Sacred prostitution
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution,
The historicity of literal sacred prostitution, particularly in some places and periods, is a controversial topic within the academic world.
Definitions
Sacred prostitution has many different characteristics depending on the region, class and the religious ideals of the period and the place, and consequently can have many different definitions. One definition that was developed was due to the common types of sacred prostitution that are recorded in Classical sources: sale of a woman's virginity or rinni[clarification needed] in honor of a goddess or a once-in-a-lifetime prostitution, professional prostitutes or slaves owned by a temple or sanctuary, and temporary prostitution that occurs before a marriage or during certain rituals.[9]
Ancient Near East
The work of gender researchers like Daniel Arnaud,
Sumer
Through the twentieth century, scholars generally believed that a form of sacred marriage rite (
However, no certain evidence has survived to prove that sexual intercourse was included, despite many popular descriptions of the habit.
Babylonia
According to Herodotus, the rites performed at these temples included sexual intercourse, or what scholars later called sacred sexual rites:
The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the land to sit in the temple of
Mylitta". It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred. So she follows the first man who casts it and rejects no one. After their intercourse, having discharged her sacred duty to the goddess, she goes away to her home; and thereafter there is no bribe however great that will get her. So then the women that are fair and tall are soon free to depart, but the uncomely have long to wait because they cannot fulfil the law; for some of them remain for three years, or four. There is a custom like this in some parts of Cyprus.[18]
The British anthropologist
In Hammurabi's code of laws, the rights and good name of female sacred sexual priestesses were protected. The same legislation that protected married women from slander applied to them and their children. They could inherit property from their fathers, collect income from land worked by their brothers, and dispose of property. These rights have been described as extraordinary, taking into account the role of women at the time.[22]
Terms associated with temple prostitution in Sumer and Babylonia
All translations are sourced from the Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary.[23] Akkadian terms were used in the Akkadian Empire, Assyria, and Babylonia. The terms themselves come from lexical profession lists on tablets dating back to the Early Dynastic period.
English | Sumerian | Akkadian | Signs | Cuneiform |
---|---|---|---|---|
Abbess | nin-diĝir | ēntu | SAL.TUG2.AN | 𒊩𒌆𒀭 |
Priestess | lukur | nadītu | SAL.ME | 𒊩𒈨 |
Nun | nugig | qadištu | NU.GIG | 𒉡𒍼 |
Hierodule Priestess | nubar | kulmašītu | NU.BAR | 𒉡𒁇 |
Cult Prostitute | amalu | ištaru | GA2×AN.LUL | 𒂼𒈜 |
A Class of Women | sekrum | sekretu | ZI.IG.AŠ | 𒍣𒅅𒀸 |
Prostitute | geme2karkid | harīmtu | SAL×KURTE.A.KID | 𒊩𒆳𒋼𒀀𒆤 |
Prostitute (EDIIIb) | geme2karkid | harīmtu | SAL×KURTE.A.AK | 𒊩𒆳𒋼𒀀𒀝 |
Notes on the
Hittites
The Hittites practiced sacred prostitution as part of a cult of deities, including the worship of a mated pair of deities, a bull god and a lion goddess, while in later days it was the mother-goddess who became prominent, representing fertility, and (in Phoenicia) the goddess who presided over human birth.[24]
Phoenicia
It has been argued that sacred prostitution, worked by both males and females, was a custom of ancient
At the Etruscan site of Pyrgi, a center of worship of the eastern goddess Astarte, archaeologists identified a temple consecrated to her and built with at least 17 small rooms that may have served as quarters for temple prostitutes.[28] Similarly, a temple dedicated to her equated goddess Atargatis in Dura-Europos, was found with nearly a dozen small rooms with low benches, which might have used either for sacred meals or sacred services of women jailed in the temple for adultery.[28][29] Pyrgi's sacred prostitutes were famous enough to be apparently mentioned in a lost fragment of Lucilius's works.[30]
In northern Africa, the area of influence of the Phoenician colony of
Phoenicio-Punic settlements in
Another center of cult to Astarte was Cyprus, whose main temples were located in Paphos, Amathus and Kition.[27] The epigraphy of the Kition temple describes personal economic activity on the temple, as sacred prostitution would have been taxed as any other occupation, and names possible practitioners as grm (male) and lmt (female).[30][33]
Hebrew Bible
The
This double meaning has led to the belief that kedeshah were not ordinary prostitutes, but sacred harlots who worked out of fertility temples.[37] However, the lack of solid evidence[17][38][39] has indicated that the word might refer to prostitutes who offered their services in the vicinity of temples, where they could attract a larger number of clients.[37] The term might have originated as consecrated maidens employed in Canaanite and Phoenician temples, which became synonymous with harlotry for Biblical writers.[29][40]
In any case, the translation of sacred prostitute has continued, however, because it explains how the word can mean such disparate concepts as sacred and prostitute.[41] As put by DeGrado, "neither the interpretation of the קדשה as a 'priestess-not-prostitute' (according to Westenholz) nor as a 'prostitute-not-priestess' (according to Gruber) adequately represents the semantic range of Hebrew word in biblical and post-biblical Hebrew."[41]
