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    Joan Goodnick Westenholz - Tamar, Qědēšā, Qadištu, and Sacred Prostitution in Mesopotamia - 1989

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    HIR 82:3 (1989) 245-65 TAMAR, QEDESA, QADISTU, AND SACRED PROSTITUTION IN MESOPOTAMIA * Joan Goodnick Westenholz Tel Aviv University ‘The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and glittered with gold and jewels and pearls, and she was holding a gold winecup filled with the dis- gusting filth of her prostitution; on her forehead was written a name, a cryp- tic name: ‘‘Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes and all the filthy practices on the earth .”” (Rev 17:4-5, N/B) In discussions of the ancient Near Eastern setting for the Old Testament, various aspects of Mesopotamian society and culture are nominated as the precursors of certain features of Israelite practice. It is particularly in the area of religious thought and ritual that Mesopotamian antecedents are sought. Whether this line of study is a leftover from the period of pan-Babylonianism or not, it has influenced research methodologies both in Assyriology and biblical studies. The particular case in point for the present investigation is the figure of Tamar in Genesis 38, who is designated by the appellatives =m, “harlot” and nanp (qedé8a), “*holy one.”” The latter is the etymological equivalent of the word “This article is a revised and expanded version of a talk given at Harvard Divinity School, 28 April 1988, I want to express my gratitude to Professors Paul Hanson and Theodore Hiebert for their encouragement, In addition, I want to thank Professors Piotr Steinkeller and Aage Westenholz, who read the manuscript and offered many helpful corrections and suggestions. ‘Abbreviations used in this article follow those of HTR with the following additions: ARM = Archives royales de Mari (Paris: Geuthner, 1950- ); KAR = Erich Ebeling, Keilschriftexte aus Assur religidsen Inkalts (Wissenschafiliche Verbffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 28, 34; Berlin: Hinrichs: 1915~23); KTU = M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartin, Die keilalpha- betischen Texte aus Ugarit (AOAT 24/1; Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1976~ ); MRS = Mission de Ras Shamra; MSL = Materialien zum sumerischen Lexikon (Rome: Pontifical Institute, 1937- ); RIC = Frangois Thureau-Dangin, Receuil de tablettes chaldéennes (Paris, 1903), UET = Ur Excava- tions, Texts (Publications of the Joint Expedition of the British Museum and the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, to Mesopotamia; London/Philadelphia: Trustees of the ‘Two Museums, 1927-), 246 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW qadiitu in Akkadian. Both of these terms appear in studies of the subject of sacred prostitution in the Bible and Mesopotamia.! TAMAR In the description of the liaison of Judah and Tamar, Tamar disguised herself so that Judah presumed that she was a ‘‘prostitute,”* a 721. On two occasions in the story, during the conversation of his friend Hirah the Adullamite and the men of the place, the word 7unp replaces 7m, ‘“‘prostitute."” In the New Jerusalem Bible of 1985, the two words are both translated as ‘‘prostitute,"* but a note on the former states: “‘Strictly, ‘sacred prostitute,” priestess of a pagan cult.”’? The idea that embedded in the story of Genesis 38 are traces of a tale about a sacred prostitute has a long history. It has been most elaborately developed by Michael Astour.? However, before such an assumption can be made on the basis of extra-biblical material, let us examine the assumed internal evidence for such a sacred prostitute. Focusing on Genesis 38, we note that there are layers of perception from the standpoint of the author, redactor, and others, in the story of the deception. Let us first follow the surface story line: 'Some recent studies on various aspects of this issue include: Daniel Amaud, “La prostitution sacrée en Mésopotamie, un mythe historique?"” RHR 183 (1973) 111~15; Michael Astour, “Tamar the Hierodule: An Essay in the Method of Vestigal Motifs,”” JBL. 85 (1966) 185-96; Eugene J. Fisher, “‘Cultic Prostitution in the Ancient Near East? A Reassessment,"" BTB 6 (1976) 225-36; Gerda Lerner, "The Origin of Prostitution in Ancient Mesopotamia,”” Journal of Women in Culture cand Society 11 (1986) 236~54; Robert A. Oden, Jr., The Bible Without Theology (New York: Harper & Row, 1987) chap. 5: ‘Religious Identity and the Sacred Prostitution Accusation,” 131-53; Edwin M. Yamauchi, “Cultic Prostitution, A Case Study in Cultural Diffusion,” in Hay A., Hoffner, Jr, ed., Orient and Occident: Essays Presented to Cyrus H. Gordon on the Occasion of His Sixty-ffth Birthday (AOAT 22; Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1973) 213-22. 