An Investigative History Into the Age of Prostitution as a Profession
Any topic related to prostitution or the world’s oldest profession as it may be known to some people produces a strong response. Is there truth in prostitution being the world’s oldest profession? Is prostitution the world’s oldest profession? Although this may be a myth, there is an exciting history behind the modern understanding of prostitution and what it was once meant to be. For this to be true, we have to look at it with a modern day perspective and modern-day ideas of money. The answers to questions of the age of prostitution are as enticing as they are complicated. By reading this detailed article, you will learn about the inception of prostitution as a profession and how it has made it to this generation.
Prostitution is first mentioned in ancient written Sumerian records that date back to 2400BCE, and it is recorded as a potential profession for women in that time. It is worth noting that there was some religious and spiritual element to this profession in Mesopotamia. There is evidence that hints that women did it as a part of a ritual. According to a Greek historian named Herodotus, women would wait at the doors of a temple and agree to have sex with any man who agreed to enter. The men would then give some money to the women who would then donate it to the temple after the task. This sacred prostitution, however, remains a topic of debate among some scholars. This is attributed to the fact that the historian is not quite reliable as a source. This, however, has its backbone in the idea that sex and sexuality were sacred and celebrated at that time and place. Fertility, which was highly valued, was also linked with this. There are suggestions from historians that indicate that sex was believed to release fertile and divine energy.
There are a number of valid points on both sides but prostitution is viewed negatively due to Christianity. Christian came with ideas of chastity that created the taboo that the act of sex itself fell victim to. The spread of these ideologies over time has led to the stigmatization of prostitution as a profession. In the bible, there is a specific reference to the “Woman of Babylon who is a representation of the ungodliness and illegitimacy associated with the Roman empire. The Bible addresses sex as something for married couples only. Brothels were however a common thing in medieval Europe. Prostitution was only under regulation and limited to specific parts of the city. At this time, wives were not totally against the idea of prostitution as it gave them the ability to say no to their husbands and send them somewhere else. The Catholic church maintained policies for prostitution at that period since it was the core of the government.
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