Male prostitutes were called kadesh or qadesh (literally: male who is set apart).[42] The Hebrew word kelev (dog) may also signify a male dancer or prostitute.[43]
The Law of Moses (Book of Deuteronomy) was not universally observed in Hebrew culture under the rule of the Davidic line, as recorded in the Books of Kings. In fact, the Kingdom of Judah had lost "the Book of the Law". During the reign of King Josiah, Hilkiah, the High Priest of Israel, discovered it in "the House of the Lord" and realised that the people have disobeyed, particularly regarding prostitution.[44][45]
Ancient Greece and Hellenistic world
Ancient Greece
The Greek term hierodoulos or hierodule has sometimes been taken to mean sacred holy woman, but it is more likely to refer to a former slave freed from slavery in order to be dedicated to a god.[7]
There were different levels of prostitutes within Ancient Greece society, but two categories are specifically related to sacred or temple prostitution. The first category are hetaires, also known as courtesans, typically more educated women that served within temples. The second category are known as hierodoules, slave women or female priests who worked within temples and served the sexual requests of visitors to the temple.[46]
While there may not be a direct connection between temples and prostitution, many prostitutes and courtesans worshipped Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Prostitutes would use their earnings to pay for dedications and ritualistic celebrations in honour of Aphrodite. Some prostitutes also viewed the action of sexual service and sexual pleasure as an act of devotion to the goddess of love, worshipping Aphrodite through an act rather than a physical dedication.[47]
In the temple of Apollo at Bulla Regia, a woman was found buried with an inscription reading: "Adulteress. Prostitute. Seize [me], because I fled from Bulla Regia." It has been speculated she might have been a woman forced into sacred prostitution as a punishment for adultery.[28]
Temple(s) of Aphrodite
The act of sacred prostitution within the Temples of Aphrodite in the city of Corinth was well-known and well-spread. Greek writer-philosopher Strabo comments, "the Temple of Aphrodite was so rich that it owned a thousand temple-slaves, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess". Within the same work, Strabo compares Corinth to the city of Comana, confirming the belief that temple prostitution was a notable characteristic of Corinth.[48]
Prostitutes performed sacred functions within the temple of Aphrodite. They would often burn incense in honor of Aphrodite. Chameleon of Heracleia recorded in his book, On Pindar, that whenever the city of Corinth prayed to Aphrodite in manners of great importance, many prostitutes were invited to participate in the prayers and petitions.[48]
The girls involved in temple prostitution were typically slaves owned by the temple. However, some of the girls were gifted to the temple from other members of society in return for success in particular endeavors. One example that shows the gifting of girls to the temple is the poem of Athenaeus, which explores an athlete Xenophon’s actions of gifting a group of courtesans to Aphrodite as a thanks-offering for his victory in a competition.[48]
Specifically in 464 BC, Xenophon was victorious in the Olympic Games and donated 100 slaves to Aphrodite’s temple. Pindar, a famous Greek poet, was commissioned to write a poem that was to be performed at Xenophon’s victory celebration in Corinth. The poet acknowledged that the slaves would serve Aphrodite as sacred prostitutes within her temple at Corinth.[49]
Another temple of Aphrodite was named Aphrodite Melainis, located near the city gates in an area known as “Craneion”. It is the resting place of Lais, who was a famous prostitute in Greek history. This suggests that there was a connection with ritual prostitution within temples of Aphrodite.[48]
There is a report that was found of an epigram of
Athenaeus also alludes to the idea that many of Aphrodite’s temples and sanctuaries were occupied by temple prostitutes. These prostitutes were known to practise sexual rituals in different cities which included Corinth, Magnesia, and Samos.[50]
Signs of Sacred Prostitution within Minoan Crete
Some evidence of sacred prostitution was evident in
The structure of the interior of the building seemed to suggest that the building was used for prostitution. Large clay vats typically used for bathing were found within the building, along with successive doors within the corridors. The successive doors suggested privacy, and within the time period, was associated with two functions: storage of valuable goods and protection of the private moments of its residents. Because the ground floors were found practically empty, the possibility that the building was used for prostitution increases.[51]
There were also religious embellishments found within the “East Building”, such as vases and other vessels that seemed to be connected to religious rituals. The vessels were covered in motifs related to sacrilegious rituals, such as the sacral knot and the image of birds flying freely. The functions of the vessels would have been offering food or liquid in relation to the rituals. Combining these two factors, it is a possibility that sacred prostitution existed within this building.[51]
Hellenistic world
In the Greek-influenced and colonised world, "sacred prostitution" was known in Cyprus[52] (Greek-settled since 1100 BC), Sicily[53] (Hellenised since 750 BC), in the Kingdom of Pontus[54] (8th century BC) and in Cappadocia (c. 330 BC hellenised).[55] 2 Maccabees (2 Maccabees 6:4–5) describes sacred prostitution in the Second Temple under the reign of the Hellenistic ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes.
