Prostitution in the Ancient Near East
There has been much debate on the subject of prostitution in the Ancient Near East (or ANE for short). There is particular interest on two subjects in particular. The first question is “as there such a thin! as a "#acred $rostitute" in %esopotamia& and in the nations of #umer and 'ablon 'ablon in particularâ particular  The second second question question is “hat is is the connection connection between between prostitution& sacred or otherwise& and the !oddess *nanna + *shtar who was worshiped worshiped b the #umerians& A,,adians& and 'ablonians†To understand this full we need to ta,e it apart. e first need to understand prostitution in the Ancient Near East. e need to loo, at instances of prostitution in mth as well as anal-in! wisdom tet and law codes. Net we need to loo, at *nanna. hat was her character as as she a !oddess of prostitutes prostitutes and if she was& was she li,ened to a prostitute herself /ow is she associated with prostitution and carnal acts. ere ere her followers tpical in the ancient near east& or is her temple an anomal 0inall we need to address the concept of #acred prostitution. hat were the ancient concepts of sacred prostitution Are these reliable hat connection did prostitutes ha1e with the temple The Nature of Ancient Prostitution
The Near East in modern times is not one we associate with prostitution and seualit. 2on1ersel 'ablon has become snonmous s nonmous with seual promiscuit. 3espite this howe1er the subject has not been epounded upon much in modern thou!ht. 'efore we discuss what professionals of this sort were li,e in the ancient world we should la some !roundwor,. To pro1e that prostitution eisted all we ha1e to do is loo, at the ancient sources. hat did the sa about the subject “4f course prostitution eisted in ancient %esopotamia (where marria!e was an important le!al contract)& and is often referred to. A famous prostitute in 'ablonian literature was #amhat& who first seduces En,idu in the epic of 5il!amesh. 6ater& on his death bed& En,idu curses her in a passa!e which implies that the normal places for prostitution would be in the ta1ern& b the cit walls& walls& at the crossroads crossroads and and in the desert.†desert.†('lac, and and 5reen& 7889& 7889& p. 7:7) Accordin! to 3r ;erem 'lac,& former head of the ET2#6 project (www
ni1ersitat 'erlin& there was in fact prostitution in the Ancient Near East. *n this section we see that En,idu is an!ered an! ered at the fact that the prostitute was not in the place where the were supposed to be. This seems to impl that prostitution was le!al in 'ablon. Adulter was !enerall considered to be a crime a!ainst the husband rather than a!ainst the wife& so prostitution would not 1iolate this. e can onl sa from this particular tet that it was le!al in 'ablon rather than in the ANE in !eneral because this passa!e is found in the 'ablonian 1ersion and not the #umerian 1ersion. *t is reasonable to presume& howe1er& that it mi!ht ha1e been le!al in #umer as well as we ha1e ha1 e no e1idence to the contrar. The standard 1ersion of the Epic of 5il!amesh itself& from where this passa!e comes from& comes from about 77?? '2E. *t is rou!hl as far awa from the life of the phsical 5il!amesh as we are from the 2ouncil of Nicea. *t is rou!hl as far awa from the #umerian poems of
5il!amesh as we are from =ichard the 6ion hearted. *t tells us a decent amount about 'ablonian culture& but not so much about the actual time of 5il!amesh. That bein! said& it wasn"t a definiti1e wor, on the subject of prostitution& nor was it meant to be. “* will curse ou with a mi!ht curse& % curse shall afflict ou now and forthwith@ A household to deli!ht in ou shall not acquire& ne1er to reside in the midst of a famil@†“*n the oun! woman"s chamber ou shall not sit@ our finest !arment the !round shall defile@ our finest !own the drun,ard shall stain in the dirt@ Thin!s of beaut ou shall ne1er acquire@ †... “The junction of hallwas shall be where ou sit@ A field of ruins shall be where ou sleep@ The shadow of the rampart shall be where ou stand@ Thorn and briar shall s,in our feet@†“3run, and sober shall stri,e our chee,@ . . .†(5eor!e& 7888& p. :B) /ere we see the archetpical prostitute is a woman who has not been trained in the arts of a wife. #he is accepted as part of societ& but is not accepted in e1er part of it. #he is connected with drun,s and ta1erns. *n essence she is similar to a street wal,er who mi!ht sell her wares on a street corner or be found in certain tpes of bars. #he li1es a permitted life& but not a comfortable one. /er clothin! is described here as bein! well worn and dama!ed throu!h harsh use. #he is described as bein! struc, on the chee, b e1en sober people. To better understand the place of prostitutes in the ANE world we should loo, at the laws of the da. The most famous law code of the re!ion is of course the “2ode of /ammurabi†& but it should be pointed out that this is a law code from about 7B?? '2E& and would ha1e been lon! before the passa!e listed abo1e. “Thus far the discussion of prostitution has related to woman"s seual acti1ities. 