Who are the Levites in the book, When God Was a Woman?

A priestly caste, the Levites are responsible for the writing and editing of the Hebrew Scriptures, ca. 1000-600 BCE, and remain in power at the time the Qumran literature is produced. The Levites invent a new morality that demands virginity until marriage for all women and fidelity of wives to husbands—both on threat of death. They distort the common Middle Eastern images of sacred serpent and fruit to make their Creation story an effective weapon against lingering Goddess religion. The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy describe Levite rituals in detail, including how the other tribes support their lavish lifestyle. Because they enjoy all offerings made to Yahweh, the Levites have no patrimony in Canaan, but are allocated forty-eight towns and surrounding fields within the eleven tribal areas. Levites alone have access to the Law of Moses to interpret, censor, or change it. While much of the Bible may be based on historical events, the Levite reports on "pagan" religion are bias and subjective. They fail to obscure the ancient worship of the female deity as elsewhere in the Middle East.