#qedeshet

[tsalmu]

Qetesh flanked by Min and Resheph Provenance Unknown, Egypt c. 1300 BCE? Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008 "Qedeshet" Goddess, Anat? Ashtart? Previously thought to depict Asherah / Ashirat but this is nowadays considered unfounded.

[israaverse]

i'm actually gonna update this with some stuff i'm reading or planning in reading! lots of thick academia type stuff and focusing on anat. if theres an issue with the link embeds let me know!

currently reading:

The goddess Anat: an examination of the textual and iconographic evidence from the second millennium B.C. Lloyd, Jefferey Brian, 1994.

to-read:

The Many Faces of the Goddess: The Iconography of the Syro-Palestinian Goddesses Anat, Astarte, Qedeshet, and Asherah c. 1500-1000 BCE. Izak (Sakkie) Cornelius, 2008

Burgh, Theodore W. “Asherah: Everyone’s Favorite Girl.” In Pursuit of Visibility: Essays in Archaeology, Ethnography, and Text in Honor of Beth Alpert Nakhai, edited by Jennie Ebeling and Laura Mazow, Archaeopress, 2022, pp. 145–56. JSTOR

still trying to get my hands on a translation/analysis of the Baal Cycle that isnt literally 300 dollars

Do you have some good recommendations on learning about the Canaanite deites?

Hi there!

This may not be a satisfying answer and, trust me, I'm right with you. Like all* pantheons there is no strict 'canon' but I'd say the things to understand the very basics would be The Baal Cycle and the Epic of Aqhat. Both are incomplete texts and the tablets are not in any known order so it's difficult to decipher them. Other than that, there's not really much. Each translation has its own issues (I'm personally not a fan of those that translate Anat's epithet of 'virgin' into 'adolescent' and anything else suggesting a goddess of sexual fertility would be a prepubescent child) and any other supplementary information I would use my own judgement to be judicial about. Also, due to regional and religious politics, you have to be quite judicial about what sources and opinions you put stock in. For instance, I personally wouldn't give a shit about what the Old Testament and Philo of Byblos have to say abt the Canaanites and their gods because any sources resulting from them have political incentive to slander and badmouth. Any other secondary or tertiary source or blog post has to be taken with quite the large grain of salt, as the Canaanites have a bad habit of being used for chauvinist or nationalist rhetoric. I myself am Palestinian and Muslim so I have my own biases, it's just good to stay aware of what baggage people are bringing into something like this.

Another good place to start would be the Egyptian city of Avaris/Awaris and the Hyksos Dynasty of the Second Intermediate Period. I just finished a loooong final essay about the xenophobia politic surrounding them HOWEVER it seems that "eastern" religion had been established in Egypt long before and continued long after the SEP. My favorite fun fact about this is that Ramesses ii named his first daughter Bint-Anat (Daughter of Anat) and depicted himself as married to Anat so theres bound to be a but about the pantheon immortalized there.

Best of luck and happy reading!

[yamayuandadu]

Do you have sources for ancient visual depictions of deities from the lesser known ANE pantheons (like Canaanite, Hittite, etc.)? Neopagan blogs typically have some but most often they're unsourced and might not even be who they claim the picture to be of (labeling that woman with the goats and plants as Athirat is /incredibly/ common for example).

Goddesses in Context: On Divine Powers, Roles, Relationships and Gender in Mesopotamian Textual and Visual Sources by J. G. Westenholz and J. M. Asher-Greve (Mesopotamia-focused but has a lot of good insight on how and where to research and ex. Anat and Ishara come up)

The Iconography of the Canaanite Gods Reshef and Ba'al by I. Cornelius (exactly what it says on the tin)

The Many Faces of the Goddess: The Iconography of the Syro-Palestinian Goddesses Anat, Astarte, Qedeshet, and Asherah c. 1500-1000 BCE by I. Cornelius (Canaan - female deities)

Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East

Hittite Monuments

Some entries in Reallexikon der Assyriologie include illustrations

[erinaceina]

J, Francis!

An Hendy Hap 

(Francis + When Words Aren’t Enough)

Francis Crawford lay still in the still darkness, caught between breath and breathlessness, between the fading phantoms of sleep and the hushed wonder of the waking world. Every tender and well-used muscle vibrated with fine tension like the strings of a harpsichord on the brink of some grand and terrible work, but he permitted neither sound nor motion to disturb the exhausted slumber of the figure curled next to him, nor yet the great chord of joy resounding through and through him without beginning or end. Beyond the rain-darkened panes of the casement window, the full moon scowled through scudding clouds at the vale of the Tyne and the rising wind lashed the leafless trees into woodcut phantoms against the veil of night. But here there was only that waiting calm, not serenity, nor yet an end, but a beginning almost within reach, a beginning come now beyond the death of hope, beyond battle and grief and long despair. 

In the night-darkness of the room, keen blue eyes like spilled drops of deeper night picked out the dim lines of tester and cabinet, passing over the pale blur of discarded doublet and kirtle and the frothing spill of tangled linens, and settling on the faint, quicksilver traces of drying tears on the pale cheek resting so close to his own. 

