###### Selections from *The Persisting Uncertainties of Kuntillet ‘Ajrud* by Hershel Shanks at the [BAS Library](https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/the-persisting-uncertainties-of-kuntillet-ajrud/) ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 1.jpg]] > Everything about it has been difficult. Located in the Sinai desert about 10 miles west of the ancient Gaza Road (Darb Ghazza, in Arabic) as it passes through Bedouin territory separating the Negev from Egypt, it is remote and isolated from any other settlement. In 1975, a Tel Aviv University archaeologist named Ze’ev Meshel, together with a band of nine volunteers mostly from kibbutzim and a few colleagues as staff, decided to excavate the site. It has no Biblical name. The Bedouin call it Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, “the solitary hill of the water source.” [....] > > ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 2.jpg]] > > The finds were fantastic. The zingers were two large pithoi, or storage jars, now reconstructed (Pithos A and Pithos B), that weighed about 30 pounds each and were painted with deities, humans, animals and symbols, as well as a number of inscriptions, including three that refer to Yahweh (the personal name of the Israelite God) and his *asherah* or Asherah, depending on your interpretation. [...] > > Of the more-than-50 inscriptions that were recovered, 20 consist of only one or two letters. Still, that leaves 30 more-extensive inscriptions, an enormous collection. The most intriguing are painted on the pithoi. The language is Hebrew, as are the letters, although a few are Hebrew language in Phoenician script. Some of the inscriptions are incised on stone bowls; others are incised on pottery before firing; still others are written with ink on potsherds or on the plastered walls of the major building at the site. [...] > > Below an inscription on Pithos A referring to Yahweh and his *asherah* are drawings of two figures. Indeed, the inscription runs through the crown of one of them. Each of the figures is easily and unquestionably identifiable as Bes, a collective name for a group of Egyptian dwarf deities[^2]. They are prominently pictured here with typical arms akimbo, hands on their sides, legs bowed, grotesque facial features, feathered headdresses and nude except for a lion skin. [...] > > ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 3.jpg]] > (Above image drawn more clearly:) > ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 1a.jpg]] > > Bes figures are often associated with music and dancing, of which they were patrons. And, indeed, to the right of the two Bes figures is a seated woman playing a lyre— [...] > > An inscription above the heads of the Bes figures reads in part: “I have \[b\]lessed you to YHWH \[Yahweh\] of Shomron \[Samaria\] and to his *asherah*.” > > This raises two huge questions: (1) What is “his” *asherah* [^1]? There are no capital letters in ancient Hebrew. So we don’t know whether it’s “*asherah*” or “Asherah”; that is, we don’t know whether Asherah is Yahweh’s consort or whether *asherah* is his symbol, like a sacred tree or a pole. (2) And how do we understand the attribution of “Shomron” to this Yahweh? Was Shomron indicative of God’s dwelling place? [...] > > The literature on Asherah vs. *asherah* is vast. There is no question that Asherah was one of the chief female deities in the Canaanite pantheon. She was the consort of the god El. But she seems to have vanished from Canaanite/Phoenician inscriptions by the first millennium B.C.E. Whether the Biblical authors remembered her in this form is questionable; the word occasionally appears in the Bible in the masculine plural (*asherim*). It also appears in the feminine plural (*asherot*), referring to cultic objects similar to standing stones (*matzevot*). Sometimes the *asherim* or *asherot*, especially in the context of *matzevot*, are to be cut down or burned; such references must be sacred posts. The editors conclude that the blessing formula “Yahweh and his *asherah*” refers not to the goddess Asherah but to a cultic object like a sacred pole or tree. One such sacred tree is in fact depicted on the other side of this same pithos: > > ![[drawing of tree Kuntillet 'Ajrud.jpg]] > > (Above is a drawing of the vessel with the inscription and below is a picture of it.) > > ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 4.jpg]] > > The geographical marker “Yahweh of Shomron” appears in the inscription on Pithos A. Another geographical marker appears in an inscription on Pithos B: “I have blessed you by YHWH of Teman and his *asherah*.” The text continues: “May He bless you and may He keep you, and may He be with my lord \[forever?