An inquiry into prostitution and unsanctioned relationships

1
An inquiry into prostitution and unsanctioned
relationships

• An insight into sexual liberties in the days of
  old.

2
Shamhat

• The Harlot
• The sacred temple girl (http//www.piney.com/Gil
  01.html)
• Gilgameshs Concubine

3
The Harlot

• Shamhat was noted to be a whore, a remarkable one
  at that.
• When the problem with Enkidu arises in the text
  of Gilgamesh the first solution thought of is,
• He will give you the harlot Shamhat, take her
  with you.
• The woman will overcome the fellow (?) as if she
  were strong.
• When the animals are drinking at the watering
  place
• have her take off her robe and expose her sex.
• When he sees her he will draw near to her,
• and his animals, who grew up in his wilderness,
  will be alien
• to him." (translated by Kovacs, Tablet 1, Epic
  of Gilgamesh)
• How did she develop this sort of reputation?

4
The Sacred Temple Girl

• In other translations Shamhat was noted to be the
  Sacred Temple Girl
• This implies that prostitution of ones body was
  alright with the temple and all morals.
• It also implies that the Sacred are no better
  than the beasts, as Enkidu is seen to be a beast
  man.
• Enkidu, offspring of the mountains, who eats
  grasses with the
• gazelles, came to drink at the watering hole with
  the animals,
• with the wild beasts he slaked his thirst with
  water. Then
• Shamhat saw him--a primitive, a savage fellow
  from the
• depths of the wilderness.

5
Gilgameshs Concubine

• There really isnt any information to back this
  one up.
• I just thought it sounded good.
• Shamhat is the best at what she does, so why
  would Gilgamesh, being the ruler, not want the
  best?

6
Code of Hammurabi

• In the time of Hammurabi prostitutes were as
  normal as mashed potatoes are in America.
• The Code does raise interesting questions, like,
  what if a married man is found sleeping with a
  prostitute? Is there a punishment? Is the
  punishment greater or lesser depending on how
  much he paid?
• Those questions remain a mystery, but the Code
  does shine some light on prostitution in
  Hammurabis time.

7
Laws Concerning Harlots

• 178. If a "devoted woman" or a prostitute
• 179. If a "sister of a god," or a prostitute
• 180. If a father give a present to his
  daughter--either marriageable or a prostitute
  unmarriageable
• 192. If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say
  to his adoptive father or mother (Avalon Project,
  The, http//www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/ha
  mframe.htm Last Modified 9-23-2003)
• These laws all show that prostitutes were not
  looked down upon in comparison with other women,
  even sisters of god also known as Temple
  virgins.
• Even a prostitutes son was able to be adopted,
  and raised well. Hammurabi made provision for
  all these things.

8
Laws Dealing with Concubines

• The most information that can be gleaned from the
  Code of Hammurabi is that there were concubines
  out there, and that the same laws applied to them
  that did most of the other people.
• Whether or not Hammurabi had concubines of his
  own and was making provision for their ill
  dealings after his death remains a mystery.

9
Sun Tzu on The Art of War

• Tzu first uses concubines to win over the
  confidence of his leader.
• The girls laugh and giggle when Sun Tzu is
  commanding them until heads are rolling like
  bowling balls. At this the girls start to listen
  up.
• The Emperor interceded at one point on the behalf
  of the concubines, seeing as they were two of his
  favorites, though he did have plenty of others to
  keep him occupied.
• The Emperor must have cared for these girls to
  some extent.

10
The Concubines

• The Emperor had also read Sun Tzus manual on
  war, which should have led him to realize what
  Sun Tzu might do before the situation came about.
• Sun Tzu on the other hand shows no love for the
  concubines, and only a love for war.
• A sympathetic, compassionate man who regarded
  human life, would not have killed two concubines
  during an experiment.

11
Today

• Today prostitution is illegal in most areas in
  the United States, though it still does occur.
• Prostitution has a bad stigma attached to it.
  Such can be seen through comments made such as
  Dirty Whore (anonymous)
• Polygamy is outlawed in all the states, or at
  least as far as I know, except in cases of
  religious exercise, and even then it is frowned
  upon and maybe not condoned by the state.
• Concubines or mistresses are frowned upon, as
  would be evident from the presidential days of
  Bill Clinton.

12
Maddox

• In closing it would appear that there is one type
  of prostitution that is still legal, as
  illustrated by this quote.
• 4. My ideal date would be Legalized
  prostitution, aka, dinner and a movie followed by
  sex. (Maddox, The Best Page in the Universe,
  http//maddox.xmission.com/ Last Modified
  9-08-03)
• This brings about the interesting fact that
  directly paying money for a service is illegal in
  most places, where as indirectly paying (through
  methods of time, food, and gifts) for the same
  service is illegal.