Goddess Figurines from Judah

These figurines perhaps represent Astarte, a goddess of Canaan, or related female deities. Archaeologists have found many small statues of this kind in private houses in Judah. They appear to date from about 800 to 600 B.C.E. Israelites probably kept them in their homes as religious objects promoting fertility and prosperity. The Israelites’ prophets fiercely condemned the worship of images such as these as part of their support of the development of monotheism and the abandonment of polytheism, the long-established type of religion in the ancient world. (Astarte Figurines, Judah / The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel / Bridgeman Images.)