2NJB, 65 note hon Gen 38:21. Other translations include: “harlot” vs, “harlot” (KJV); “pros- titute’’ vs. “prostitute"” (Good News Bible {New York: American Bible Society, 1978}); “harlot” vs, ‘temple prostitute” (New American Standard Bible), “‘prostitute"” vs. “temple prostitute” (WEB). The commentators mostly vary their translations: Lee Haines, Genesis and Exodus (The ‘Wesleyan Bible Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967): “harlot” vs. “prostitute”; John ‘Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis (2d ed.; ICC 1; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1930): “harlot’” vs. “'sacred prostitute’’; E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB 1; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964): “harlot” vs. “votary”; Bruce Vawter, On Genesis: A New Reading (Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1977): “*harlot”” vs. “temple prostitute.”” A few commentators maintain the traditional translation “harlot” vs. “‘harlot””: Gerhard von Rad, Genesis, A Commentary (3d ed.; London: SCM, 1972), and C. A. Simpson and W. R. Bowie, The Book of Genesis (The Interpreter's Bible; New York: Abingdon, 1952) 3Astour, “Tamar the Hierodule.”* Note the criticism of the biblical side of the argument by J. A. Emerton, ‘'Some Problems in Genesis XXXVII,"" VI 25 (1975) 357 ~60. JOAN GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ 247 1) changing clothes, taking off the garments of her widowhood Tmaaak “22 Tom 2) veiling herself mbprm Fpos3 0m 3) sitting at the entrace of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah mman 777 Sy Tee ory mnas scm This disguise created in Judah's mind a picture of a mii. Is it because she veiled her face? According to the communis opinio, the veiling was the disguise of a common harlot,‘ or of a harlot whose veiling signified her dedication to Ish- tar, the veiled goddess Such an assumption would seem surprising in view of the past and present day Near Eastern custom of veiling as outward symbols of modest women under male control. Discerning that veils conceal married women, von Rad suggests that Tamar is not playing the harlot but a married woman observing the Babylonian custom described by Herodotus whereby married women had to give themselves once in their lives to strangers.” Conse- quently, it cannot be the veiling that led Judah to assume that she was a prosti- tute. However, for the deception to work, she must be covered and unrecogniz- able. Judah tums towards her 777 %, ‘‘to the road.’’ This location must define her social status as prostitute.’ Thus, Tamar’s stratagem of enticement works and Judah cohabits with her. When he sends his men with her payment, a kid, they question the inhabitants of the town, asking: spr by ores wn natpA me “Where is the gédéSd, the one by the Enaim road?” It is to be noted that the term ntp is only mentioned in conversations with the local inhabitants. Let us therefore assume that the term m@7p was known to the inhabitants of Canaan. The prohibition against their existence in the scriptures usually is a good sign of their existence. ‘Speiser, Genesis, 300; Haines, Genesis and Exodus, 124; Athalya Brenner, The Israelite Woman: Social Role and Literary Type in Biblical Narrative (Sheffield: SOT, 1985) 82. ‘Skinner, Genesis, 454; Simpson and Bowie, Genesis, 760. Veiling upon marriage in the patriarchal period has been inferred from the fact that Rebecca ‘covered herself with a veil on the approach of Isaac (Gen 24:65) and that Leah was unrecognizable uring the marriage ceremony (Gen 29:23). Likewise, according to the legal system, the adulterous ‘woman is punished by the loosening of her hair (Num 5:18). In the New Testament. Paul admon- ishes the Corinthians that women should choose between cutting off their hair, shaving their heads and wearing a veil to symbolize their subjection to men (1 Cor 11:4~7), For the Islamic world, see Kuidn Surch XXXII 53-59: for the Assyrian world, see Middle Assyrian Laws § § 40—<1. 7Von Rad, Genesis, 359. "For a similar opinion see Vawter, Genesis, 397. 