1Aegean-inspired female figurines are one of the most prominent features of early Iron Age material culture in Philistia in the Southern Levant. These include the ‘Ashdoda’ figurines, considered to be influenced by Aegean (and possibly also Cypriote) prototypes of an enthroned ruling goddess, and the ‘mourner’ figurines – a version of the Aegean psi-figurines – both depicted wearing a polos (Yasur-Landau 2001; Ben-Shlomo & Press 2009; Ben-Shlomo 2010: 10) (Fig. 24.1). These figurines were never found in temples, but rather mostly in domestic contexts, suggesting that the domestic behavioural patterns brought by the Aegean immigrants included the domestic cult of an Aegean goddess (Yasur-Landau 2012). These new forms seem to have replaced the Canaanite mould-made figurines of nude goddesses, which are not found in Philistia after the end of the Late Bronze Age. While much discussion has been devoted to the typology and the origin of the figurines’ iconography, very little has been written about their role as representations of goddesses in the pantheon of Iron Age Philistia. It is conceivable that the ruling goddesses in Philistia were part of a polytheistic system; but was there only one goddess or more? Strangely enough, to date, research on the pantheon of Philistia still focuses on the gods mentioned in the biblical text and in classical sources, which are almost exclusively male gods, such as Ba‘al-zebub (a deliberate distortion of Ba‘al-zebul), Dagan/Dagon, (Zeus-) Marnas and possibly Horon (Singer 1992; Mazar 2000: 213-214), with the only exception being the cult of the goddess Atargatis/Derketo in Ashkelon (Finkelberg 2006). The discrepancy between the predominant mentions of male gods in the texts and the occurrence of female figurines in the archaeological record led Singer to suggest there was a shift in the gender of the main Philistine deity: “In their homeland the Philistines probably worshipped an earth and grain goddess of the ‘Great Mother’ type, probably very similar in her character to Ge, Rhea and Demeter and their Anatolian counterpart Kybele. When they arrived in the Levant they identified their earth and grain goddess with the Semitic earth and grain god” (Singer 1992: 92). It is the aim of this article to go beyond questions of the origin of deities and cult practices, attempting, instead, to augment our knowledge of the pantheon of Philistia in the Iron Age through an examination of iconographic and other evidence that may point to the plurality of goddesses [deities] that were worshipped. Especially, in this short paper I will raise the possibility that the temples in Philistia contained evidence of the cult of more than one goddess in them.

2The ivory triad from Mycenae (Athens National Archaeological Museum 7711) is an appropriate outset for a discussion on the transformation in the understanding of the iconography of goddesses in the Bronze and Iron Age Mediterranean. Though found on the Greek mainland, it is nonetheless widely accepted as a Neopalatial Cretan product. This superb miniature group depicts two women and a child interacting through affectionate physical contact. At first the figures were interpreted as two women of different ages and a boy (Wace 1939: 1); however, the child’s dress and jewellery identifies it a young girl (Rutter 2003: 39). Younger (2009: 209) identifies the women as Demeter and Persephone, and the young girl as Korê, and compares them to a trio of girls and young women seen in the Xeste 3 fresco in Akrotiri. Budin (2011: 284-286) argues that the ivory trio bore different meanings to the Minoans who created it and to the Mycenaeans who viewed it later. The first saw it as a group of girls connected with cultic activity, similar to those seen in the Xeste 3 frescoes. To the latter, who were familiar with the imagery of kourotrophos, this may have been perceived as a pair of goddesses, of which one was the mother of the child. While iconography is complicated for comprehension to begin with, it also represents only few subjects, which are but a part of a much more complex reality of ancient cult. One window to this reality in the Aegean is provided by the often discussed Linear B tablet from Pylos, Tn 316. This is a detailed record of offerings brought to goddesses and gods, and its dry administrative nature makes it a credible source for cultic reality (Palaima 2011: 64-68). The text mentions offerings to 14 or 15 deities in six shrines. Not only does it indicate the vast variety of deities worshiped in a single kingdom, but also the fact that cult places were dedicated to more than one deity. Thus, in the shrine of Poseidon there are offerings to three goddesses, and the shrine of Zeus receives offerings to Zeus, Hera and Drimios, son of Zeus (Duhoux 2008: 321-335). As will be demonstrated below, the plurality of deities within a single temple can also be found in Philistia.

