39. An inscription discovered at Kefr-Hauar (Fossey, _Bull. corr. hell._,
1897, p. 60) is very characteristic in this respect. A "slave" of the
Syrian goddess in that inscription offers his homage to his "mistress"
([Greek: kuria]).
40. Notably at Aphaca where they were not suppressed until the time of
Constantine (Eusebius, _Vit. Const._, III, 55; cf. Sozom., II, 5).
41. Much has been written about the sacred prostitutions in paganism, and
it is well known that Voltaire ridiculed the scholars who were credulous
enough to believe in the tales of Herodotus. But this practice has been
proven by {247} irrefutable testimony. Strabo, for instance, whose
great-uncle was arch-priest of Comana, mentions it in connection with that
city, (XII, 3, 36, p. 559 C), and he manifests no surprise. The history of
religion teaches many stranger facts; this one, however, is disconcerting.
The attempt has been made to see in it a relic of the primitive promiscuity
or polyandry, or a persistence of "sexual hospitality," ("No custom is more
widely spread than the providing for a guest a female companion, who is
usually a wife or daughter of the host," says Wake, _Serpent Worship_,
1888, p. 158); or the substitution of union with a man for union with the
god (Gruppe, _Griech. Mythol._, p. 915). But these hypotheses do not
explain the peculiarities of the religious custom as it is described by
more reliable authors. They insist upon the fact that the girls were
dedicated to the temple service while _virgins_, and that after having had
_strangers_ for lovers, they married in their own country. Thus Strabo (XI,
14, § 16, p. 532 C.) narrates in connection with the temple of Anaitïs in
Acilisena, that [Greek: thugateras hoi epiphanestatoi tou ethnous anierousi
parthenous, ais nomos esti kataporneutheisais polun chronon para têi theôi
meta tauta didosthai pros gamon, ouk apaxiountos têi toiautêi sunoikein
oudenos]. Herodotus (I, 93), who relates about the same thing of the Lydian
women, adds that they acquired a dowry in that manner; an inscription at
Tralles (_Bull. corr. hell._, VII, 1885, p. 276) actually mentions a
descendant of a sacred prostitute ([Greek: ek progonôn pallakidôn]) who had
temporarily filled the same office ([Greek: pallakeusasa kata chrêsmon
Dii]). Even at Thebes in Egypt there existed a similar custom with striking
local peculiarities in the time of Strabo (XVII, 1, § 46), and traces of it
seem to have been found in Greece among the Locrians (Vurtheim, _De Aiacis
origine_, Leyden, 1907). Every Algerian traveler knows how the girls of the
Ouled-Naïl earn their dowry in the _ksours_ and the cities, before they go
back to their tribes to marry, and Doutté (_Notes sur l'Islam maghrébien,
les Marabouts_, Extr. _Rev. hist. des relig._, XL-XLI, Paris, 1900), has
connected these usages with the old Semitic prostitution, but his thesis
has been attacked and the historical circumstances of the arrival of the
Ouled-Naïl in Algeria in the eleventh century render it very doubtful (Note
by Basset).--It seems certain (I do not know whether this explanation has
ever been offered) {248} that this strange practice is a modified
utilitarian form of an ancient exogamy. Besides it had certain favorable
results, since it protected the girl against the brutality of her kindred
until she was of marriageable age, and this fact must have insured its
persistence; but the idea that inspired it at first was different. "La
première union sexuelle impliquant une effusion de sang, a été interdite,
lorsque ce sang était celui d'une fille du clan versé par le fait d'un
homme du clan" (Salomon Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, 1905, p. 79. Cf.
Lang, _The Secret of the Totem_, London, 1905.) Thence rose the obligation
on virgins to yield to a stranger first. Only then were they permitted to
marry a man of their own race. Furthermore, various means were resorted to
in order to save the husband from the defilement which might result from
that act (see for inst., Reinach, _Mythes, cultes_, I, p. 118).--The
opinion expressed in this note was attacked, almost immediately after its
publication, by Frazer (_Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, 1907, pp. 50 ff.) who
preferred to see in the sacred prostitutions a relic of primitive
communism. But at least one of the arguments which he uses against our
views is incorrect. Not the women, but the men, received presents in
Acilisena (Strabo, _loc. cit._) and the communistic theory does not seem to
account for the details of the custom prevailing in the temple of Thebes.
There the horror of blood clearly appears. On the discovery of a skull
(having served at a rite of consecration) in the temple of the Janiculum,
see the article cited above, "Dea Syria," in _Dict. des antiquités_.
42. Porphyry, _De Abstin._, II, 56; Tertull., _Apol._, 9. Cf. Lagrange,
_op. cit._, p. 445.
43. Even in the regions where the cities developed, the Baal and the Baalat
always remained the divinities [Greek: poliouchoi], the protectors of the
city which they were supposed to have founded.