248 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW In the Old Testament, the term (7)07P (as rank, title, or profession), literally, “sacred, holy, consecrated one’’ and commonly translated, **sacred prostitute” (cf. BDB 873), is employed with both men and women in the following con- texts: (1) prohibition of their existence (Deut 23:18); (2) the male included in Canaanite religious practices still existing or removed by righteous kings (1 Kgs 14:24; 15:12; 22:47); (3) quarters of male gédésim, even within the Temple of Yahweh, in which women are weaving vestments for Asherah (2 Kgs 23:7); (4) condemnation of men who offer sacrifice with qédés6t (Hos 4:14); and (5) refer- ring to the lives of the impious (Job 36:14). In these contexts, it is impossible to arrive at the conclusion of illicit sexual activity. Likewise, it is contrary to rea- son to separate the male and female counterparts of the same office in order to deduce that the male was a Canaanite cultic functionary and the female was a imreligious prostitute on the basis that it is a synonym of znd.? One can con- clude that there were male and female cultic functionaries who bore this title at Canaanite local sanctuaries and, at times at least, also the central Israelite temple in Jerusalem. In these passages, there is no explicit evidence that sexual activi- ties were characteristic of the qadés/gédésd. Some commentators have sug- gested that Judah’s friend Hirah attempts to raise the moral tone of the affair by asking for the mtp rather than a prostitute.!° If we follow this idea while basing ‘ourselves on the above interpretation, Hirah is not trying to change the nature of the affair from one with a common prostitute to one with a sacred prostitute; rather he is denying the affair and pretending to take the kid to the 7107p for a sacrifice, as in Hos 4:14. If the ostensible outward behavior of Tamar could be subsumed under this title of female cultic functionary, what had she done to elicit such a response? We know very little of women in cultic roles from the Old Testament.'! On the other hand, it is recognized that the Hebrews saw all forms of religion except their own as depraved and full of debauchery. To the Hebrew author, the pagan priestess must be a harlot, and vice versa, the harlot must have been a pagan Priestess. The Greek translators of the Old Testament evidently had difficulties with the words wip and nwp, as is evident from their various translations and nontrans- lations. Basically, two renditions are found: “‘prostitute”” (male and female) and “initiate’’ (xépvn, ropvevev, and various participial forms based on teA€q, ‘to finish, to bring to perfection, to initiate into the mysteries’). One translator CE. Mayer I. Gruber, “‘Hebrew gédéiah and her Canaanite and Akkadian Cognates,”” UF 18 (1986) 133-48. Gruber is not alone in visualizing the female role without taking inio consideration, the male counterpart see references below. n. 11 'Speiser, Genesis, 300; Haines, Genesis and Exodus, 125; see also the NEB note on this line. "Cr, Phyllis Bird, “The Place of Women in the Israelite Cultus,”” in Paul D. Hanson, Patrick D. Miller, Jr., and S. Dean McBride, eds., Ancient Israelite Religion: Essays in Honor of Frank M. ‘Cross (Philadelphia: Foriress, 1987) 397 - 419 and references collected there. JOAN GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ, 249 threw up his hands in despair and rendered cwnp in 2 Kgs 23:7 simply as xodnoup. In Deut 23:18, zp is given both as xopvesev and tevoxdpevos, and Tunp as népyn and teAeopdpos, as if the translators would not take the responsi- bility of choosing between the two possibilities. Of particular interest is Origen’s translation of wp in 1 Kgs 22:47 (missing in the LXX): he (or his source) translates ev8imAAoypévos, which means “one changed into something else” —and from the context, a translation “*perverse one’” seems warranted. Thus, the confusion of the modern commentators is reflected already in the work of the biblicists of the Greek period. Let us now evaluate the prebiblical and contemporary records of the ancient Near East for the light they can shed on this problem. NORTH SYRIAN CULTURE AREA The nearest neighbors to Canaan, not only geographically but also culturally, ethnically, and temporally, are those found in North Syria. In Ugarit, as in the Bible, there are both male and female qdim. Likewise, the qdim are poorly attested. There is at least one example where they appear in ritual texts. In this ritual (KTU 1.112 = Ugaritica VII pp. 21-25, RS 24.256), the role of the qdi' is that of a cantor during sacrifices.!