Dr. Strangemonkey
First Post
In the Herodutos accounts of Temple Prostitution the following description is given:
"A woman who has once taken her seat is not allowed to return home till one of the strangers throws a silver coin into her lap, and takes her with him beyond the holy ground.
When he throws the coin he says these words- "The goddess Mylitta prosper thee." (Venus is called Mylitta by the Assyrians.) The silver coin may be of any size; it cannot be refused, for that is forbidden by the law, since once thrown it is sacred."
Our boy Herodutos claims that this is a requirement of all women, and that you can't leave the temple district until you've been bought and travelled to the man's house. This would seem to chime in with the earlier article on the original value of a shekel.
The thing to decide is whether this is temple that is also a house of prostitution or the house of prostitution is the temple.
Becuase if the purpose of the prostitution is to fulfill rituals than the 'price' is really going to be about what sort of ritual you want fulfilled and how many bells and whistles you want. Most of the rituals are likely to be very cheap but also heavy formalized.
In the Summerian and Babylonian myths there was a class of prostitutes that seems to have been slightly different from the activity described by Herodotus. From my readings they had more of a professional priestess demeanor and were keepers of lore, law, and culture who also made themselves available to people who they thought needed it or who their superiors thought could benefit by it. There may have been ritual coin exchange involved in this and they seem to have earned some money from teaching and keeping themselves as companions. This is the sort of prostitute who would have lured Enkidu to come in from the desert and ally himself to Gilgamesh.
Also the sort of priestess who would have been in charge of enacting and coordinating the spring fertility rituals. These vast ceremonies were both important means of signifying the relationship between the secular and clerical authorities and primitive means of population control as the spring rites would have ensured that many babies were born just before winter when the population had more time to care for them. One thing to keep in mind is that this sort of thing becomes rarer as urban life becomes freer and laws and taboos that can restrict sexual activity become rarer.
Good luck with this. The early cultures of the fertile crescent from which we are most familiar with this sort of activity are particularly fascinating to me and do make great settings for games.
I am certain that there would have been a fair amount of male prostitution. This would have contributed to the spread of genetics and good will generally, plus men make good whores, and religious institutions are popular places for people who don't fit into the norm of the rest of the culture. Sterile women, for instance, would also be likely candidates for the priesthood.
"A woman who has once taken her seat is not allowed to return home till one of the strangers throws a silver coin into her lap, and takes her with him beyond the holy ground.
When he throws the coin he says these words- "The goddess Mylitta prosper thee." (Venus is called Mylitta by the Assyrians.) The silver coin may be of any size; it cannot be refused, for that is forbidden by the law, since once thrown it is sacred."
Our boy Herodutos claims that this is a requirement of all women, and that you can't leave the temple district until you've been bought and travelled to the man's house. This would seem to chime in with the earlier article on the original value of a shekel.
The thing to decide is whether this is temple that is also a house of prostitution or the house of prostitution is the temple.
Becuase if the purpose of the prostitution is to fulfill rituals than the 'price' is really going to be about what sort of ritual you want fulfilled and how many bells and whistles you want. Most of the rituals are likely to be very cheap but also heavy formalized.
In the Summerian and Babylonian myths there was a class of prostitutes that seems to have been slightly different from the activity described by Herodotus. From my readings they had more of a professional priestess demeanor and were keepers of lore, law, and culture who also made themselves available to people who they thought needed it or who their superiors thought could benefit by it. There may have been ritual coin exchange involved in this and they seem to have earned some money from teaching and keeping themselves as companions. This is the sort of prostitute who would have lured Enkidu to come in from the desert and ally himself to Gilgamesh.
Also the sort of priestess who would have been in charge of enacting and coordinating the spring fertility rituals. These vast ceremonies were both important means of signifying the relationship between the secular and clerical authorities and primitive means of population control as the spring rites would have ensured that many babies were born just before winter when the population had more time to care for them. One thing to keep in mind is that this sort of thing becomes rarer as urban life becomes freer and laws and taboos that can restrict sexual activity become rarer.
Good luck with this. The early cultures of the fertile crescent from which we are most familiar with this sort of activity are particularly fascinating to me and do make great settings for games.
I am certain that there would have been a fair amount of male prostitution. This would have contributed to the spread of genetics and good will generally, plus men make good whores, and religious institutions are popular places for people who don't fit into the norm of the rest of the culture. Sterile women, for instance, would also be likely candidates for the priesthood.
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