Cyprus
A passage in Herodotus explains a Babylonian custom where before marriage, girls had to offer themselves for sex, presumably within a temple, as required by rites of a goddess equivalent to Aphrodite in their culture. Herodotus records that a similar practice or custom took place within Cyprus, with girls offering themselves up for sex as required by the rites of Aphrodite.[56] Ennius and Ovid corroborate each other on the idea that Aphrodite established the act of prostitution within the city of Cyprus.[57]
A temple of Kition also shows evidence of sacred prostitution. On a marble plaque, it lists sacred prostitutes among other professions (bakers, scribes, barbers) that were part of ritual personnel at some Cypriot temples.[57]
Temple of Aphaca
The temple of Aphaca may be another source of evidence for temple prostitution.[58] The process is similar to regular prostitution, where male customers paid two or three obol in the form of or in addition to dedications to Aphrodite in exchange for sex with a temple prostitute. In the temple of Aphaca specifically, the men would dedicate their payment to "Cyprian Aphrodite" before engaging in sex with a temple prostitute.[58]
Ancient Rome and late antiquity
Ancient Rome
Late antiquity
The Roman emperor
Asia
India
Some parts of Indian state have the practice of hierodulic prostitution, with similar customary forms such as basavi,
The system was criticised by British colonial government while defended by Brahmins, leading to a decline in support for the system and the devadasis soon turned to prostitution.[62] Many scholars have stated that the Hindu scriptures do not mention the system.[63] Human Rights Watch also reports claims that devadasis are forced into this service and, at least in some cases, to practise prostitution for upper-caste members.[64] Various state governments in India enacted laws to ban this practice both prior to India's independence and more recently. They include Bombay Devdasi Act, 1934, Devdasi (Prevention of dedication) Madras Act, 1947, Karnataka Devdasi (Prohibition of dedication) Act, 1982, and Andhra Pradesh Devdasi (Prohibition of dedication) Act, 1988.[65] However, the tradition continues in certain regions of India, particularly the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.[66]
Japan
During the Kamakura period, many shrines and temples, which provided for miko, fell into bankruptcy. Some miko started travelling in search of livelihood and came to be known as aruki miko (歩き巫女 lit. walking shrine-maiden). While aruki miko primarily provided religious services, they were also widely associated with prostitution.[67] However, no religious reasons for miko prostitution are known, and hence the act might be unrelated to sacred prostitution.
Indonesia
Mesoamerica and South America
Maya
The Maya maintained several phallic religious cults, possibly involving homosexual temple prostitution.[68]
Aztec
Much evidence for the religious practices of the
It is agreed that the Aztec god
Inca
The
Recent Western occurrences
In the 1970s and early 1980s, some religious cults practised sacred prostitution as an instrument to recruit new converts. Among them was the
In
Some modern sacred prostitutes act as
Modern views
According to Avaren Ipsen, from
In her book The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine,
This opinion is shared by several schools of
Actress Susie Lamb approached sacred prostitution in her 2014
See also
References
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- ^ Frazer 1922, abridged ed. Chapter 31: Adonis in Cyprus; see also the more extensive treatment Frazer 1914, 3rd ed. volumes 5 and 6. Frazer's argument and citations are reproduced in slightly clearer fashion by Henriques 1961, vol. I, ch. 1
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External links
- Stuckey, H. Johanna. "Sacred Prostitutes". Archived 19 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine MatriFocus. 2005 vol 5–1.
- Deuteronomy 23:18–19, and a discussion
- Jenin Younes (2008), Sacred Prostitution in Ancient Israel