"A very early image is that of the earth as sacred mother, the source of all living things. The sacred marriage of the divine sky father and earth mother is found in many mythologies [examples are listed]...The sky fertilizes the earth with rain, and the earth produces grains and grass. With the coming of agriculture and close human involvement in cultivation of plants and grains, the earlier symbol of the earth as mother is often overlaid by that of the great goddess..."

Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

In this passage, the Pals makes a claim that the notion of the "earth mother" goddess is directly related to humankind's connection to agriculture. He also draws connections between the act of procreation and agriculture, with the masculine sky fertilizing the earth with its water, and the mother earth producing crops. Because of this universality of agriculture, it seems fitting that the earth-mother would like be universal, which Pals does attest to, citing Eliade for this belief.

I am curious to see how this applies to Abrahamic religions, which notably lack this earthy, maternal figure and solely rely upon the notion of the sky god. Eliade does mention that Abrahamic religions forgo nature, and instead embrace history, but he never quite cites why. Although Eliade believes firmly in a definite, firm belief that perhaps defies socio-economic causes. However, I believe that in this case, we cannot deny how agriculture has influenced religion, and this comes through clearly when we consider the difference with Abrahamic religions. After all, in the Pentateuch, the herdsman is glorified over the farmer--after The Fall, it is man's curse to toil in the fields, and it is Cain, the farmer, who does not find favor with the Lord. Etiologically, it seems that most Biblical stories point away from farming, and when we consider the climate and terrain of the ancient Middle Easterner, farming is not practical. Thus, maybe it is the barren, harsh nature of the Middle East that prevented the ancient Jew to believe in a fertile mother goddess, and instead rely upon the more distant, powerful sky god.