1. Symbolism of two goddesses in 12^th c. Philistia

3The emergence of new cultic symbolism connected with the appearance of (a) new goddess (es) is accompanied in Philistia not only by the introduction of new types of figurines, but also by changes in the symbolism of designs on painted pottery that is related to the cult of goddesses. During the Late Bronze Age, and especially in the 14^th and 13^th centuries BC, the ‘ibex and palm tree’ motif, showing a sacred tree flanked by quadrupeds and other animals, is the most common Canaanite figurative motif on pottery. This, as well as the related motif of the sacred tree, is an image of sacred fertility directly connected with the Canaanite goddess Asherah or Elat (meaning ‘the goddess’) (Keel & Uehlinger 1998: 56-58; Yasur-Landau 2008a: 216) (Fig. 24.2). This element became considerably rarer in the beginning of the Iron Age in Philistia and seems to be replaced by the Aegean-style bird motifs seen on Monochrome and Bichrome pottery, which was now the most common figurative element in Philistia (Fig. 24.3). The bird motif was far too recurrent to be a mere decorative element. Rather, it was suggested that the key to the symbolic meaning of the Philistine birds comes from representations in the Aegean world, in which birds are common symbols in both Minoan and Mycenaean religious iconography, manifesting the actual or invisible presence of a goddess (Yasur-Landau 2008a: 216-220; 2009). Some of the many examples that show the bird behind an enthroned deity include a gold ring from Tiryns (LH II?; Sakellariou 1964: 202-203 [No. 179]; Rehak 1995: 103) and a similar depiction of a bird sitting on the throne of a seated goddess, depicted on the LH IIIA1 ‘Homage Krater’ from Aradippo, Cyprus (Vermeule & Karageorghis 1982: 23-24, pl. III, 29). Another famous depiction is found on the eastern side of the Haghia Triada sarcophagus (Long 1974: 29; Marinatos 1993: 35), showing two female deities standing in a chariot drawn by griffins, with a bird flying above them. In the Postpalatial period birds are shown attached to the headdresses of the LM IIIB and LM IIIC goddesses with upraised arms from Gazi, Khania, Karphi and the Shrine of the Double Axes in Knossos (Gesell 1985: 41).

4However, though the ibex and palm tree motif become much rarer, it seems that, at least in the 12^th c., Canaanite and Aegean cultic symbolism co-existed. This is evident, for example, in the case of two ring-base kraters from Ekron; the vessels follow an Aegean form, but are decorated nonetheless with palm trees – a theme that does not appear elsewhere in the Aegean-style pottery repertoire, and one that must have been borrowed from the Canaanite iconographic tradition (Dothan 1998: pl. 2.2, Stratum VIIB; Dothan & Zukerman 2004: fig. 18.8) (Fig. 24.4). This rare, ‘hybrid’ iconography indicates the possibility of a continuation of Canaanite cultic traditions related to the worship of the goddess Ashera side by side with the worship of an Aegean goddess in early Iron Age Philistia. This is by no means a surprise, as other behavioural patterns in this region point to a coexistence of Canaanite-and Aegean-inspired traditions in virtually every house in Philistia. These patterns include the co-occurrence of cooking installations, cooking pots and serving vessels of both traditions (Yasur-Landau 2011; 2012).

2. Two goddesses in the shrines of Tell Qasile and Yavneh

5Tell Qasile is located in modern-day Tel Aviv, on the bank of the Yarkon River. In the 11^th c. BC, an era of growing international connections, it was a port town that also had a residential quarter and an impressive series of temples that had been rebuilt several times. It has been argued that the plans of these temples have an affinity with Levantine, Cypriote and Aegean temples of the Late Bronze Age (Mazar 2000: 215-222).

