| This dissertation presents a reading of the Genesis 3 narrative as a myth that was symbolically understood in Iron Age Israel as relating the triumph of Yahweh, and his followers, over the Levantine goddess Asherah, and her followers. This study places Genesis 3 (part of the "Eden Narrative" of Gen 2:4b-3:24) in the context of the culture and art of Iron Age Israel. By using the interdisciplinary approach of socio-historical, literary, art historical, and history of religions methodologies this study focuses on how the rhetorical argument contained in Genesis 3 was built with certain key symbols. By examining the images in the text and comparing them to the iconography of Solomon's Temple and to the "Type-Scene of the Tree of Life" (a common motif in a variety of media), the Eden myth is analyzed according to its cultural referents. Though an argument, this study raises the possibility that Iron Age Israelites saw Genesis 3 as an anti-Asherah polemic, possibly edited from earlier materials by the J author (the "Eden Poet"). Ultimately, the close reading of Genesis 3, conducted in this study, situated against the backdrop of its Sitz im Leben, yields the idea that Yahweh and Asherah's separation is recorded in the symbolism of the Eden Narrative. The implications of this study invite further research into the cultural symbolism contained in the Hebrew Bible, as well as an expanded explanation of the relationship of Yahweh to the goddess Asherah. |
