In this chapter, Stone discusses the ancient religious practices surrounding sexuality in pre-Hebrew societies and argues that Hebrew opposition to these customs was politically motivated rather than morally based. Stone contends that understanding these “sacred sexual customs” reveals how patriarchal religious systems deliberately attacked matrilineal social structures to gain control over land and inheritance (199).

Stone begins by addressing how Hebrew prophets and biblical editors condemned Canaanite religious practices, particularly focusing on what they characterized as sexual license associated with goddess-worshipping societies—what they referred to as “fertility cults.” However, Stone argues that this characterization misrepresents the true nature of these ancient customs. In societies throughout Sumer, Babylon, and Canaan, women lived within temple complexes that served as economic and cultural centers of their communities. These sacred women, known as qadishtu (meaning “sanctified” or “holy women”), engaged in sexual relationships with men who came to honor the Goddess, viewing these acts as sacred expressions of divine worship (204).

Stone provides archaeological evidence to support her thesis, including an 8,000-year-old stone plaque from a Neolithic shrine that depicts lovers embracing on one side and a woman holding an infant on the other. She argues that these sexual customs likely developed from early human understanding of the connection between sex and reproduction, knowledge that women probably discovered first and integrated into religious practice.

The author traces documentary evidence from multiple ancient civilizations showing that these customs persisted for thousands of years. Even wealthy and royal women participated freely, and according to ancient sources like Strabo, these women were considered excellent wives when they chose to marry. Stone emphasizes that concepts of shame or impropriety regarding sexuality were later inventions that contradicted ancient attitudes that viewed reproduction as divine.

Stone identifies the critical political motivation behind Hebrew opposition to these practices. Under matrilineal systems supported by the goddess religion, children inherited names, titles, and property from their mothers regardless of paternal identity. The qadishtu, who often owned land and engaged in business activities, would pass their wealth to their children through maternal lines. This system threatened Hebrew patriarchal goals of establishing patrilineal inheritance, which required certain knowledge of paternity.

Stone argues that Levite laws demanding female virginity before marriage and complete marital fidelity were designed specifically to establish paternal certainty and enable patrilineal inheritance. The death penalty for women who violated these laws, including rape victims, demonstrates the Hebrew preoccupation with controlling paternity. By condemning the sacred sexual customs as immoral, Hebrew leaders could simultaneously destroy the economic foundation of matrilineal society and justify their conquest of Canaanite lands.

The chapter concludes by examining how these ancient customs continued even within Hebrew territories, including Jerusalem’s temple, creating ongoing conflict between adherents of the Goddess religion and Hebrew patriarchal authorities. Stone suggests that this religious and social confrontation represented a fundamental struggle over power, property, and the structure of society itself.

In this chapter, Merlin Stone examines the persistent worship of female deities among Hebrew communities in ancient Canaan, despite official religious doctrine favoring the male god Yahweh. Stone argues that archaeological evidence reveals extensive goddess worship that Hebrew religious authorities worked systematically to suppress.

Stone presents archaeological findings from various excavations in biblical Canaan, including work by Professor Yigael Yadin at Hazor and research by Professor Albright and Kathleen Kenyon. These discoveries include numerous Astarte plaques dating from the Late Bronze Age (1500-1300 BCE) and figurines representing the fertility goddess found throughout the region. The plaques typically depicted the goddess with upraised arms holding lily stalks or serpents, adorned with Egyptian-style ringlets. Stone notes that such artifacts appear consistently across archaeological sites, indicating widespread goddess veneration that continued well into the seventh century BCE.

The chapter traces how the goddess appeared under various names throughout Canaan—as Ashtoreth, Asherah, Astarte, Anath, and others—and held primary importance in major Canaanite cities including Tyre, Sidon, and Byblos. Stone argues that while these deities became associated with male consorts like Baal, the religious practices and rituals remained fundamentally rooted in ancient goddess traditions. She suggests that Hebrew priests deliberately obscured the goddess’s prominence by consistently pairing her name with Baal’s and sometimes mispronouncing her name as “Boseth,” meaning shame.

Stone examines biblical accounts of Hebrew conquest in Canaan, describing systematic campaigns of destruction against existing populations and their religious sites. She cites passages from Joshua detailing the complete annihilation of cities and their inhabitants, arguing that these accounts reveal the violent suppression of goddess-worshipping communities. The chapter suggests that many Hebrew women may have been captured Canaanites who retained memories of their ancestral religious practices.

Despite official prohibition, Stone documents persistent goddess worship among Hebrews themselves. She cites biblical passages showing that Hebrew leaders, including King Solomon and King Ahab, actively participated in goddess veneration. The chapter describes how sacred groves called asherah were repeatedly erected and destroyed throughout Hebrew history, indicating ongoing religious conflict. Stone highlights a particularly revealing passage from Jeremiah, describing Hebrew women in Egypt who openly declared their intention to continue offering incense to the Queen of Heaven, claiming they had prospered when honoring her but suffered since abandoning her worship.

Stone concludes that archaeological evidence and biblical texts themselves demonstrate the extensive influence of goddess religion throughout Hebrew society. She argues that Levite priests engaged in deliberate censorship and propaganda to minimize the goddess’s historical importance but failed to completely erase evidence of her continued veneration among Hebrew communities. The chapter suggests that this religious tension reflected broader conflicts between matrilineal goddess-worshipping traditions and emerging patriarchal systems that sought to establish male religious and social authority.