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June 24, 2005
Ancient Lesbians and Prostitutes
Two news articles tell of ancient women and at least one of their professions.
The first in Haaretz is entitled "Origins of the sex industry" and describes two recent research papers into the origins of prostitution and prostitution in the Bible.
The first article, by Deborah Sweeney of Tel Aviv University (TAU), explores the existence of prostitutes in ancient Egypt. Surprisingly, the minute one sets aside the Judeo-Christian moral code and excises from the list of "harlots" those who engaged in a provocative line of work such as erotic dancing, there is no evidence, in all the historical findings from the days of the Pharaohs, that sex could be bought for money in the Land of the Nile. Only from the Ptolemaic period onward does one find any evidence that prostitution existed. The conclusions are not cut-and-dried. While it is hard to believe there were no prostitutes working in ancient Egypt in times of distress or as a way of life, it cannot be proved on the strength of the flimsy evidence at our disposal.Mayer Gruber of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) reaches more solid conclusions in "Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Biblical World." He starts by exploring the many meanings of the Hebrew word "zona" in the Bible. Usually it means a woman who sells sex for money. But in some cases, the verb "zana" (whored) is synonymous with "na'af" (committed adultery) and refers to a married woman who sleeps with a man who is not her husband. The prophets used zona as a metaphor for a society that has abandoned the pursuit of decency and social justice. They compared the Israelites, who turned their back on God and embraced other gods, to a woman who has violated her marriage vows.
"The Torah, the prophets and rabbinic literature were critical of the profession," writes Gruber, but nowhere in these texts is there any allusion that prostitutes or those who availed themselves of their services were punished or deserving of punishment. Most surprising of all is Gruber's conclusion that there were no cult prostitutes in biblical times. "There is no evidence, either in the Bible or Ugaritic and Akkadian texts, of sex being part of any religious ritual," he stresses. "This is a myth which spread from book to book, very much like a computer virus."
The last point about the myth of cult prostitution in the ancient Semitic world is no doubt correct. I once sought to find an example from Ugarit and failed miserably. As the article says, "This was not the case in Greece."
The second article of abnormal interest is from the Guardian. It tells of a newly restored and translated poem by Sappho.
The poem is the rarest of discoveries. Sappho's pre-eminent reputation as an artist of lyricism and love is based on only three complete poems, 63 complete single lines and up to 264 fragments.These are all that have survived of the writings of a woman who the Greek philosopher Plato said should be honoured not merely as a great lyric poet but as one of the Muses, the goddesses who inspire all art.
On hearing one of Sappho's poems sung, the sixth century BC Greek ruler Solon, a contemporary of hers, asked for someone to teach him the song "because I want to learn it and die.
The poem which is now her fourth to survive had a tortuous and not unromantic discovery. It was found in the cartonnage of an Egyptian mummy, the flexible layer of fibre or papyrus which was moulded while wet into a plaster-like surface around the irregular parts of a mummified wrapped body, so that motifs could be painted on."
The fragments are from the Oxyrhynchus papyri and have been know since 1922. It's only now that they are being put together.
Neither the text of the poem nor a translation is given in the article. But you can read it and read a commentary on the Times Literary Supplement website. I'll give you a taste;
[You for] the fragrant-blossomed Muses’ lovely gifts
[be zealous,] girls, [and the] clear melodious lyre:[but my once tender] body old age now
[has seized;] my hair’s turned [white] instead of dark;my heart’s grown heavy, my knees will not support me,
that once on a time were fleet for the dance as fawns.. . .
. . .
The words in square brackets are conjecture.
Prostitutes via PaleoJudaica
Sappho from Lesbos via Archaeology
Update June 30, 2005:
If you want to see the Greek text of the Sappho poem look here or here.
Posted by Duane Smith at June 24, 2005 12:46 PM | Read more on Archaeology |
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