ABSTRACT
Archeologists have found about 1,000 small statues of women holding their breasts, largely from the region of Judah in the eighth to seventh centuries bce. Many scholars assert (with surprising confidence) that these Judean pillar figurines (JPFs) were connected to goddess worship. In this chapter, I will examine various scholarly explanations for the widespread presence of these statues, then proffer my own. First, an introduction to the term ‘childist’ lays groundwork for the ensuing approach. A comparison between ancient JPFs and modern Barbie dolls then notes a significant number of parallels. Next, I review and question scholarly arguments that divorce JPFs from the lives of children. Sociological research about the role of toys and their function in perpetuating culture further advances the association between children and JPFs. I then offer an imagined narrative that envisions possible roles that JPFs might have had in the Israelite household. Since Judean pillar figurines came from an age-integrated culture, I suggest and show how they might have been part of children’s lives.