'ut it would be naCD1e to assume that the 'ablonian jud!es& parents& and others in1ol1ed in these cases were concerned about re!ulatin! seual beha1ior or safe!uardin! anthin! li,e the western notion of the "sanctit of marria!e."†(0araone and %c2lure& p9) “. . . 'ut neither prostitution itself nor commerciali-ed 1ice in an form was penali-ed in the 2ode of /ammurabi. The prostitute was literall an abandoned woman& i!nored b the law.†(American *nstitute of 2riminal 6aw and 2riminolo!& 787F& p9B) $rostitution was therefore not onl accepted in at least 'ablonian ci1ili-ation& but was le!al. $rostitution was not so much a matter of le!al concern than of social concern. The onl mattered in cases where the infrin!ed on the li1es of “respectable†people. 'ablonian jud!es didn"t care if people were ha1in! se for mone. *t was not eactl respectable wor,& but it didn"t reall impin!e on the smooth runnin! of societ. *f it didn"t cause a problem then there would be no reason to ma,e a law outlawin! it. *t !oes without sain! howe1er that if a culture had a concept of what prostitution was& then the were aware of the eistence of prostitutes. *n other words prostitutes could be found in some de!ree in the ANE. 2onsiderin! that the practice of prostitution was not ille!al we can suppose that it mi!ht ha1e been found commonl.
Thus far we ha1e concentrated mostl on 'ablonian thou!hts on prostitution. The reason for this is that the information is simpl more a1ailable from 'ablonian sources. That is not because there aren"t an #umerian thou!hts on the subject. 4ne rather interestin! commentar on the subject of prostitution can be found in the ad1ice of #uruppa! to his son. This 1ersion of the tet comes from 4ford"s ET2#6 project. 4ford"s Assriolo! department is well ,nown for their seuall conser1ati1e slant on man tets as compared to other translations. This translation of the tet tal,s freel on the subject of prostitutes. “ou should not bu a prostituteG she is a mouth that bites. ou should not bu a houseru,& the dwellin! of Anu and *shtar& cit of prostitutes & cortesans& and call !irls whome *shtar epri1ed of husbands and ,ept in their power& #utean men ans women hurl abuseH the rouse Eanna& the part
and femininit to ma,e the people of *shtar re1ere her. The da!!er bearer& or bearers of ra-ors& prunin! ,ni1es and flint blades& who frequentl do abominable acts to please the heart of *shtarG ou set o1er them an insolent !o1ernor who will not treat them ,indl& who persecuted them and 1iolated their ri!hts.L L*t is the oppression and persecution of *nanna"s people which calls for censure& not their "abominable acts"& which belon! to the !oddess"s remit of protectin! all manifestations of desire and libido& re!ardless of ci1ic norms.L (6eic,& 9??7& p:8) The first section is a translation of a 'ablonian source& and the second is 6eic,"s commentar and analsis. /ere we see that there were elements in the culture that disappro1ed of the beha1ior& but stood up for people"s ri!hts to do it. *n the abo1e section it is probabl referrin! to cultic prostitution. These concepts were definitel separate in the minds of the ancient #umerians& A,,adians& and 'ablonians& but the were still connected. *t is important to ,eep in mind the opinions presented in 1arious sources throu!hout %esopotamia on all tpes of prostitution. L. . . *t is also possible that certain priestesses of *shtar functioned as sacred prostitutes& or LhierodulesL as scholars sometimes call them. %esopotamian sources themsel1es are silent about these matters ecept for the fact that the inform us of the eistence of prostitutes in societ (witness the seduction of En,idu in the Epic of 5il!amesh and references to prostitution in law codes . . . L ('ertman& 9??& p798) e will come bac, to the subject of *nanna and of sacred prostitution in the later sections. 0or now howe1er it is enou!h to simpl note that prostitution eisted in the Ancient Near East. *t not onl eisted& but it flourished. Inanna and Prostitution