44. Le Bas-Waddington, 2196.--Suidas, s. v. [Greek: Phularchês] (II, 2,
col. 1568, Bernhardy). Cf. Marquardt, _Staatsverwaltung_, I, p. 405, 409.
45. Hippolytus, Adv. Haeres., V, II, § 7: [Greek: Assuriôn teletai]; § 18:
[Greek: Assuriôn mustêria] (pp. 145, 148, ed. by Cruice). Cf. Origen,
_Contra Celsum_, I, 12. Pognon (_Inscrip. sémitiques_, {249} 1907, No. 48)
has recently published a Syrian epitaph that is unfortunately mutilated,
but which seems to be that of an adept of the pagan mysteries; see Nöldeke,
_Zeitschrift für Assyr._, XXI, 1907, p. 155.
46. On the Semitic notion of purity, W. Robertson Smith has written
admirably and convincingly (pp. 446 ff. and _passim_). The question has
been taken up from a different point of view by Lagrange, pp. 141 ff.--The
development of the notion of purity in the ancient religions has been
recently expounded by Farnell, _The Evolution of Religion_, 1905, pp. 88
ff., especially pp. 124 ff. Cf. also _supra_, p. 91 f. An example of the
prohibitions and purifications is found in the Occident in an inscription,
unfortunately mutilated, discovered at Rome and dedicated to Beellefarus
(_CIL_, VI, 30934, 31168; cf. Lafaye, _Rev. hist. relig._, XVII, 1888, pp.
218 ff.; Dessau, _Inscr. sel._, 4343). If I have understood the text
correctly it commands those who have eaten pork to purify themselves by
means of honey.--On penances in the Syrian religions see ch. II, n. 31.
47. M. Clermont-Ganneau (_Etudes d'archéologie orientale_, II, 1896, p.
104) states that the epithet [Greek: hagios] is extremely rare in pagan
Hellenism, and almost always betrays a Semitic influence. In such cases it
corresponds to [Hebrew: QRSH], which to the Semites is the epithet _par
excellence_ of the divinity. Thus Eshmon is [Hebrew: QRSH]; cf. Lidzbarski,
_Ephemer. für semit. Epigraph._, II, p. 155; Clermont-Ganneau, _Recueil
d'archéol. orient._, III, p. 330; V, p. 322.--In Greek Le Bas-Waddington,
2720, has: [Greek: Oi katochoi hagiou ouraniou Dios]. Dittenberger,
_Orientis inscript._, 620, [Greek: Zeus hagios Beel bôsôros]. Some time ago
I copied at a dealer's, a dedication engraved upon a lamp: [Greek: Theôi
hagiôi Arelselôi], in Latin: J. Dolichenus _sanctus_, _CIL_, VI, 413, X,
7949.--J. Heliopolitanus _sanctissimus_, _CIL_, VIII, 2627.--"Caelestis
_sancta_," VIII, 8433, etc.--The African Saturn (= Baal) is often called
_sanctus_.--_Hera sancta_ beside Jupiter Dolichenus, VI, 413.--Malakbel is
translated by _Sol sanctissimus_, in the bilingual inscription of the
Capitol, VI, 710 = Dessau, 4337. Cf. _deus sanctus aeternus_, V, 1058,
3761, and _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1906, p. 69.--See in general
Delehaye, _Analecta Bollandiana_, 1909, pp. 157 ff. {250}
48. As curious examples of Greco-Syrian syncretism we may mention the
bas-relief of Ed-Douwaïr in the Louvre, which has been analyzed in detail
by Dussaud (_Notes_, pp. 89 ff.), and especially that of Homs in the
Brussels museum (_ibid._, 104 ff.).
49. Macrobius, I, 23, § 11: "Ritu Assyrio magis quam Aegyptio colitur"; cf.
Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 5.--"Hermetic" theories penetrated even to the
Sabians of Osrhoene (Reitzenstein, _Poimandres_, 166 ff.), although their
influence seems to have been merely superficial (Bousset, _Göttingische
gelehrt. Anzeigen_, 1905, 704 ff.)--The existence of [Greek: katochoi] at
Baetocécé and elsewhere appears to be due to Egyptian influence (Jalabert,
_Mélanges de la fac. orient. de Beyrouth_, II, 1907, pp. 308 ff.). The
meaning of [Greek: katochos] which has been interpreted in different ways,
is established, I think, by the passages collected by Kroll, _Cat. codd.
astrol. graec._, V, pars 2, p. 146; cf. Otto, _Priester und Tempel_, I, p.
119; Bouché-Leclercq, _Hist. des Lagides_, IV, p. 335. It refers to the
poor, the sick and even the "illumined" living within the temple enclosures
and undoubtedly supported by the clergy, as were the refugees of the
Christian period who availed themselves of the right of sanctuary in the
churches (cf. _Comptes Rendus Acad. Inscr._, 1907, p. 454).