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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] YHWH's attitude towards zonah
  • Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 14:37:20 -0500

Dear Stoney,

1) If we didn't have the entertaining but hardly dependable Herodotus,
would we ever have arrived at the notion that there was such a thing as
"temple prostitution"? Or would we assume that the prophets'
identification of religious and sexual infidelity is a metaphor, not
condemnation of actual physical or economic acts?

The city is called "Wealthy Corinth" on account of its trade. Situated on an isthmus it is master of two harbors, one leading to Asia and the other to Italy. In earlier times, the Temple of Aphrodite acquired such wealth that it owned over one thousand slaves, women dedicated to the goddess for sex and entertainment. And so the city was crowded and enriched because of these women, as ship masters easily spent everything they had.
-Strabo Geography 8.6.20-23

HH: Here is a statement by PBS, where the Strabo quote above appears:
http://www.pbs.org/empires/peterandpaul/footsteps/footsteps_6_2.html

Because of its great wealth and transitory population, Corinth had a reputation for luxury, and uninhibited pleasures. This reputation was further bolstered by the city's association with Aphrodite -- her image appeared on the city's coinage, and Corinth had at least three temples to the goddess of love, including one on the very high summit of Acrocorinth, where she held a shield before her like a mirror. In addition, the harbors had their own temples to the goddess of love. In pre-Roman times, one temple of Aphrodite was served by temple prostitutes, and, though modern scholars debate whether ritual prostitution had ceased by the time of Paul's arrival, there is little doubt that prostitution would have thrived. Brothels have been excavated in several Roman cities, including Pompeii and Ephesus. But Aphrodite was important to the city in other ways, too. Born out of the sea, she could protect the sailors and ships on which the city's economy depended. And Julius Caesar, the city's colonial patron, claimed descent from Venus, the Roman form of Aphrodite.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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