hat connection does the !oddess *nanna ha1e to prostitution To fi!ure this out we will ha1e to as, the root questionG 3oes *nanna ha1e a connection to prostitution *s she a prostitute herself *f she is a prostitute& then is she also a !oddess of professional se pur1eors Not all !ods who fou!ht were !ods of warriors& and not all !oddess who had children were mother !oddesses after all. *n the ANE prostitutes were associated with the e1enin! star. The came out at the same time as Jenus to pl their trade. e saw earlier that prostitutes were associated with ta1erns and places of hi!h traffic. Meep this in mind when readin! the followin! sections from the eminent scholar Thor,ild ;acobsen. “e1enin!& after wor, but before rest& is the time for pla and dancin!. The hmn touches on this in passin! as people !o to sleepG†“The dancer of the countr& the celebrant of the festi1al& The oun! hero& opens his heart in bed to his spouse.†This dancin! in the e1enin! is stressed more as somethin! in which the !oddess has a bene1olent interest in a passa!e in the 6u!albanda Epic that tells how *nanna& risin! as the e1enin! star&
sends her ras into the ca1e where oun! 6u!albanda lies ill. The poet introduces her and her ,ind offices sain!G†“#o as to set the poor fol, !oin! at their dances& ha1in! with her li!ht made the dancin! !reen more pleasant& and to ma,e the spots to bed down in more pleasant for the harlot settin! out for the alehouse& did *nanna& the dau!hter of #uen& proudl raise her head o1er the land.†(;acobsen& 78KI& p 78
2onnected with the mention of cultic prostitution we see *nanna has also !ained the hol ta1ern. =emember from earlier that prostitutes were associated with ta1ern. As a prostitute !oddess as well as a !oddess of prostitutes *nanna"s temple would be li,ened to the home of prostitute. here else would a prostitute !oddess be most at home than in a hol ta1ern *t is clear that *nanna is li,ened to a prostitute in the mths& but how was she seen b her followers 3id the see her as a prostitute 0or this we will need to loo, at praise poetr. A con1enient place to find praise poems is ET2#6& but ,eep in mind the tend to water down seualit. “The cannot compete with ou& *nana. As a prostitute ou !o down to the ta1ern and& li,e () a !host who slips in throu!h the window& ou enter there.†(ET2#6 t.F.?K.F& 9??) >p to this point in this section we ha1e loo,ed mostl at what ancient sources ha1e to sa about *nanna. e should also loo, at what prominent Assriolo!ists ha1e said on the nature of the !oddess. *t is eas to !et side trac,ed on minutia when loo,in! at ancient tets. Assriolo!ists ha1e loo,ed at a wide selection of ancient material and ha1e a broader perspecti1e than can be found b simpl readin! isolated sections of ancient tets. Additionall Assriolo!ists ha1e the ad1anta!e of readin! se1eral translations of the same tets and translatin! it themsel1es in order to !et a loo, at the tet from multiple point of 1iew. “The personalit of *nanna can be di1ided into three quite separate strains. 4ne aspect is that of a !oddess of lo1e and seual beha1ior& but especiall connected with etramarital se and (in a wa which has not et been carefull researched& notwithstandin! the remar,s of /e rodotus on the subject) with prostitution. *nanna is not a !oddess of marria!e& nor is she a mother !oddess. The so called #acred %arria!e in which she participates carries no o1ertones of moral implication for human marria!es.†('lac, and 5reen& 7889& p. 7?8) 'lac, and 5reen ma,e note of /erodotus in this passa!e. *n this the are ma,in! reference to the fact that /erodotus is not precisel a trustworth source. /e was n ot tal,in! from a position of authorit& but was rather trin! to entertain listeners. /e was a sensationalist. e will tal, more about him later. “The most popular deit of ancient %esopotamia& *nanna + *shtar represented the power of seual attraction and the carnal pleasure that proceeds from it. 0ocused on the immediate !ratification of her own sensual needs& she was neither a !oddess of marria!e nor of childbirth. /er seual appetite was inehaustible and her relationships with men short term. 6e!ion were her lo1ers& but cruel the price the all paid& 3umu-i in particular& whom she consi!ned to hell.†('ertman& 9??& p79?) *n the abo1e passa!e #tephen 'ertman used the word “hell†. This is a common form in archeolo!. *t doesn"t specificall mean the 2hristian hell an more than does the Norse word /el from which the word /ell is deri1ed. hat it means is the underworld where the dead !o. *n #umer the realm Mur was the underworld. *t was a 1ast realm with !ood points as well as bad ones. e can also see that *nanna is not considered b this tet and the one abo1e to be at all connected with marria!e. 'oth boo,s !o out of their wa to paint *nanna as a !oddess of seualit that is& if anthin!& incon!ruous with the idea of marria!e.
