Wisdom appears as a feminine figure in biblical wisdom literature, then becomes Sophia in several early Christian and Gnostic traditions. The result is not one simple goddess claim, but a chain of personification, theology, and myth.
Preserved images with holding-institution credit and rights metadata.
Second Nebuchadnezzar II cuneiform cylinder for the temple of Ninmah/Belet-ili at Babylon, expanding the mother-goddess and royal-building source layer.
Second cuneiform tablet from the balag to Innin/Ishtar set, useful for comparing goddess liturgy across traditions.
Cuneiform balag to Innin/Ishtar, preserved as a source object for Mesopotamian goddess liturgy and divine-feminine comparisons.
Old Babylonian balag to Aruru, linked to creation passages where Aruru participates in forming humankind.
Magical stela with Horus the Child, preserving protective image-and-inscription practice around divine names and healing.
Sophia means Wisdom. In some texts Wisdom is poetic speech. In others she stands beside creation, calls in the streets, descends, falls, suffers, or helps awaken humanity. The question is not whether feminine divine language exists. It does. The question is what each text is doing with it.
In several Gnostic systems, Sophia becomes a dramatic figure. Her desire, error, or fall helps explain the broken world, the Demiurge, and the need for saving knowledge. That is different from Proverbs, but it grows from the same symbolic field: Wisdom as more than an abstract idea.
Divine feminine language is not automatically goddess worship, and Gnostic Sophia is not automatically the same figure as Proverbs' Wisdom. The strongest reading keeps the layers visible: poetry, personification, theology, myth, and later esoteric interpretation.
Look for creation language, speech in the first person, descent/ascent imagery, relation to the Logos, and whether Wisdom is a metaphor, a divine attribute, or an acting figure in the story.
Proverbs personifies Wisdom and places her near creation language.
Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon develop Wisdom in ways that later readers compare with Sophia.
John 1 is not a Sophia text, but it belongs beside the question of divine ordering and revelation.
Several Gnostic systems turn Sophia into a central figure of fall, longing, and restoration.
The core biblical Wisdom passage for this comparison.
Logos language for comparison, not a direct Sophia identification.
Important for the topic but not yet imported for full reading.
Needs licensed translation coverage before broad display.
Nebuchadnezzar II cylinder describing the temple of Ninmah/Belet-ili, preserving mother-goddess and royal-building context.