Thnx Chloe........
The Priestesses of Inanna
By Anders Sandberg
Prostitution has not always been looked down upon as it is today. Once its practitioners were the priestesses of love and sensuality, celebrating the mysteries of sex at the temples of Inanna in ancient Sumer. Later the Babylonians worshipped her as Ishtar, the goddess of the morning star. Among the Hebrews she was known as Asherah, the wife of El. Other groups in the middle east gave her other names, but her worship was widespread. But as Christianity and monotheism rose, her worship was outlawed and she was demonized. She became known only as the demon Astaroth, and her priestesses were despised.
The origins of temple-prostitution date back to ancient Sumer. Inanna was the Goddess of the city Uruk, having brought the sacred laws (the me) to the people there by stealing them from her grandfather Enki, the god of water and wisdom. She was the goddess of love, fertility and war, revered for her power and feared for her temper. She was said to have a rapacious appetite for men and didn't take "no" for an answer. Many myths tell about her revenges against lovers who refused her or people who treated her badly.
She married the mortal shepherd Dumuzi, and made him king of Uruk. From their union the land prospered, and fertility ruled. Some time later, Inanna ventured down into the Realm of Death to visit her sister Ereshkigal, the goddess of the dead, perhaps hoping to learn the secrets of the Underworld too. But when she after three days re-emerged from death, she found Dumuzi carrying on as usual, happily celebrating. In her anger she let the demons of the Underworld take him down with them. But later grief overtook her, and appealed to her sister to release her husband. Ereshkigal allowed it, on the provision that the sister of Dumuzi took his place half of the year. So it came to pass that during late summer, autumn and early winter, Dumuzi is in the realm of death and no plants will grow. On the new years day, he is released and fertility and growth yet again returns to the land as Inanna rejoices.
This is the origin of the sumerian New Year celebration, the hieros gamos, where the king ceremonially marries the priestess of Inanna. Their marriage and subsequent union recreates the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi, giving fertility to the land and power to the king. This ceremony developed, and the priestesses of Inanna became sacred prostitutes, ensuring the fertility of the land by giving themselves to the worshippers. There were also male prostitutes, representing Dumuzi for the female followers.
The cult spread with minor variations in the whole Middle East, and Inanna became known as Ishtar, Asherah, Aphrodite, Venus and by many other names. Her cult also became mixed with the cult of the Great Mother, and it is unclear where one ends and the other begins. In some areas all unmarried women had to serve at her temples a period each year, something was regarded as s privilege. The priestesses enjoyed high status, unlike most other women at the time. They may have been the origin of the well educated, intellectual courtesans which reached their height in classic Greece.
However, with the coming of the new religions the cult of Inanna lost its status. It became outlawed, her temples were destroyed or appropriated by other groups and her followers were scattered for the winds. Prostitution remained, but was no longer sacred and was instead regarded as tainted by the followers of monotheism (partially because of its earlier association with the Goddess). However, small parts of the cult survived in remote areas or in India, where it developed under Hindu influences into Tantra. Today the classic cult is almost certainly dead, but followers may remain in odd places, mainly inside the Cult of Ecstasy.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