=emember in the earlier section the part about not marrin! a prostitute 3umu-i wooed *nanna who was the prostitute !oddess. #he was not faithful to him and he died throu!h her actions. The mth and the !eneral opinion of prostitutes mi!ht ha1e actuall been connected in some wa. Sacred Prostitution
#acred $rostitution and prostitution connected with the temple are not perhaps identical concepts. *n e1er #umerian cit the temple was the lar!est financial entit. The temple controlled farms& charitable or!ani-ations& and man other businesses. *f the temple of *nanna were to !ain control of a prostitution business would this then be sacred prostitution 4r would it be somethin! else entirel Meep in mind that the idea of ritual seual acti1ities can be found throu!hout the %iddle East. That is not at issue here. hat we are concerned with is simpl the practice of sacred prostitution. To be sacred prostitution it has to ha1e both elements of sacred se and elements of prostitution. *f it"s connected to the temple and mone is echan!ed& but there is no concept that se is a reli!ious dut it probabl doesn"t count. 6i,ewise if a sacred se act is ta,in! place& but that act is not paid for then it also does not count. To loo, at this subject completel we should loo, at 5ree, sources. h 5ree, sources 'ecause the ha1e an eternal point of 1iew. %ore than that thou!h the are the ones who populari-ed %esopotamian seualit. /erodotus is of course the most famous of the lot. /e li1ed in the fifth centur and wrote an entertainment piece called the /istories. *n it he describes a practice that we ha1e come to thin, of as sacred prostitution. “The fifth centur '2E 5ree, historian /erodotus was the first to report this custom to a European audience. As /erodotus (/istor7G 788) tells itG The 'ablonians ha1e one most shameful custom. E1er woman born in the countr must once in her life !o and sit down in the precinct of Aphrodite OP*shtatQ& and there consort with a stran!er. %an of the wealthier sort& who are too proud to mi with others& dri1e c o1ered carria!es to the precinct& followed b a !oodl train of attendants& and there ta,e their station. 'ut the lar!er number seat themsel1es within the hol enclosure with wreaths of strin! about their heads&
“The 5ree, !eo!rapher #trabo repeated the tail some four centuries later and the !ree, satirist 6ucian described a similar practice in a second centur 2E temple of Astarte in 6ebanon.†('ertman& 9??& p798) The passa!e b /erodotus was !otten out of “6ife in Ancient %esopotamia†b #tephen 'ertman and was not cut for len!th. The parenthetical citation was ,ept intact in case someone wanted to chec, 'ertman for accurac. * also wanted it ,nown that his cop of /erodotus was somethin! of an old translation. *n the abo1e section /erodotus describes a practice in a sensationalist fashion from a 5ree, point of 1iew. e ,now enou!h about 5ree, culture and %esopotamian culture to sa what !ods he would ha1e been tal,in! about. The trouble is that he composed this piece for entertainment purposes& and as such he was free to embellish to his hearts content. A few hundred ears after /erodotus& #trabo wrote about a similar practice. This howe1er is not an independent 1erification of the practice. #trabo was almost certainl familiar with /erodotus"s wor,& so it is unclear whether he was simpl parrotin! the earlier piece. /e would ha1e had no moti1e to do otherwise. 6i,ewise 6ucian is not a reliable source because he was a satirist. /e wasn"t e1en !oin! for accurate an more than modern satirists li,e %ichael %oor are. 6ucian would ha1e been trin! to ma,e a point rather than simpl to rela facts. /e had a personal a!enda and mi!ht not ha1e had an first hand ,nowled!e whatsoe1er. This practice is part of what people thin, of when the thin, of sacred prostitution. *f that practice did in fact ta,e place it would ha1e been rather late in the historical record. *f it too, place late in time& then it mi!ht not be representati1e of the practices of the 4ld 'ablonians or #umerians. 'ertman does !o on to tal, about some of the character of *shtar + *nanna in relation to sacred prostitution. L. . . the concept of sacred prostitution would ha1e been consistent with the character of *shtar& a !oddess of carnal pleasure who used men and se for her own hi!her purposes.L ('ertman& 9??& p798) /e thin,s that& while we don"t ,now whether the practice too, place& we do ,now that it would ha1e been ,eepin! with the nature of the !oddess *nanna + *shtar. *n other words if there is no e1idence to the contrar we lose nothin! b acceptin! that it mi!ht ha1e ta,en place. $resumabl howe1er the later %esopotamian law codes mi!ht ha1e said somethin! on the subject if the practice was indeed mandated b law. *f it was wide spread throu!hout the re!ion& as the 5ree, sources would su!!est& then the practice should ha1e been recorded b some local source. #ince this was rather late in %esopotamian historical records we ha1e a much !reater chance that someone would ha1e recorded somethin! somewhere. e should be able to see somethin! about the practice in %esopotamian sources. There would ha1e been re!ulatin! bodies and ta records. The trouble here is that this is simpl one thin! that can be called temple prostitution. %esopotamia had a bit more of a de1eloped concept of prostitution than we do toda. The differenced between 1arin! tpes of paid se pur1eors much more than we do in the En!lish lan!ua!e.
