Was the famous/infamous institution of temple prostitution in ancient Mesopotamia ever really a thing? And if so, what was that like?
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Time/place: Ancient Mesopotamia, c. 3000 BCE – 300 CE
Dead Idea: Cuneiform
A Map of Ancient Sumer, c. 3000 BCE, by Adam McKithern
Main Sources
Bahrani, Z. (2001). Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia. New York: Routledge.
Baruch, Book of. 6:43. Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. Retrieved 6-20-17 from: https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Baruch%206%3A43
Bertman, S. (2005). Handbook of Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. New York: Oxford University Press.
Black, J., Cunningham, G., Robson, E., and Zólyomi, G. (2004). The Literature of Ancient Sumer. New York: Oxford University Press. – “A Supervisor’s Advice to a Young Scribe”
Bottéro, J. (2001). Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bottéro, J. (2004). The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Budin, S. (2006). “Sacred Prostitution in the First Person.” In: Faraone, C. A. & McClure, L. K. (2006). Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Bullough, V., and Bullough, B. (1987). Women and Prostitution: A Social History. New York: Prometheus Books.
Chalcier, P. (2011). “Cuneiform Culture’s Last Guardians.” In: Radner, K., and Robson, E. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture. New York: Oxford.
Civil, M., Trans. “Hymn to Ninkasi.” Retrieved May 14th, 2017, from: http://www.piney.com/BabNinkasi.html
Faraone, C. A. & McClure, L. K. (2006). Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Fink, S. (2013). “The Genealogy of Gilgamesh.” Classica et Christiana, 8(1): pp. 81-107.
Fisher, D. S. (2008). Representations of the Poor in The Poor Man of Nippur and The Eloquent Peasant. Thesis. Nashville, Tennessee: Vanderbilt University.
Foster, B. (1982). “Administration and Use of Institutional Land in Sargonic Sumer.” Copenhagen Studies in Assyriology, Vol. 9. Copenhagen.
George, A., Trans. (1999). The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian. New York: Penguin.
Glassner, J. (2003). The Invention of Cuneiform. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Harris, S. (2010, Sep. 16). “Prostitutes of God.” Vice. Retrieved 6-20-17 from: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/prostitutes-of-god-episode-1
Herodotus. (1890). The History of Herodotus. Macaulay, G. C., Trans. Retrieved 6-20-17 from: http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh1190.htm
Jacobsen, T. (1987). The Harps That Once…: Sumerian Poetry in Translation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Kramer, S. N. (1963). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lafront, B. (2001). “The Ordeal.” In: Bottéro, J. (2001). Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Lahtinen, S. (n.d.). “The Naditum as Businesswoman: The Economic Role of the Naditum in Old Babylonian Sippur.” Thesis. Uppsala University. Retrieved May 17, 2017, from: https://www.academia.edu/354008/The_Old-Babylonian_naditu_as_businesswoman?auto=download
Nemet-Nejat, K. R. (1998). Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
“Proverbs, Collection 1.” The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. Retrieved May 27, 2017, from: http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.01.html
Radner, K., and Robson, E. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture. New York: Oxford.
Roth, M. T. (2006). “Marriage, Divorce, and the Prostitute in Ancient Mesopotamia.” In: Faraone, C. A. & McClure, L. K. (2006). Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Silver, M. (n.d.). “Temple/Sacred Prostitution in Ancient Mesopotamia Revisited: Religion in the Economy.” Retrieved May 29, 2017, from: https://www.academia.edu/2360254/Temple_Sacred_Prostitution_in_Ancient_Mesopotamia_Revisited
Stone, E. C. (1982). “The Social Role of the Naditu Women in Old Babylonian Nippur.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 15(1): 50-70.
Superdrug Online Doctors. (n.d.). “Perceptions of Perfection.” Superdrug Online Doctors. Retrieved 6-20-17 from: https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/perceptions-of-perfection/?utm_source=affiliatewindow&utm_medium=affiliate
Visicato, G. (2000). The Power and the Writing: Early Scribes of Mesopotamia. Bethesda, MD: CDL Press.
Maps, pics, references, and more at http://www.deadideas.net. Music and graphic design by Rachel Westhoff. Map by Adam McKithern.