Guys, please be aware that this article is written by Ancient Origins, a website that describes itself asĀ āthe only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectivesā. Itās well-known for spreading conspiracy theories, especially ancient aliens.
A cursory look through their article headlines will show you what kind of content they publish:Ā āMaya: Science Only Acknowledges Now What Ancient Sages Knew About Reality 5000 Years Agoā, āAncient Race of White Giants Described in Native Legends From Many Tribesā,Ā āRh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?ā,Ā āIs This a Tiny Alien Skeleton? Scientists Say āNoā, But Not Everyone is Convincedā. In their defence, they do debunk some of the conspiracy theories within their articles, but they still give them equal attention, and the clickbait titles show what kind of audience these articles are meant to attract. This is the equivalent of writing an article titledĀ āDo Vaccines Cause Autism?ā and having one scientist and one anti-vaxxer sit down to have an even debate. It doesnāt reflect reality.
Getting back to the linked article, the premise itself is not wrong. Sacred prostitution in Mesopotamia is now doubted by many scholars. However, the article (or what I can read of it, since I surprisingly donāt have a premium subscription to Ancient Origins) makes some glaring mistakes:
Ishtar was not called the Goddess Har. A couple of Google searches enabled me to trace the origin of this idea toĀ The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the FeminineĀ by Nancy Qualls-Corbett (1988, and you can feel it). Qualls-Corbett believes in the existence of sacred prostitutes, and her theories rest exactly on what modern academics are trying to disprove - the translation of Akkadian terms įø«arimtu, nadÄ«tu and qadiÅ”tuĀ asĀ āprostituteā. She also perpetuates the idea that matriarchal societies (which Mesopotamia was NOT) were peaceful and in tune with nature. Lastly, she claims the Gilgamesh Epic wasĀ ācompleted about 7000 B.C.E., though possibly it comes from a much older oral traditionā (p. 33). What on Earth, Nancy? What on Earth?
Nancyās source for Ishtar as the Goddess Har is Barbara WalkerāsĀ The Womanās Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (1983), which Iām not going to delve into because itās even worse and I donāt feel like debunking the theory that Greek hora, Arabic harem and English harlot have the same origin.
While weāre at it, the idea that āIshtarĀ was sometimes called the Goddess Har since she was the mother of the harlotsā (quote from Ancient Origins) is preposterous, since it makes the assumption that the Akkadian-speaking Mesopotamians knew the English wordