Q-D-Š

Q-D-Š is a triconsonantal Semitic root meaning "sacred, holy", derived from a concept central to ancient Semitic religion. From a basic verbal meaning "to consecrate, to purify", it could be used as an adjective meaning "holy", or as a substantive referring to a "sanctuary, sacred object, sacred personnel."

The root is reflected as qdš (Hebrew קדש) in Northwest Semitic and as qds (Arabic قدس) in Central and South Semitic. In Akkadian texts, the verb conjugated from this root meant to "clean, purify."

It was used this way in Ugaritic, as for example, in the words qidšu (meaning "holy place" or "chapel") and qad(i)šu (meaning "consecrated gift" or "cultic personnel"). In some Ugaritic texts, qdš is used as a divine epithet. For example, the gods are referred to as "the sons of holiness" or "the holy ones" (bn qdš), and in the Ugaritic Legend of Keret, the hero is described as "the son of El and the offspring of the Benevolent One and qdš".

William Foxwell Albright believed that Qudšu (meaning "holiness") was a common Canaanite appellation for the goddess Asherah, and Albright's mentee Frank Moore Cross claimed qdš was used as a divine epithet for both Asherah and the Ugaritic goddess, Athirat. Johanna Stucky claims she may have been a deity in her own right.

Depictions of a goddess in inscriptions from Dynastic Egypt, thought to Canaanite since she is referred to as Qdš (often transliterated in English as Qedesha, Qudshu or Qetesh), show a woman in the nude, with curly hair and raised arms carrying lilies and serpents.Qdš is also depicted in the pantheon of gods at Memphis, Egypt possibly indicating worship of her as independent deity there. The word qdš also appears in the Pyrgi Tablets, a Phoenician text found in Italy that dates back to 500 BCE.

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