempted the task of describing their chosen area, they have painted pictures for us. Unfortunately, in doing this they have often created portraits that are no more than pastiches. ~The baal~ of the Hebrew scriptures is described with the characteristics of Baal of Ugarit. ~The molek~ of II Kings and Jeremiah is accused of being a chthonic deity by virtue of association with gods of the underworld in Babylon, Mari and Ugarit. ~Lady Asherah of the Sea~ is cut down by the pens of those who equate her with the wooden thing burnt upon the altar by Gideon. This thesis presents isolated portraits of three deities, baal, asherah, and molek, from three different venues. The first chapter discusses ~baal~; Baal at Ugarit, Baal from the iconographic/epigraphic material and thirdly, ~the baal~ from the Jeremiah- deuteronomistic texts. The second chapter presents ~asherah~
Doyle, Rebecca
Philosophy
Faces of the gods : Baal, Asherah and Molek and studies of the Hebrew Scriptures. The religion of ancient cultures has been captured in stone, clay, ink, gold and ivory. Huge wall reliefs down to tiny golden earrings or amulets have presented us with the faces of the gods. And which god is which, and what god did what, and who worshipped whom are questions that have fuelled the fires of many a scholar's imagination. As scholars have attempted the task of describing their chosen area, they have painted pictures for us. Unfortunately, in doing this they have often created portraits that are no more than pastiches. ~The baal~ of the Hebrew scriptures is described with the characteristics of Baal of Ugarit. ~The molek~ of II Kings and Jeremiah is accused of being a chthonic deity by virtue of association with gods of the underworld in Babylon, Mari and Ugarit. ~Lady Asherah of the Sea~ is cut down by the pens of those who equate her with the wooden thing burnt upon the altar by Gideon. This thesis presents isolated portraits of three deities, baal, asherah, and molek, from three different venues. The first chapter discusses ~baal~; Baal at Ugarit, Baal from the iconographic/epigraphic material and thirdly, ~the baal~ from the Jeremiah- deuteronomistic texts. The second chapter presents ~asherah~
god study hebrew scriptures religion_ancient culture capture stone clay gold ivory huge wall relief tiny golden amulet present face god god_god worship question fuel fire many_scholar imagination scholar attempt task describe choose area paint picture unfortunately often create portrait the hebrew scriptures describe characteristic the kings jeremiah accuse deity virtue association god underworld lady sea cut pen equate wooden thing burnt upon altar present isolate portrait deity three_different venue first_discuss iconographic epigraphic_material thirdly the jeremiah text second present