Editing Matriarchy (section)

==== Bronze Age ====
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2013}}
According to Rohrlich, "many scholars are convinced that Crete was a matriarchy, ruled by a queen-priestess"<ref>{{harvp|Rohrlich|1977|p=36}} and see p.&nbsp;37 ("Minoan matriarchate" (subquoting, at p.&nbsp;37 n.&nbsp;7, Thomson, George, ''The Prehistoric Aegean'' (N.Y.: Citadel Press, 1965), p.&nbsp;450)), Baruch, Elaine Hoffman, ''Introduction'', in Pt. Four (''Visions of Utopia''), in {{harvp|Rohrlich|1984|p=207}} ("matriarchal societies, particularly Minoan Crete"), and {{harvp|Rohrlich|1984|p=6}} ("the Minoan matriarchy" & "Minoan Crete").</ref> and the "Cretan civilization" was "matriarchal" before "1500 BC," when it was overrun and colonized by the patriarchy.<ref>Three quotations: {{harvp|Rohrlich|1977|p=37}}</ref>

Also according to Rohrlich, "in the early Sumerian city-states 'matriarchy seems to have left something more than a trace.{{'"}}<ref>{{harvp|Rohrlich|1977|p=39}}, quoting Thomson, George, ''The Prehistoric Aegean'' (N.Y.: Citadel Press, 1965), p.&nbsp;160.</ref>

One common misconception among historians of the Bronze Age such as Stone and Eisler is the notion that the [[ancient Semitic-speaking peoples|Semites]] were matriarchal while the Indo-Europeans practiced a patriarchal system. An example of this view is found in Stone's ''[[When God Was a Woman]]'',{{Page needed|date=July 2013}} wherein she makes the case that the worship of [[Yahweh]] was an Indo-European invention superimposed on an ancient matriarchal Semitic nation. Evidence from the [[Amorites]] and [[pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic Arabs]], however, indicates that the primitive Semitic family was in fact patriarchal and patrilineal.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

However, not all scholars agree. Anthropologist and Biblical scholar [[Raphael Patai]] writes in ''[[The Hebrew Goddess]]'' that the Jewish religion, far from being pure monotheism, contained from earliest times strong polytheistic elements, chief of which was the cult of [[Asherah]], the mother goddess. A story in the Biblical Book of Judges places the worship of Asherah in the 12th century BC. Originally a [[Canaan]]ite goddess, her worship was adopted by Hebrews who intermarried with Canaanites. She was worshipped in public and was represented by carved wooden poles. Numerous small nude female figurines of clay were found all over ancient Palestine and a seventh-century Hebrew text invokes her aid for a woman giving birth.<ref>{{Harvp|Patai|1990|pp=38–39}}</ref>

[[Shekinah]] is the name of the feminine holy spirit who embodies both divine radiance and compassion. Exemplifying various traits associated with mothers, she comforts the sick and dejected, accompanies the Jews whenever they are exiled, and intercedes with God to exercise mercy rather than to inflict retribution on sinners. While not a creation of the Hebrew Bible, Shekinah appears in a slightly later Aramaic translation of the Bible in the first or second century C.E., according to Patai. Initially portrayed as the presence of God, she later becomes distinct from God, taking on more physical attributes.<ref>{{Harvp|Patai|1990|pp=96–111}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the Indo-Europeans were known to have practiced multiple succession systems, and there is much better evidence of matrilineal customs among the Indo-European [[Celts]] and [[Germanics]] than among any ancient Semitic peoples.{{where|date=July 2022}}

Women ruled [[Sparta]] while the men were often away fighting, or when both kings were incapacitated or too young to rule. [[Gorgo, Queen of Sparta]], was asked by a woman in [[Attica]] "You Spartan women are the only women that lord it over your men", to which Gorgo replied: "Yes, for we are the only women that are mothers of men!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Sayings_of_Spartans*/Lycurgus.html#13.Gorgo|title=Plutarch • Sayings of Spartans — Lycurgus|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=2019-02-21}}</ref>