Image: Female Figurine

Description: Astarte Figurine. Clay figurines of this type were found in settlements throughout Judah, mainly in private dwellings. The heads of many of the figurines were made in a mold, some with wiglike headdresses and others with conical hats. They are commonly identified with the well-known Canaanite deities Astarte or Ashera. The use of such objects was vehemently condemned by the prophets of Israel. In excavations of the City of David in Jerusalem, more than two thousand cultic figurines were found, all of which had been smashed to bits. This may have been connected with the religious reform of Josiah in the late 7th century BCE, the primary aim of which was the abolition of idolatry and the establishment of the centrality of the Temple in Jerusalem. More info
Title: Female Figurine
Credit: http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/onlinecollection/object_collection.php?objectid=16079
Author: The Jewish Museum New York
Permission:   This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose. If you wish to use this content, you do not need to request permission as long as you follow any licensing requirements mentioned on this page. Wikimedia Foundation has received an e-mail confirming that the copyright holder has approved publication under the terms mentioned on this page. This correspondence has been reviewed by an OTRS member and stored in our permission archive. The correspondence is available to trusted volunteers as ticket #2011071910013337. If you have questions about the archived correspondence, please use the OTRS noticeboard. Ticket link: https://ticket.wikimedia.org/otrs/index.pl?Action=AgentTicketZoom&TicketNumber=2011071910013337
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes