Asherah was the Phoenician fertility goddess and the wife of El in Ugarit, Baal in Canaan, Elkunirsa in Hatti, Yahweh in the Israelite religion, Amurru in the Amorite religion, Anu in the Akkadian religion, Amm in the Qatabanian religion, and Ashur in the Assyrian religion. From the 10th century BC to the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC, polytheism was normal in Israel, and the Israelites once worshipped Asherah as the consort of Yahweh. Solomon built temples to Asherah, as did King Manasseh of Judah; these statues were torn down by King Josiah.