Ancient Mesopotamians have long been known for their sexual appetites. Indeed, the exploits of their deities is enough to make one blush. Prostitution was practiced widely, as well as symbolic marriages between priestesses of a temple and the King of a city. But, there was also love between a man and his wife, not just casual, ritual sex. In this article, I will touch upon all these different levels of sexual relationships.
Prostitution in ancient Mesopotamia was not frowned upon as it is now days in the US and other cultures. It was a way for a woman, who in Sumer and Old Babylon had some rights, to make a living. Hammurabi, in his famous codes even had laws concerning these women's rights:
178. If a "devoted woman" or a prostitute to whom her father has given a dowry and a deed therefore, but if in this deed it is not stated that she may bequeath it as she pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she has the right of disposal; if then her father die, then her brothers shall hold her field and garden, and give her corn, oil, and milk according to her portion, and satisfy her. If her brothers do not give her corn, oil, and milk according to her share, then her field and garden shall support her. She shall have the usufruct of field and garden and all that her father gave her so long as she lives, but she can not sell or assign it to others. Her position of inheritance belongs to her brothers.
179. If a "sister of a god," or a prostitute, receive a gift from her father, and a deed in which it has been explicitly stated that she may dispose of it as she pleases, and give her complete disposition thereof: if then her father die, then she may leave her property to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers can raise no claim thereto.
180. If a father give a present to his daughter--either marriageable or a prostitute (unmarriageable)--and then die, then she is to receive a portion as a child from the paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
181. If a father devote a temple-maid or temple-virgin to God and give her no present: if then the father die, she shall receive the third of a child's portion from the inheritance of her father's house, and enjoy its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her brothers.
182. If a father devote his daughter as a wife of Mardi of Babylon (as in 181), and give her no present, nor a deed; if then her father die, then shall she receive one-third of her portion as a child of her father's house from her brothers, but Marduk may leave her estate to whomsoever she wishes.
There are myths concerning the relationship of prostitutes and the Ishtar temples. I haven't found any evidence that there were prostitutes in the Ishtar temples, but I have read in Leo Oppenheim's book, "ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: Portrait of a Dead Civilization", that they were able to live near the Ishtar temple in Uruk. Also, I believe Herodotus said that a young virgin who was about to be married would sit upon the steps of an Ishtar temple and sell herself before she was permitted to marry. I think this is a myth, maybe this was done by the Greeks in Aphrodite's temples, but it is highly unlikely that it occurred in Mesopotamia. According to Oppenheim in Neo-Babylonian times, a bride was supposed to be a virgin, therefore she would not be allowed to sell herself before her marriage.
In these times, there were religious practices where a priestess and or a king or priest would enact marriages between deities. The priestess would play the part of a goddess and the king or priest would become the god. They would go through the marriage ceremony and end up consummating the marriage. An example of such a marriage is that of the goddess Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and war (Babylonian Ishtar), and her spouse Damuzi (also known as Tammuz).
Inanna sang:
"Last night as I, the queen, was shining bright,
Last night as I, the Queen of Heaven, was shining bright,
As I was shining bright and dancing,
Singing praises at the coming of the night -
He met me - he met me!
My lord Dumuzi met me.
He put his hand into my hand.
He pressed his neck close against mine.
My high priest is ready for the holy loins.
My lord Dumuzi is ready for the holy loins.
The plants and herbs in his field are ripe.
O Dumuzi! Your fullness is my delight!"
She called for it, she called for the bed!
She called for the bed that rejoices the heart.
She called for the bed that sweetens the loins.
She called for the bed of kingship.
She called for the bed of queenship.
Inanna called for the bed:
"Let the bed that rejoices the heart be prepared!
Let the bed that sweetens the loins be prepared!
Let the bed of kingship be prepared!
Let the bed of queenship be prepared!
Let the royal bed be prepared!"
Inanna spread the bridal sheet across the bed.
She called to the king:
"The bed is ready!"
She called to her bridegroom:
"The bed is waiting!"
(Above excerpt taken from the book, "Inanna" by Diane Wolkenstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, pages 41-42)
The book does go into greater detail of what happened between Dumuzi and Inanna in the marriage bed. But, it does get explicit and I don't want to offend. The above is also a good example of a happy marriage. Marriages in ancient times were pre-arranged, but love did grow from them and often there are tales of pre-marital sex happening between a man and his intended.
However, there were also strict laws about sexual relationships between man and wife, man and daughter-in-law and the case of incest. I will again use the Code of Hammurabi as an example of such laws:
128. If a man take a woman to wife, but have no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him.
129. If a man's wife be surprised (in flagrante delicto) with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.
130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless.
154. If a man be guilty of incest with his daughter, he shall be driven from the place (exiled).
155. If a man betroth a girl to his son, and his son have intercourse with her, but he (the father) afterward defile her, and be surprised, then he shall be bound and cast into the water (drowned).
156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but his son has not known her, and if then he defile her, he shall pay her half a gold mina, and compensate her for all that she brought out of her father's house. She may marry the man of her heart.
157. If any one be guilty of incest with his mother after his father, both shall be burned.
Nor were the mighty gods/goddesses immune to such laws. The Sumerian’s supreme God, Enlil, was once banished for raping his wife, Ninlil, before they were married. Not even he was above the law; rape was unacceptable. Ninlil's mother had set her sites on Enlil for a son-in-law and instructed her daughter to lure Enlil to her by bathing nude in a stream. Ninlil agrees and this is what follows:
In the pure stream, the woman bathes, in the pure stream,
Ninlil walks along the bank of the stream Nunbirdu,
The bright-eyed, the lord, the bright-eyed,
The "great mountain," father Enlil, the bright-eyed, saw her,
The shepherd...who decrees the fates, the bright-eyed saw her.
The lord speaks to her of intercourse (?), she is unwilling,
Enlil speaks to her of intercourse (?), she is unwilling;
"My vagina is too little, it knows not to copulate,
My lips are too small, they know not to kiss"...
(Above from Samuel Noah Kramer's "THE SUMERIANS: Their History, Culture, and Character", page 146.)
Enlil doesn't take no for an answer, he tells his vizier, Nusku that he must have her. Nusku brings Enlil's boat up and Enlil sails with Ninlil on the stream. While sailing he rapes her. For his immoral behavior, even though he is king of the gods, Enlil is banished to the nether world.
Enlil walks about in the Kiur (Ninlil's private shrine),
As Enlil walks about in the Kiur,
The great gods, the fifty of them,
The fate-decreeing gods, the seven of them,
Seize Enlil in the Kiur (saying):
"Enlil, immoral one, get you out of the city,
Nunamnir (an epithet of Enlil), immoral one, get you out of the city."
(Above from Samuel Noah Kramer's "THE SUMERIANS: Their History, Culture, and Character", page 147.)
Ninlil forgives Enlil and follows him into the underworld.
Ancient Mesopotamians had sexual freedom. Their prostitutes and concubines had protection from the law. Their gods and goddesses also practiced this sexual freedom, their daily lives were that of a modern soap opera. But, not even the supreme god could escape punishment for his "immoral" behavior.
Samuel Noah Kramer, THE SUMERIANS: Their History, Culture, and Character, The University of Chicago (1963), pp. 146-147.
Diane Wolkenstein and Samuel Noah Kramer, Inanna, (1983), pages 41-42).
A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia, The University of Chicago (1964, 1977)
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Featured May 12 , 2005