* The majority of the documentation is limited to administrative texts. There are five instances in which khnm (sacerdotal priests) are immediately followed by dsm who usually comprise the same number and are accorded the same privileges. In UT 63:3 (= CTA 77), the text only consists of these two groups, khnm and qdim who each provide nine per- sons and one ass. Two of the other instances appear in distribution lists: UT 81:2 (= CTA 75) and UT 82:2 (= CTA 76). In another instance, the kham and the qd%m together furnish one archer for the troops of the city (UT 113:73 [= CTA 71}). The last instance seems to be a list of personnel (UT 169:7 = 1026:7). On the basis of these examples, von Soden concluded ‘“‘daB qdim eine Sammelbezeichnung fir nicht-priesterliches Tempelpersonal war, das durch eine Weihung dem Tempeldienst verpflichtet wurde.’”!3 However, an Akkadian text from Ugarit indicates that rather than through consecration to the deity, the title and status could be acquired through inheritance: ‘‘From this day on RN has given a tax exemption to PN and his sons and has given (him) the status of marjannu and ina qadsuti iktma he has elevated him from the status of *gadsu"’ (MRS 6 140ff, RS 16.132:7). Furthermore, from this legal text, we can deduce that the gdim could marry and have children. There is one example Cf, Paulo Xella, / testi rituali de Ugarit | (Studi Semitici 54; Rome: Consiglio Nazionale della Ricerche, 1981) 43-48. Note that in his comment on this line, Xella refers also to sacred prostitu- tion: “*Ci pare pid plausible una resa ‘consacrato,” senza particolasi allusioni alla prostituzione sacra, per cui non vi sono finora tracce nella documentazione ugaritica’” (48). ‘3Wolfram von Soden, “Zur Stellung des ‘Geweihten’ (qd{) in Ugarit,"* UF 2 (1970) 329-30. 250 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW of the feminine qdit in an Ugaritic clan name which occurs in the alphabetic texts as bn.gdit (UT 400 = CTA 113 v 11; UT 2163:2) and in the Akkadian texts as PN DUMU —qa-dis-ti (Ugaritica 5 11 No. 7:14).'* Note that the Sumerian logogram NU.GIG (= qadisiu) is used with the male qdX: LU.NU.GIG (MRS 12 93:26). Their cultic office is difficult to establish and most Ugaritic dictionaries translate ‘a class of priests.’’!5 On the basis of the above evidence, we might venture to speculate that they performed services similar to those that the Levites performed in Israelite worship. Nevertheless, there are scholars who have identified this class as sacred prostitutes.'® The latest assessment by Jean-Michel de Tarragon has debunked previous argu- ments: “Or, le dossier de la prostitution sacrée, a Ugarit, est quasi inexistant. Il n’y a pas de témoignages explicites sur cette pratique. ... Ces hypotheses ne se vérifient pas. Le hiérodule n’est pas attesté & Ugarit.’”!” Unfortunately, though incisive, Tarragon accepts the generalization that sacred prostitution exists out- side of Ugarit—in Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and in the Bible.!8 From the above data, we can infer that qds in the North Syrian culture area referred to a group of people connected with the temple and its cult whose status was inheritable. From the Ugaritic evidence, we speculated that they might per- form levitical functions. MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE AREA qgadistu In Akkadian, the language spoken by the Semitic inhabitants of the Mesopo- tamian plain, the root qd¥ is less common than in the west. It appears most often in the noun form in the feminine qadistu/qassatuiqasdatu and refers to a woman of special status." Unlike the west, there is no trace of a corresponding male *qadiu (qaidu is an adjective only). The most significant reference in relation to the Tamar story is found in a compendium of legal terminology used in the training of scribes and notaries:2° “Frauke Grondahl, Die Personnamen der Texte aus Usarit (Studia Pohl 1; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1967) 371 (Abdi-pi-dar, d. Bin-qadisti), 348 ((bin(?)-qa-si ana al Kis... qadistu mé is[sarig]ma [ ... Jilaqgima idallalima ippasa isinna, “Come, let us go, I and you, to the city of Kish. ... After the gadisiu-woman has sprinkled water, she takes [ ... ] and they worship and hold a festival.’ This text may demon- strate that the gadistu-woman did have a ritual function, perhaps in a purification ceremony in Old Babylonian Kish. Found in Sippar is a lever regarding the seals of the goddess I8tar, the queen of Sippar, which seem to be in the possession of a gadigtu-woman.>! Later Babylonian texts contain few references to the gadistu-woman. In one Middle Babylonian text she appears as a mother,?? and in one Standard Babylonian literary text she appears also in connection with childbirth:? nadau Ja ina némegi uballata rému qasdatu Sa ina mé 1dlilti [ikakjkanii, “the naditus who with skill heal the foetus, the gadiitus who with water [perlform purifications.’” On the other hand, in Standard Babylonian texts the qadistu- woman is often counted among sorceresses and witches.** The latter instances can be accounted for by the first-millennium dualistic theory that women were either ‘good’ or ‘‘bad’*: because the latter were under their own control, they were considered to be the mediums of evil power, a dangerous, uncontrolled female power. Another interpretation is that the gadiitu-woman officiated in exorcistic rituals in which she impersonated the witch ‘‘providing a tangible object for exorcistic activity, whereas her accessories, the palm fibre mat and fir 30W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (Oxford: Clarendon, 1960) 161 rev. 31Van Lerberghe, “‘New Data,” 280. 32Albert T. Clay, Documents from the Temple Archives of Nippur Dated in the Reigns of Cassite Rulers (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, the Museum Publications of the Babylonian Sec- tion, 1912) 122.22, 33KAR 321.7; see Gruber, “Hebrew géd@sah,"" 141. Gerhard Meier, Die assyrischen Beschwérungen Magid (AfO.Beih. 2; Berlin, 1937) Tablette I 40-55, V 51-60, VI 26-31 = 37-42; Erica Reiner, Surpu, A Collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantations (AfO.Beih. 11; Graz, 1958) Tablet III 116-17, VII 69; ef. Sue Rollin, ‘Women and Witchcraft in Ancient Assyria,"’ in Averil Cameron and Amélie Kubrt, eds., Images of Women in Antiquity (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1983) 34— 45, 254 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW cone, probably symbolized the ‘bonds’ of the sorcerers and were to be broken or unraveled in the course of the ceremonies,”’>5 In Assyria, the gadittu-woman appears in letters, legal texts, and ritual texts from the Old Assyrian period onwards.36 From the testimony of these texts, we can establish that the qadistu-woman could marry and, if she were married, she was allowed to be veiled in public (Ass. Code § 40). There were dire penalties if an unmarried gadistu-woman went veiled in public. Thus, Tamar could have been considered by the Canaanite inhabitants as a veiled, married qadistu- woman. As in the Babylonian sources. the gadistu-woman is mentioned beside the midwife.>” In Middle Assyrian ritual texts, the gadistu-woman officiated in the Adad cult in Assur. In one text (KAR 154), the gadistu-women conduct the ritual perfor- mances together with the SANGA-priest. The ritual is described thus: on the day that they ... Adad and they let the gadiitu-women go out (of the temple), they make a meal offering in the Temple of Adad, the gadiStu-women intone the inhu-chant, prolong the inhu-chant, the SANGA performs a purification ceremony, the qadistu-women raise the (statue of the) god, the SANGA and the qadistu-women depart from the temple of Adad. Then, the procession continues to various other temples, and the same activities are repeated. During these ritu- als, the gadistu-women wear certain jewels. Furthermore, the gaditu-women partake of the sacrificial offering.>* In Neo-Assyrian texts, there are two obscure references to a gadistu-woman in ritual function. The first is an Assyrian ritual requiring her use of salt to undo a lightheartedly sworn oath. The other is contained in a letter referring to a gadistu-woman's involvement with the vestments of the god Shamash.” ‘Thus, the gadiftu-woman may have had more than one function during the diachronic span of Mesopotamian culture. One was identified with a gender- specific female activity such as the task of procreation and nurture. Contrary to the North Syrian socio-cultural system, the Mesopotamian has gender- differentiated ecclesiastical role specialization. Another function of the 35simo Parpola, Letters jrom Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal (AOAT 5/2; Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1983) 183. 