Asherah was the name of a Canaanite Baal goddess of fertility (1 Kings 18:18-19; 2 Kings 23:4; 2 Kings 23:7). (The plural form of the word in Hebrew was Asherim.) The names Asherah and Asherim were used of the goddess herself, of images of the goddess, and of the sacred poles and trees that represented the goddess. These idolatrous symbols often stood beside the Baal altars on the sacred hilltop sites known as high places, and were important in Baal rituals (Judges 6:25-26; 1 Kings 14:23; 1 Kings 15:13; Isaiah 27:9). For details see BAAL.