The view that the goddess Asherah was venerated by a considerable part of the ancient Israelite population up to the time of exile, enjoying the unique status of being Yahweh´s consort, appears to have been gaining ground among a number of students of the ancient Istraelite religion in recent years. They have compiled abundant evidence of various types, all of which is worth careful examination. I am aware that it is unrealistic to attempt to draw out the many complexities of the scholarly arguments, the aim of this short study is to examine the major data and consider it they are sufficient to aqward the goddess this "controversial" role, something which presents a serious challenge to the character of the ancient Israelite religion and has implicaitions for biblical theology.