36Hans Hirsch, Untersuchungen zur altassyrischen Religion (AfO.Beih. 13/14; Osnabriick: Biblio-Verlag, 1972) 58; Brigitte Menzel, Assyrische Tempel (Studia Pohl, Series Maior 10; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1981) 262, For the Middle Assyrian harem decrees, cf. AfO 17, 268.11; Wolfram von Soden, ‘Die ‘Hebamme in Babylonien und Assyrien,’” AfO 18 (1957/58) 119-21 38For a treatment of this text, see Menzel, Assyrische Tempel, 2. T2~T4. 38Erich Ebeling, Parfiimrezepte und kultische Texte aus Assur (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Insti- tute, 1950) Pl. 17 r. ii 5; see Ebeling, ““Kultische Texte aus Assur,” Orns. 22 (1953) 43. “Robert Francis Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1892-1914) no, 1126:13; see Par- pola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, n0. 187. JOAN GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ 255 gadistu-woman was a sacerdotal service performed in the cult of Adad located in the cities of Assur and Kish. Her ritual duties were many and laid out in vari- ous fragmentary texts. In addition, in the first millennium, she may have officiated in exorcistic rituals. nu-gig Mesopotamian culture had its formative period in the third millennium when Sumerian was the most important language of communication. In Sumerian, the lexical equivalent for gadistu-woman is nu-gig. Not only does this term occur in relation to the status of women but also appears as an epithet in describing the goddesses Inanna, Aruru/Ninmah, Nanaja, and Nini(n)sina! The latter usage has been exploited to assert the definition of **sacred prostitute’” for the three terms qédéX4, qadistu, and nu-gig: D’apres les textes, la sumérienne nu-gig (= accadien qadistu) ne semble pas avoir é1é consacrée a une divinité particuligre. Mais il ne fait pas de doute qu’elle remplit au temple 1a fonction d'une prostituée sacrée. Cela ne res- sort pas seulement de la relation étymologique qadittu = qedéia (higrodule dans la religion cananéenne), mais surtout du fait qu’I8tar elle-méme est décrite comme la qadistu des dieux.? Translations of nu-gig vary. In order of frequency, nu-gig has been rendered: (a) “hierodule,” ‘cult prostitute,’ (b) “holy one,” “sacred,” “tabooed woman,’ (c) “Gottgeweihte,"? (d) “‘interdicted womb,’ or (e) untrans- “ISee the references collected in Dietz Onto Edzard, “‘Sumerische Komposita mit dem ‘Nominalprafix’ nu-,”” ZA 55 (1963) 104ff; Adam Falkenstein, “'Sumerische religise Texte,” ZA 56 (1964) 118ff; Willem H. P. Romer, Sumerische ‘Kanigshymnen’ der Isin-Zeit (Leiden: Brill, 1965) 150, 152; William W. Hallo and Johannes J. A. van Dijk, The Exaltation of Inanna (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1968) 87: Ake W. Sjéberg, The Collection of the Sumerian Temple Hymns (Texts from Cuneiform Sources 3; Locust Valley, NY: Augustin, 1969) 123. “2walter Komifeld, “Prostitution sacrée,”" DBSup 8 (Paris: Letouzey & Ané, 1972) 1360. “3Falkenstein, ‘‘Sumerische religidse Texte,” 120; Raymond R. Jestin, “Les noms de profession en NU-,” in Symbolae Biblicae et Mesopotamicae F. M. Th. de Liagre Bohl Dedicatae (Leiden: Brill, 1973) 212; von Soden, AHw 399; Romer, AOAT 1, 295; Samuel N. Kramer, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 107 (1963) 494:37 (‘‘my wife who is a hierodule’’); Daniel Reisman, JCS 25 186:2 and passim; Hallo and van Dijk, Exaltation of Inanna, 87 (‘‘civil state of Inanna in the Sumerian Pantheon”); Jerrold S. Cooper, The Curse of Agade (Baltimore: Johns Hop- kins University Press, 1983) 61:241 “4CAD 1/3 270 s.v. idtaritu; Landsberger, Materialen zum sumerischen Lexikon IV (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1956) 17, 78-79; Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps That Once—Sumerian Poetry in Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987) 6n. 9. “SRomer, Kanigshymnen, 136:2 and passim. 6Astour, ‘Tamar the Hicrodule,”” 189. 256 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW lated.