Queen of Heaven was a title given to a number of ancient sky goddesses in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Anat, Isis, Inanna, Astarte, Hera and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah). Elsewhere, Nordic Frigg also bore this title. In Greco-Roman times Hera, and her Roman aspect Juno bore this title. Forms and content of worship varied. In modern times, the title “Queen of Heaven” is still used by contemporary pagans to refer to the Great Goddess, while Catholics and Orthodox Christians now apply the ancient pagan title to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Isis was venerated first in Egypt. As per the Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BCE, Isis was the only goddess worshiped by all Egyptians alike, and whose influence was so widespread by that point, that she had become completely syncretic with the Greek goddess Demeter. It is after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, and the Hellenization of the Egyptian culture initiated by Ptolemy I Soter, that she eventually became known as ‘Queen of Heaven’. Lucius Apuleius confirmed this in Book 11, Chap 47 of his novel known as The Golden Ass, in which his character prayed to the “Queen of Heaven”. The passage says that the goddess herself responded to his prayer, in which she explicitly identified herself as both the Queen of Heaven and Isis.
Then with a weeping countenance, I made this orison to the puissant Goddess, saying: O blessed Queen of Heaven...
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Author: Wikipedia
Keywords: queen of heaven, Grove, Asherah, Asherim, Assur, Asir, Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth, Ashratum, Ashratu, Ashtart, Astarte, goddess of fertility, moon goddess, Moon god, God of fertility, Idol, Foreign god, Idolatry, Fertility god, Asherah pole, mother, mother in heaven, female deity, female goddess, goddess, Hera, Isis
Bible reference(s): 1 Kings 14:15, 1 Kings 15:12, 1 Kings 18:19, 2 Kings 21:7, 2 Kings 23:7, Hosea 4:14, Jeremiah 11:13, Jeremiah 44:16, Jeremiah 7:18, Judges 3:7, Judges 6:25, Exodus 34:13, Deuteronomy 7:5, Deuteronomy 12:3, Judges 2:13, Judges 10:6, 1 Samuel 7:3, 1 Samuel 7:4, 1 Samuel 12:10, 1 Samuel 31:10, 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33, 1 Kings 14:15, 1 Kings 14:23, 2 Kings 17:10, 2 Kings 23:13, 2 Kings 23:14, 2 Chronicles 14:3, 2 Chronicles 17:6, 2 Chronicles 24:18, 2 Chronicles 31:1, 2 Chronicles 33:19, 2 Chronicles 34:3, 2 Chronicles 34:4, 2 Chronicles 34:7, Isaiah 17:8, Isaiah 27:9, Jeremiah 17:2, Jer 44:17-19, Jer 44:25, Micah 5:14
Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Queen of heaven (antiquity),” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
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