Love is to his herte gon, with one spere so kene.

Dizziness greater than any swooning opium dream overcame him and he felt the breath catch in his throat as he spun like a barque without rudder or oars on a tide of words that would never suffice. Philippa’s hair twined like waterweed around him, the vast and terrible possibilities of touch at last, at last rose up about him like the towering waves consuming Cantref y Gwaelod, and he was drowning in astonished delight as, finally, he allowed one scarred, elegant hand to trace the sweet curve of shoulder and breast. Philippa stirred in her sleep and murmured, and he felt the softness and warmth of her skin slip against his own and the aching wonderment of his own response.

‘Qedeshet, Mistress of all the Gods, Eye of Ra, who has none like her. Come and let us beget all kinds of living things.’

[ravenemrysaurlineus]

Egyptian Lotus Wine

Never let it be said that the ancient Egyptians didn't know how to get down. Not only were they enthusiasts of traditional party drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana, but they also had their own unique concoction that made for some epic Nile-side all-nighters.

Blue water lilies (aka lotuses) had an important place in ancient Egyptian culture; they were used for their medicinal qualities, as a perfume, a sacred decoration, and they were seen as symbols of the gods Nefertem, Qedeshet, and Ra. Also, they were turned into ecstasy wine and used as orgy fuel. When lotuses are soaked in wine they change chemically, infusing the brew with aporphine and nuciferine and giving it an effect "much like cannabis, codeine or propoxyphene; maybe a little hallucinatory (at higher doses)."

The hypnotic concoction has been compared to MDMA and can also have a Viagra-like effect on men due to its effects on the circulatory system. These qualities, combined with the flower's sweet scent and sacred place in Egyptian society, made blue water lilies a favorite staple of fertility rituals. The Turin Papyrus depicts the women in these celebrations of sexuality as wearing very little aside from lotus headdresses (which may have had its own Viagra-like effect). No wonder Odysseus got stuck on that island for so long.

[tsalmu]

Ivory of a Winged Horned Goddess suckling two boys/kings Ugarit, Syria c. 1200 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

Anat? Ashtart? Ashirat? Shapash? Original is unidentified with no inscription. Anat has been described as a suckling goddess. See Cornelius for further discussion.

[tsalmu]

Qetesh-type Goddess adored by Female Votary Provenance Unknown, Egypt c. 1300 BCE? Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

"Qetesh" Goddess, Anat? Ashtart? Previously thought to depict Asherah / Ashirat but this is nowadays considered unfounded. Accompanied by degraded inscription which may read “Lady of Heaven, Mistress of all the Gods”.

[tsalmu]

Qetesh-type goddess (relief on back of image of Ramses II) Unknown provenance, Egypt c. 1300 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

[tsalmu]

Qetesh-type Goddess holding flowers standing on crescent and stars Ugarit, Syria c. 1200 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

[tsalmu]

Gold pendant of Qetesh-type Goddess Ulu Burun, Turkey c. 1318 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

Found in shipwreck off the coast, close to Rhodes. Currently cataloged as Ulu Burun KW 703 (Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology).

[tsalmu]

Gold pendants of Qetesh-type Goddess Ugarit, Syria c. 1200 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008 Left depiction holds two rams by the feet, flanked by lotuses. The right depiction holds lotus and papyrus plants, with star discs to one side.

[tsalmu]

Two Qetesh-type Goddesses standing on lion Nahal Barkai, Palestine / Tel Harasim, Israel c. 1200 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

[tsalmu]

Drawing of limestone relief of Qetesh-type Goddess Ihnasia el-Medina, Egypt c. 1250 BCE? Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

"Qetesh" Goddess, Anat? Ashtart? Previously thought to depict Asherah / Ashirat but this is nowadays considered unfounded.

[tsalmu]

Qetesh-type Goddess Memphis?, Egypt c. 1250 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

"Qetesh" Goddess, Anat? Ashtart? Previously thought to depict Asherah / Ashirat but this is nowadays considered unfounded.

[tsalmu]

Pendant of Qetesh-goddess, Unknown provenance. (Currently, National Archaeological Museum Athens 944 )

Golden Pendant of Qetesh-goddess Ugarit, Syria c. 1300 BCE

Gold Leaf Pendant of Qetesh-goddess Ugarit, Syria c. 1300 BCE

Bronze Applique Plaque of Qetesh-goddess Tomb from Akko / Acre, Israel c. 1300 BCE Source: The Many Faces of the Goddess by Izak Cornelius, 2008

[tsalmu]

Pottery mold of Qetesh-type goddess standing on horse, holding flowers, flanked by two male gods Tel Qarnayim in the Beisan valley / Beit She'an, Israel c. 1200 BCE?

"Qetesh" Goddess, Anat? Ashtart? Previously thought to depict Asherah / Ashirat but this is nowadays considered unfounded.