This engraved print was produced by the Dutch artist Philips Galle (c. 1537 – 1612) after a design by Maarten van Heemskerck (1498 – 1574). Their art illustrates a scene of King Josiah of Judah (r. 640–609 BCE) cracking down with an iron fist against the worship of deities from the Canaanite pantheon of gods and goddesses. Curiously, the king’s realm was a target-rich environment for his religious oppression, as many of Josiah’s predecessors had been tolerant, and even supportive of, the worshippers of particular deities from the Canaanite (or West Semitic) religious pantheon. That religious and cultural tradition was loosely shared by the peoples of ancient Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria, who were linguistically and literarily similar to the Hebrews. The most ancient and foundational Hebrew kings (like Saul, David, Solomon, and others) had enigmatic ties to Canaanite religious entities (such as the high-god El, the storm-god Baal, the consort goddess Asherah, and the fertility goddess Astarte). Kings Saul (said to have ruled approximately c. 1021–1000 BCE) and David (flourished c. 1000 BCE), the first and second kings of Israel, both had children with names that referenced Baal. Wise King Solomon (said to have ruled in the 10th century BCE) was reported to have built shrines to the gods Chemosh, Moloch/Molech, Milcom, and the goddess Astarte. King Ahab (flourished 9th century BCE) built shrines for Baal and Asherah, as did King Manasseh (said to have reigned c. 686 to 642 BCE). Such was the long tradition that King Josiah began to undo when he started his ruthless campaign to stamp out the worshippers, priests and shrines in his land that were not devoted to Yahweh. On this, the Bible stated: “The king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. He broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the sacred poles, and covered the sites with human bones” (2 Kings 23:13-14). It is this scene of King Josiah defiling the shrines of Astarte/Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Milcom that Philips Galle and Maarten van Heemskerck re-create with their art.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version With The Apocrypha (Fifth Edition, Fully Revised), edited by Michael D. Coogan and associates. Oxford University Press, 2018.
- The Oxford Companion to the Bible, edited by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 1993.
- Stories from Ancient Canaan (Second Edition), translated and edited by Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith. Published by Westminster John Knox Press in 1978 (second edition in 2012).
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ahab
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Manasseh-king-of-Judah
- https://open.smk.dk/en/artwork/image/kksgb10005/5
