When God Was a Woman

In Chapter 6, Stone argues that ancient goddess-worshipping societies operated under a matrilineal system in which high priestesses held ultimate political power, including the authority to select temporary male consorts who served as kings before being ritually sacrificed. Stone contends that this practice originated in Neolithic temple communities where goddess worship was central to economic and social organization.

Stone presents evidence from various ancient civilizations to support her thesis that kingship evolved from the position of male consort to the high priestess. In Sumerian society, temples of goddesses like Inanna controlled vast economic enterprises, managing agricultural activities, crafts, and trade. The high priestess, known as the Entu in Sumer or the Tawawannas in Anatolia, likely served as the nominal leader of these temple communities, though Stone suggests governance was conducted through assemblies of community elders rather than monarchical rule.

The author traces the practice of ritual regicide across multiple cultures, drawing from three types of evidence: ceremonial accounts describing sacred marriages between priestesses and their consorts, ritual documents showing later substitute practices, and mythological legends explaining these customs. Stone cites examples from Africa, particularly Nigerian traditions in which queens took temporary lovers who were strangled after the queen became pregnant, to demonstrate that similar patterns existed beyond the ancient Near East.