When God Was a Woman

Here, archaeologically documented, is the story of the religion of the Goddess. Known by many names--Astarte, Isis, Ishtar, among others--she reigned supreme in the Near and Middle East. Beyond being worshipped for fertility, she was revered as the wise creator and the one souce of universal order. Under her, women's roles differed markedly from those in patriarchal Judeo-Christian cultures. Women bought and sold property and traded in the marketplace, and the inheritance of title and property was passed from mother to daughter. How did the change come about? By documenting the wholesale rewriting of myth and religious dogmas, Merlin Stone details a most ancient conspiracey: the patriarchal reimaging of the Goddess as a wanton, depraved figure. This portrait that laid the foundation for one of culture's greatest shams--the legend of Adam and fallen Eve.