WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT WOMEN'S RITES IN THE ISRAELITE FAMILY CONTEXT?

What we know about the roles of women in Israelite family religion is a topic in need of reassessment. In this article, the author evaluates a number of common claims which have been made about family religion and gender. These include the idea that goddess worship was especially important to women; that Judean pillar figurines were used primarily or exclusively by women in their ritual activities; that the religious practices of ancient Israelite women overlapped little with those of men; and that birth-related ritual contexts were a special preserve of women.