‘” These translations are manifestly based on context or on the Akkadian translation. The popular translation ‘‘hierodule’’ has been hallowed by tradition and is applied even in passages where it patently does not make sense, such as the ‘‘Curse over Agade"?:48 (gods curse Agade) (may the cattle slaughterer slaughter his wife) (may your sheep butcher butcher his child) (may your pauper drown the child who seeks money from him!) (may your prostitute hang herself at the entrace to her brothel) ama nu-gig-zu ama qu-bar-2u dumu he-en-gi,-gi, may your cult prostitute and hierodules who are mothers, kill their children! Scholars define Inanna as a goddess of sexuality and use the Greek word “‘hierodule’’ to denote a ‘“‘sacred prostitute’? although to the Greeks, iepo8odAog meant literally ‘‘sacred slave."” The word hierodule, which has connotations associated with the Greek culture, is irrelevant and inapplicable to the definition of the term nu-gig, originating in a different ethos, culture, and era. Note that the epithet nu-gig is used especially when speaking of Inanna as a mother: ama nu-gig. The lexical explication for nu-gig is difficult. From the etymological evi- dence of its elements, nu + noun, the meaning of the compound is not evident. ‘The asyntactical construction of nu + noun forms mainly terms of professions. ‘The exact character of /nu/ is not obvious: it has been suggested that it is a phonetic variant of Iii, ‘‘man,’’ or a sort of pronominal prefix.” Basing his theory on the CAD article istaritw (CAD V/J 271), which in tum relies on Landsberger (MSL 1 146-47), Astour maintained that nu was to be understood as ‘‘sexual organs.’’S This meaning has now been shown to be incorrect.5! The “"Edzard, “‘Sumerische Komposita,” 104; Sjoberg, Temple Hymns, 36:320; Adele Berlin, Enmer- kar and Ensubkesdanna: A Sumerian Narrative Poem (Occasional Publications of the Babylonian Fund 2; Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1979) 45:97. “Cooper, Curse of Agade, 60.441; see also translations of Pierre Auinger, ““Remarques & propos de la ‘Malédiction d'Accad,’” RA 78 (1984) 106: “puissent ta hiérodule (devenue) mere, ta cour- tisane (devenue) mére faire avorter (son)/ son enfant!""; Jacobsen, The Harps That Once, 31: your hierodule who is a mother, and your courtesan who is a mother stab the child! “Edzard, ‘“Sumerische Komposita,"” 91-102. Note his reluctance 10 state the etymology, linguistic structure, and semantics of this compound. See also Jestin, “Les noms de profession,” 211-13. S0Astour, ““Tamar the Hierodule,”” 189 n. 28 ‘Published after Astour's article, CAD 9. 199 s.v. lipiitu (written (UZU).NU in Akkadian texts) is translated as ‘‘an abnormal fleshy or membranous substance,” not a sexual organ, JOAN GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ 257 second element is the noun gig, “disease, contagion.’ The element gig also occurs in the compound ni-gig, ‘taboo, sacrosanct, sacred (to the gods), forbid- den (to men),’” which entered into Akkadian as a loanword ikkibu from the ‘eme-sal form of the Sumerian, ém-geb. Thus, the compound nu + gig means “one who is taboo, sacrosanct.”” Although Akkadian employs two unrelated lexemes ikkibu and qadiitu for the act and the object which is taboo and the per- son who is taboo, the earliest evidence from the west at Ebla uses the related lexeme qadiSum for the act and the object, ni-gig.°* The office nu-gig appears in lexical texts together with the same classes of women as in the Old Babylonian legal codes. In administrative documents, the nu-gig appears in Fara texts. An important clue to her status in the socio- political hierarchy is a cylinder seal impression U.13607, found at Ur, which is inscribed with the titles of one of the earliest kings of that city: Mesanepada, King of Kish, dam nu-gig. The latter can be translated either as ‘‘spouse of Nu-gig”’ or “‘spouse of the nugig-priestess.’’ Jerrold Cooper states that ‘this most probably refers to the ritual coupling of the king and the goddess imper- sonated by a priestess which centuries later is known to have taken place at the New Year Festival. Or, Nugig could simply be the name of a wife of Mesane- pada.”’55 This view that the nu-gig priestess represented Inanna in the sacred marriage rite agrees with that of Johannes Renger, who deduced from the con- textual evidence that nu-gig is an epithet of Inanna.° Further indication of her high position in Ur in Neo-Sumerian times is a seal impression of her scribe on a tablet from Ur: Nin-kinda® nu-gig-gal urf*!