6The renewed trade relations with Cyprus in the 11^th c. introduced elements of Cypriote material culture into the local culture of Philistia (Mazar 1994: 52-54). These included the straight and horn-shaped bottles adapted into the Philistine Bichrome repertoire (Dothan 1982: 160-168; Stager 1995: 338-339, fig. 3; Yasur-Landau 2010: 301) and the bimetallic knives (Mazar 2000: 227). Cypriote elements were introduced also into the cult in Philistia; examples include the use of bovid scapula for divination (Dothan 1998: 155; Zukerman et alii 2007; Yasur-Landau 2010: 202-204) and possibly also the introduction of wheeled stands and of masks (Mazar 2000: 277).

7The Tell Qasile naos is a pottery plaque (36.6 cm x 25 cm) found in Locus 134 in the Stratum X temple – a significant context that will be discussed below (Fig. 24.5). This plaque represents a façade of a building, possibly a temple. Four holes – two on either of its sides – were made for the hinges of two small (wooden?) doors, now missing, that could be opened to reveal two figures that stood inside the structure. These were two female figures, ca. 26 cm tall, that were moulded separately and attached to the plaque. Only the legs of these figurines survived, but the shape of their bodies can be discerned from their imprints on the plaque. Mazar convincingly identified these with the well-known Late Bronze Age Canaanite (and Egyptian) deity type of the nude goddess holding her breasts. Their hairdo was compared to the Hathor-type hairdo. Mazar also observed that the inspiration for the general shape of the object came from stone and ceramic naoi of New Kingdom Egypt (Mazar 1980: 82-84). The find spot of the naos is significant for understanding its meaning. It was found in the space between the bamah of the temple and the storage space behind it. This location may indicate that it was the main object of veneration in the temple, an ‘icon’ which may have rested on the bamah (Mazar 1980: 121). The Stratum X temple was set on fire and completely destroyed. As no fragments of the figures were found by the naos, it is very likely that it was deliberately mutilated before the temple was set ablaze (Mazar 1980: 82). The unusual aspect of this naos is that it included two nude female figures set side by side. Obviously intrigued by this occurrence, in the conclusion of the volume about the cult finds, Mazar suggests that, alternatively, the figures may have been of a god and a goddess (Mazar 1980: 121). The identical feet and silhouettes, however, support Mazar’s initial identification of two goddesses. The iconography of the nude goddesses in the Levant, influenced by both Egyptian and Syro-Mesopotamian iconographic traditions, shows exclusively a single goddess (Budin 2015), while deities that are presented in pairs are commonly of a god and a goddess (e.g. on metal figurines from Syria [Negbi 1976: pls 4, 5]). Why then did the most important object in the temple portray this unusual image of two goddesses?

8It may be possible to find in the Tell Qasile temple iconography related both to the sacred tree symbolism associated with the Canaanite Ashera, and to the bird symbolism, associated with the ruling goddess introduced into Philistia in the 12^th c.: thus Strata XI and XI yielded bird imagery on Bichrome pottery (Mazar 1985: figs 21: 2, 27: 11, 32: 7) as well as on cultic ‘bird bowls’ (Mazar 1980: 96-98). These appeared side by side with imagery connected with the Canaanite goddess, such as a large cultic pot decorated with images of trees (Mazar 1980: 104- 106; 2000: 225-227) (Fig. 24.6). It may well be that the Qasile shrine was not dedicated to a cult of a single female deity, but rather to a duo of goddesses.

