Editing Qetesh (section)

== Origin ==
Early researchers attempted to prove Qetesh was simply a form of a known Canaanite deity, rather than a fully independent goddess. [[William F. Albright]] proposed in 1939 that she was a form of the "lady of Byblos" ([[Baalat Gebal]]), while René Dussard suggested a connection to "Asherat" (e.g. the biblical [[Asherah]]) in 1941. Subsequent studies tried to find further evidence for equivalence of Qetesh and Asherah, despite dissimilar functions and symbols.<ref>S. A. Wiggins, ''[https://www.academia.edu/1307032/The_Myth_of_Asherah_Lion_Lady_and_Serpent_Goddess The Myth of Asherah: Lion Lady and Serpent Goddess]'', ''Ugarit-Forschungen'' 23, 1991, p. 384-386; 389</ref>

The arguments presenting Qetesh and Asherah as the same goddess rely on the erroneous notion that Asherah, [[Astarte]] and [[Anat]] were the only three prominent goddesses in the religion of ancient [[Levant]], and formed a trinity.<ref>S. A. Wiggins, ''[https://www.academia.edu/1307032/The_Myth_of_Asherah_Lion_Lady_and_Serpent_Goddess The Myth of Asherah: Lion Lady and Serpent Goddess]'', ''Ugarit-Forschungen'' 23, 1991, p. 387</ref> However, while Ashtart (Astarte) and Anat were closely associated with each other in [[Ugarit]], in Egyptian sources, and elsewhere,<ref>M. Smith, ''[https://www.academia.edu/12709064/_Athtart_in_Late_Bronze_Age_Syrian_Texts 'Athtart in Late Bronze Age Syrian Texts]'' [in:] D. T. Sugimoto (ed), ''Transformation of a Goddess. Ishtar – Astarte – Aphrodite'', 2014, p. 49-51</ref><ref>G. Del Olme Lete, ''[https://www.academia.edu/4583174/2013_KTU_1_107_A_miscellany_of_incantations_against_snakebite KTU 1.107: A miscellany of incantations against snakebite]'' [in] O. Loretz, S. Ribichini, W. G. E. Watson, J. Á. Zamora (eds), ''Ritual, Religion and Reason. Studies in the Ancient World in Honour of Paolo Xella'', 2013, p. 198</ref> there is no evidence for conflation of Athirat and Ashtart, nor is Athirat associated closely with Ashtart and Anat in Ugaritic texts.<ref>S. A. Wiggins, ''[https://www.academia.edu/1307031/A_Reassessment_of_Asherah_With_Further_Considerations_of_the_Goddess A Reassessment of Asherah: With Further Considerations of the Goddess]'', 2007, p. 57, footnote 124; see also p. 169</ref> The concept of Athirat, Anat and Ashtart as a trinity and the only prominent goddesses in the entire region (popularized by authors like [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]]) is modern and ignores the large role of other female deities, for example [[Shapash]], in known texts, as well as the fact El appears to be the deity most closely linked to Athirat in primary sources.<ref>S. A. Wiggins, ''[https://www.academia.edu/17830631/A_Reassessment_of_Tikva_Frymer_Kenskys_Asherah A Reassessment of Tikva Frymer-Kensky's Asherah]'' [in:] R. H. Bael, S. Halloway, J. Scurlock, ''In the Wake of Tikva Frymer-Kensky'', 2009, p. 174</ref><ref>S. A. Wiggins, ''[https://www.academia.edu/1307034/Shapsh_Lamp_of_the_Gods Shapsh, Lamp of the Gods]'' [in:] N. Wyatt (ed.), ''Ugarit, religion and culture: proceedings of the International Colloquium on Ugarit, Religion and Culture, Edinburgh, July 1994; essays presented in honour of Professor John C. L. Gibson'', 1999, p. 327</ref> One of the authors relying on the Anat-Ashtart-Athirat trinity theory is Saul M. Olyan (author of ''Asherah and the Cult of Yahweh in Israel'') who calls the Qudshu-Astarte-Anat plaque "a triple-fusion hypostasis", and considers Qudshu to be an epithet of Athirat by a process of elimination, for Astarte and Anat appear after Qudshu in the inscription.<ref>''The Ugaritic Baal cycle: Volume 2'' by Mark S. Smith, page 295</ref><ref>''The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts'' by Mark S. Smith - Page 237</ref>

Modern [[Egyptologists]], such as Christiane Zivie-Coche, do not consider Qetesh to be a hypostasis of Anat or Astarte, but a goddess developed in Egypt possibly without a clear forerunner among Canaanite or Syrian goddesses, though given a Semitic name and associated mostly with foreign deities.<ref>Ch. Zivie-Choche, ''[https://escholarship.org/content/qt7tr1814c/qt7tr1814c.pdf Foreign Deities in Egypt]'' [in:] J. Dieleman, W. Wendrich (eds.), ''UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology'', 2011, p. 5-6</ref>