Ashima (Hebrew: אֲשִׁימָא, Modern: ʾĂšīmaʾ, Tiberian: ʾĂšīmāʾ; Latin: Asima) is an ancient Semitic goddess.
Julian Obermann suggests a close association with between the concept of "name" and "fate or purpose" from the West Semitic root "šm" and cites several examples in the Ugaritic text in which the naming of a person or object determines future function which is a familiar theme in many mythologies.
As a personification of fate, Ashima was cognate with the South Semitic goddess Manathu (or Manāt) whose name meant "the measurer, fate, or portion" who was worshiped by the Nabataean peoples of Jordan and other early South Semitic and Arabian peoples.
[3] The divine name or epithet Ashima-Yaho (haShema YHWH) which is attested in the papyri from the Yahweh temple of Elephantine in Egypt has been connected in both theme and structure with a title of Astarte which appears in the Ugaritic texts as Astarte Name-of-Baal (e.g., KTU ("Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit") 1.16.vi.56).
[4] According to the Talmud, the Ashima idol took the form of a "bald sheep" (possibly a goat or ram), while Rabbi Saadia Gaon explains that it was in the shape of a cat.