L0or the prostitutes of and courtesans of the female se& we ha1e at least half a do-en different desi!nations of these !roups. #ome stress their reli!ious characterG the qasistu were the consecrated () the istaritu , devoted to Ishtar, emphasi-ed the lin,s to their di1ine patroness. e often find or!ani-ations of kulmasitu & whose name means nothin! to us. The Kezertu undoutedle owe their name to their hairstle & which was curled (kezeru) ... 6i,ewise the samhatu seems to allude to a certain luur of dress of the ladies that was somewhat flash or sluttish. The most common term that seems to ha1e indicated the professionals of free lo1e as a !roup& is harimtu& which stresses the fact that the were were apart from others (haradmu: to separate). *t is noteworth that the term is found re!ularl in connection with the !oddess *shtar& indicatin! that the also had her as a standard bearer or model.†('ottero& 7889& 7BB<7B8.) This means that there were prostitutes that were connected to the temple. *t does not mean that the se acts that the performed were in an wa more sacred than those performed b prostitutes that weren"t associated with the temple& or e1en indi1iduals who were ha1in! etramarital se without bein! married. *n other words *nanna ma indeed ha1e been a prostitute !oddess& and she ma ha1e been the patron !oddess and protector of prostitutes& but this does not mean that prostitution was considered to be a hol dut that members of the temple were required to perform. A!ain remember that the temple was the lar!est and most di1erse financial institution in an !i1en %esopotamian cit. *f the rest of the cit that was not under the u mbrella of the temple were to simpl 1anish the temple would ha1e been able to function comfortabl independentl. This in fact led to mista,en estimates of the si-e of #umerian cities in the earl das of Assriolo!. 6et us presume howe1er that sacred prostitution did indeed happen in *nanna"s temples. *nanna wasn"t the onl deit that was worshiped e1en in the cit of >ru,. hat held true for the temple of *nanna& a temple specificall called the di1ine ta1ern& would not necessaril be true of temples across the rest of #umer and %esopotamia in !eneral. *n post #ar!onic times there was somethin! that has been called “The 5reat =ite†or “The #acred %arria!e.†This is where the hi!h priestess of *nanna had se once a ear with the ruler of the cit. The ,in! would ta,e on the roll of the !od 3umu-i for this ritual. This was primaril a political maneu1er. The secular leader was tied to the lar!est or!ani-ation in the cit and too, on authorit o1er both of them. *n addition to this it was also a fertilit ritual. 3umu-i was associated with shepherdin! and the reju1enation of 1ine crops& and b ta,in! on the roll of 3umu-i he was shown to the people to be the source of prosperit for the entire cit. This practice is not e1idence of sacred prostitution. The priestesses of *nanna was performin! a seual ritual and was not !ettin! paid for the se alone. The se was not the important feature of the ritual. The connection between the ,in! and the temple and the ritual reju1enation of the land was far more important. *t also is not e1idence of much of anthin! in $re #ar!onic times. The ritual didn"t eist prior to the #ar!onic dnast. *t can"t be used as proof that the did similar thin!s before then. #o here we ha1e to sa that the jur is out on the subject of the “#acred $rostitute.†The ancient %esopotamian sources aren"t reall in question. *t is the eternal sources that we are unsure of. The 5ree,s were loo,in! at thin!s from a 5ree, point of 1iew& and we are loo,in! at thin!s from the point of 1iew of modern estern En!lish spea,ers.
e are left with an understandin! of what the ancients actuall did rather than an clear understandin! of the concept of “#acred $rostitution†. The fault ma not lie in our understandin! of the ancient tets. The fault ma simpl be found in that we do not ha1e a clear !rasp of what we mean when we use the words “#acred†and “$rostitute†to!ether.
