I. Name

The mother-goddess is the most common and pluriform deity of the religions of the ancient Near East. Because the Canaanite Asherah, worshipped also as the Queen of Heaven, is not unknown to OT tradition, scholars have found references to her mythical role and imagery, particularly in the person of Eve, the mother of all the living (Gen. 3.20). Many scholars suppose that the title ʾēm kol ḥay originally referred either to Mother Earth (see also Sir. 40.1) or the primeval mother-goddess (Vriezen 1937:192…