need of water. In times of famine and drought, sacrifices were made to him to try to get the rains to return. His female counterpart was Ashtoreth, who was goddess of the moon as well as of the sea and of fertility. She was the wife of the creator God El. It is not difficult to understand why the Israelites felt the need to hedge their bets. When times got tough, they were surrounded by people worshipping and sacrificing to gods other than their own, sometimes with more apparent success. If Yahweh