\].” This echo of the priestly blessing from Numbers is startling, and the recognition for many will be a moving moment: “\[May\] the Lord \[YHWH\] bless you and keep you” (Numbers 6:24). [...] > > ![[Hershel Shanks BAS Library 5.jpg]] ![[By Pashute - CC BY-SA 4.0 פענוח_כתובת_הטיח.jpg]] *By Pashute - CC BY-SA 4.0* > “Yahweh of Teman” is referred to once more on Pithos B and also twice on a piece of plaster 033 034 that had fallen to the floor. The script of the latter is Phoenician, although the language is Hebrew. It reads in part: “\[May\] he lengthen their days and may they be sated … recount to \[Y\]HWH of Teman and his *asherah* … YHWH of the Te\[man\] has shown them favor, has bettered their days …” (p. 104). > > Teman seems to have a variety of ancient references. It sometimes refers to Mt. Sinai. It can also refer to part of the Negev and a city in Edom. The references here to Shomron (Samaria) and Teman indicate the areas (non-exclusive) over which Yahweh rules or where he dwells. We find the same thing in the Bible. “God is coming from Teman,” reads Habakkuk 3:3 (see also Zechariah 9:14; Psalms 78:26), Such references are common not only with respect to Yahweh, but with respect to other gods as well. As the editors state: “Other gods are mentioned together with their dwelling place, as in ‘Ba‘al of Hermon’ or ‘Ba‘al of Hasor,’ and it is thus not surprising that the God of Israel would be referred to in this manner as well” (p. 130). The Bible also tells us poetically that “the mountains dripped before Yahweh of Sinai” (Judges 5:5). > > The prayer that encapsulates Israelite monotheism, “Hear O Israel, the Lord (Yahweh) our God, the Lord (Yahweh) is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4), is thought to be a reaction to the notion that Yahweh “had various local manifestations,” as the editors put it. The Kuntillet ‘Ajrud texts represent this local understanding. > > A drawing on Pithos B features a procession of worshipers with arms raised in a gesture of adoration or perhaps supplication. The five figures all face left. They are drawn adjacent to the two inscriptions referring to “Yahweh of Teman and his *asherah*,” but, again, it is doubtful that there is any connection between the texts and the drawing. > > This is only a taste of the drawings on these pithoi. Others include the drawing mentioned above of horned ibexes flanking a sacred tree, a common motif in the ancient Near East; a majestic lion with a protruding tongue; an archer; and a calf suckling its mother with her head turned back, another common motif. The bases of many more pithoi were recovered; one can only wonder what treasures were painted on them when they were whole. > > In addition to the inscriptions on the two pithoi, other inscriptions were found on wall plaster. The following theophany, painted on a piece of plaster found lying on the floor, reads in part: “When God shines forth … \[Y\]HW\[H\] … The mountains will melt, the hills will crush … The Holy One over the gods … Prepare (yourself) \[to\] bless Ba‘al on a day of war … to the name of El on a day of \[w\]ar” (p. 109). The possibilities of interpretation are myriad. [...] > > The building in which most of the drawings and inscriptions were found is itself a conundrum. It has a fortress-like plan with four corner towers. But clearly it did not function as a fortress. It differs from the many other Israelite fortresses in the Negev. For example, it has no casemate walls (double walls periodically connected with short walls perpendicular to the long walls). Most importantly, it has a narrow room with benches just inside the entrance—the excavators call it the bench room—from which most of the finds were retrieved. This portion of the building was coated in white plaster and decorated with a few colored murals. Scholars have made a variety of suggestions as to what the structure was used for—a desert way-station, a caravanserai, a kind of inn, a rest stop for pilgrims, a fortified trading post, a pilgrimage site, a shrine, a cult center, a religious school, a retreat for priests, etc. > > Another surprising conclusion: Although the site is on the southern border of Judah, the authors connect it to the northern kingdom of Israel. And they have some pretty convincing evidence. The northern connection is reflected most convincingly in the theophoric elements of the personal names found at the site. Let me unpack this: References to deities, called theophoric elements, are often incorporated into personal names; in this case the deity is Yahweh (YHWH). These abbreviations of Yahweh take two forms: In Judah the theophoric element is YHW, usually written “-yahu,” as for example in the name of Israel’s prime minister, Netanyahu—literally, “gift of Yahweh.” In the northern kingdom of Israel the theophoric element is spelled YW, usually written “-yo.” In Hebrew the difference in spelling is small—only one letter—although when written in Latin letters the two seem quite different. [^1]: Note from Shaiya: Later scholars have taken issue with the translation "YHVH and his Asherah". If I understand correctly, the text reads יהו-ה ואשרתה. Scholars wanted to interpret the תה as somehow "his", to make Asherah into YHVH's consort, but Benjamin Sommer in *The Bodies of God*, and I think also Mark Smith, argue that there is no way to read אשרתה as meaning אשרתו, and that we just don't know what אשרתה actually means. The bottom line is that perhaps we should read the text as stating "YHVH and Asherta", and we're not sure what "Asherta" means in distinction from the more common "Asherah". [^2]: Another note from Shaiya: Some scholars had initially thought that YHVH and the Asherah were pictured here. My understanding is that later scholars have rejected that idea. YHVH is not depicted in picture form. Asherah is depicted: She is the Tree of Life that appears below.