9The Qasile naos may not have been an isolated case in Philistia. New evidence comes from the finds in the Yavneh favissa, a rich collection of ceramic stands, chalices, altars and other cult-related objects, dated to the 9^th c. BC, found in the tell of Yavneh, located on the coastal plain, north of Ashdod and south of Tel Aviv. The imagery decorating almost 120 cultic stands includes female figures, lions and bulls, homed animals and palm trees. Kletter argues that the figures on the Yavneh stands are not mortal women, i.e. worshippers, but rather “a goddess (or goddesses) whose name (s) we cannot identify at present” (Kletter 2010: 187). Ziffer (2010: 90) argues that the still unknown temple from which this favissa’s assemblage must have originated, was dedicated to the cult of a single goddess connected with aspects of fertility and perhaps also with her male consort.

10However, several of the richly decorated stands seem to depict a pair of nude goddesses, side by side. Such is the case for stand CAT 15 (Ziffer & Kletter 2007: 60 bottom figure; Kletter & Ziffer 2010: 216, pl. 8: 2) which shows two nude figures standing side by side in a façade of a structure, with an engraved palm tree between them. The figures are flanked by two bull protomes (Ziffer & Kletter 2007: 60, CAT 61; Kletter & Ziffer 2010: CAT 86) (Fig. 24.7). Similar depictions of two nude figures can be seen in stands CAT 16 (Kletter & Ziffer 2010: pl. 9), CAT28 (ibid.: pl. 9), CAT49 (ibid.: pl. 14: 2), CAT 61 (ibid.: pl. 18:2), CAT 79 (ibid.: pl. 20:2) and CAT 86 (ibid.: pl. 21:2). The pairs of females appear twice on at least one of the stands (CAT 48; ibid.: pl. 14: 1). Ziffer sees the imagery of the nude goddess cupping her breasts as one stemming from Levantine and ancient Near Eastern traditions, similarly to the combination between the nude figures and the palm tree (Ziffer 2010: 66, 77). However, she compares the appearance of a pair of women standing in an opening or a ‘window’ to Late Bronze Age Cypriote and Mycenaean depictions (2010: 82) rather than to the Canaanite or ancient Near East prototypes. One such example is the famous cultic stand from Enkomi (Courtois et alii 1986: pl. XVIII: 16, left; Matthaus 1985: pl. 100: 703) or the Mycenaean ‘Window Krater’ from Kourion (Vermeule & Karageorghis 1982: III, 10). This observation is valuable and may hint at the origin of a key iconographic element in later Iron Age iconography, that of the ‘women in the window’. It does not however relate to the phenomenon seen in Yavneh and in the Tell Qasile temple, of the women deities appearing in pairs. Another interesting feature is the pairs of stands that were crafted by the same artist and contain similar imagery (Ziffer 2010: 86). To my mind, this suggests that dedications were made in duos – a strong indication that the Yavneh temple that was associated with the favissa was dedicated to the worship of two deities, very likely those depicted on the stands.

3. Two goddesses (and one weather-god) in major temples in Philistia in the 8^th and 7^th centuries BC

11An Assyrian relief from the south-west palace at Nimrud from the days of Tiglath-Pileser 111 (ca. 745-727 BC) shows a procession of statues of deities, possibly captured during the king’s campaign against Gaza and its king, Hanun. This may be the only known realistic depiction of cult statues from a major temple in Philistia (Ben-Shlomo 2010: 98-99, with references) (Fig. 24.8). The statue on the left is a male weather-god holding an axe in one hand and three lightning bolts in the other. To its right is a much smaller statue that is being carried. It is almost completely covered with a screen and thus its features are hidden. On the right are two statues of female deities, both enthroned and wearing a polos. The one on the right is holding a conical cup in one hand and a ring in the other. Her posture and lavishly decorated dress are reminiscent of the much earlier seated Mycenaean goddess on the ring from Tiryns. The enthroned goddess to her left is holding rings in both her hands. This depiction bears stylistic similarly to a neo-Hittite depiction from Carchemish of a procession of gods, showing two male gods, one wielding an axe and a lightning bolt, and two standing female deities, wearing a polos, identified as Kubaba/Kibele. This, in turn, is a continuation of the Hittite iconographic tradition seen in the procession of the gods inscribed in the Yazilikaya rock temple (Seeher 2011: 64-69). Ben-Shlomo (2010: 98) proposes that the Gazan pantheon represented in the Nimrud relief is composed of a male deity and at least two female deities. This likely hypothesis, which is supported by finds from Tel Miqne/Ekron, is discussed below.