-ma Lugal-ha-ma-ti dub-sar arad-zu “Nin-kinda, the chief nu-gig of Ur, Lugal-hamati the scribe, your servant.”” In this inscription, she is related to the city but not to any specific deity. With this limited information, we cannot ascertain any particularities of the role of the nu-gig in Ur. We can conclude that there were several of them and they were organized hierarchically, like any other profession, 51 is not possible that gig stands here for m{ + nunuz, which appears as part of the title of the cen-priestess of Nanna of Ur (cf. Edmond Sollberger, ‘Notes on the Early Inscriptions from Ur and EL‘Ob8d,"" frag 22 (1960) 86 n, 22; Jestin, “Les noms de profession,”” 212) because of syllabic renderings as well as the Emesal mugib. Likewise, itis not probable that the nu- prefix is a phonetic indicator. SSGiovanni Pettinato, Testi lessicali bilingui della biblioteca L. 2769 (Materiali Epigrafici de Bbla 4; Naples, 1982) 207:100; cf. Manfred Krebemik, ‘Zu Syllabar und Orthographic der lexica- lischen Texte aus Ebla,"* ZA 73 (1983) 4. 54U,13607 = Woolley, Ur Excavations II (London/Philadelphia, 1934) 207 no. 214 = Pl. 191 (inscription), description 312-13, 352, 588 = Legrain, Ur Excavations iW (London/Philadelphia, 1936) PI. 30 no. 518 = Pl. 57 no. 518. SSJerrold S. Cooper, Sumerian and Akkadian Royal Inscriptions, vol. 1: Presargonic Inscriptions (American Oriental Society Translation Series 1; New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1986) 98, Urs. 56), Renger,‘‘Heilige Hochzeit,”” Reallexikon der Assyriologie (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1975) 256a. 258 HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW In pre-Sargonic Lagash, the nu-gig appears in ration lists with important members of society, married to men in high position.” From later neo-Sumerian Lagash, we have mention of a nu-gig-gal, a chief nu-gig.* For Umma we have both administrative documentation and literary allusions. From Old Akkadian Umma, there are references to two persons practicing this profession: Id-he-nun, the nu-gig, and Al-la, the nu-gig of the nigin, the birth- ing place.® In the hymn to the temple of Sara in Umma, Sara the beloved son of Inanna, is the dumu-nun-na nu-gig-ga, “the princely son of the nu-gig.""® Put- ting these two types of documentation together we might deduce that it was Sara, patron god of Umma in whose cult the nu-gig priestesses may have taken part. In the temple hymn to Inanna of Zabalam, she is not only described as the nu-gig, but also her temple is described as clad in the jewels of the nu-gig and designated the nigin-gar, a sacred room, possibly the sacred birthing place.*! ‘The juxtaposition of the epithet nu-gig and the sacred nigin-gar occurs in the temple hymns to Inanna of Akkade (line 513) and to Nini(n)sina of Isin (lines 387-88). Furthermore, the role of nu-gig was one of the mes, the divine gifts of civilization to man; while me number 49 is nu-gig-an-na, me number 47 is nigin-gar, the sacred birthing place (separated by an unknown me), In Sumerian literary texts, the nu-gig seems to play a role in fertility and childbirth. In hymns to goddesses, scholars have been puzzled by the “‘hiero- dule” epithet in descriptions of goddesses in relation to childbirth. A good example of the activities assigned to the position of the “‘hierodule”’ is con- tained in the hymn to Nini(n)sina, a goddess known as the healer and midwife: "julia M. Asher-Greve, Frauen in alisumerischer Zeit (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 18; Malibu: Undera, 1985) 158. 58Frangois Thureau-Dangin, Receuil de tablettes chaldéennes (Patis, 1903) no. 208 r.2 (Umin- girsu 5). ‘Benjamin Foster, “Ethnicity and Onomastics in Sargonic Mesopotamia,” Or 51 (1982) 317 (id-be-nun nu-gig), 324 (Al-la nu-gig nfgin), sjoberg, Temple Hymns, 1. 309. 1For a discussion of the word nigin-gar, lit. ‘‘House in which the foetus lies,”’ see Sjoberg, Tem- ple Hymns, 92-93; Romer, AOAT 1, 296; Jacobsen, The Harps That Once, 475: 'NiGingar was a temple which served as a cemetery for stllbom or premature babies and as a depository for after- ‘2Gertrad Farber-Fliigge, Der Mythos “‘Inanna und Enki’’ unter besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Liste der me (Studia Pobl 10; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1973) 108. Edward Chiera, Sumerian Religious Texts (Upland, PA, 1924) no. 6 rev. iii 1.1119; see W. H. Ph. Rémer, “'Binige Beobachtungen zur Gottin Nini(n)sina,”" Likan Mithurti (AOAT 1; Keve~ laer: Butzon & Bercker, 1969) 295, lines 7482, JOAN GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ 259 Sar ki-sikila li-li gé-g4-d2 -gar-ra-ke, si-sé-e-d2 gi-durku,-dé nam-tar-re-dé 888g nigin-gar-ra-ke, kinds-t-dé dub-ki-ra-ra-d, dumu-lé r-ra da an-ri-ri gi-nun-si-st-

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