12By the late 8^th or early 7^th c. BC representations of two polos-wearing deities were known in the Greek world, with the finest example being the hammered-bronze images of two goddesses and a larger god from the temple of Apollon in Dreros, Crete. The goddesses very likely represent Leto and Artemis, and the male god likely the god Apollon. The influence for their production may well have come from Western Anatolia or Syria, thus creating a form of koine in the representations of goddesses in the Eastern Mediterranean (Morris 1995: 163-164; Giumlia-Mair 2012: 11).

13Another possible evidence of the co-occurrence of two goddesses in a temple in Philistia comes from the excavation of a 7^th c. temple/palace complex at Tel Miqne/Ekron Field IV (Gitin 2012). This temple contained a dedicatory inscription mentioning the ruler who built the temple and the deity to whom he dedicated it. The ruler, Achish, son of Padi, king of Ekron, is identified with Ikausu, mentioned in an Assyrian inscription. The name ‘Achish’ is not Semitic, and parallels with both Aeneas’s father Anchises and with the ethnonym Achaios = Achaean have been suggested (Naveh 1998; Yasur-Landau 2008b). The goddess’s name, Ptgyh, is also non-Semitic and unknown in any other ancient Near Eastern source (Gitin et alii 1997: 11-12). The name was interpreted as a derivative of ‘Potnia Gaia’ or ‘Gaia from Pytho’ (Schäfer-Lichtenberger 2000: 89-91; Finkelberg 2006: 114; Yasur-Landau 2010: 306). The find of an ostracon bearing the inscription qdš l’šrt, ‘dedicated to Ashera’, found in the temple auxiliary building, led Gitin and colleagues to assume that Ptgyh was “identified with the local Semitic deity of Asherah” (Gitin et alii 1997: 12). However, a second ostracon found in the temple reads lb ‘l wlpdy ‘ (dedicated or belongs) to Baal and to Padi’ (Gitin 2012: fig. 2: 4). This opens the possibility that three deities were worshipped in the Ekron temple: two goddesses and one god. If Ptgyh is indeed connected to Gaia, than the cult in the temple was dedicated to two fertility and earth goddesses, as well as to Ba‘al, a weather-god. This reconstruction closely resembles the above-mentioned depiction of the statues taken from the temple at Gaza, which shows two enthroned goddesses and one standing weather-god.

Conclusions

14This study of iconography and of other finds related to the cult of goddesses in Philistia in the 12^th-7^th centuries BC aims to offer no more than a rough sketch of the role of goddesses in the Philistine pantheon. Still, it indicates clearly that, rather than being dominated by male deities, religion in Philistia was characterised by the cult of goddesses in both peripheral temples, such as those in Tell Qasile and Yavneh, and central temples, such as the temple in Ekron and perhaps the one in Gaza. Furthermore, it is possible that, in several cases, the temples were not the locus of cult for only one goddess, but of two goddesses worshipped side by side. One option for the identification of these goddesses is that one was a Canaanite fertility goddess, very likely Ashera, whose symbolism of the sacred tree is a continuity of Late Bronze Age traditions, and the other was an Aegean-inspired ruling, fertility goddess, whose symbolism includes the bird, perhaps to be identified with Gaia. This important role of goddesses is not suggested by any later Iron Age or classical sources related to Philistia. At the same time, the archaeological finds provide very meagre evidence of the cult of gods in Philistia, despite their predominance in literary sources. Two important pieces of evidence, the ostracon from the temple of Ekron with the mention of Ba‘al, and the image of the weather-god taken by the Assyrians from the temple of Gaza, support the literary evidence for the existence of cults of weather-gods in Philistia at least in the late Iron Age.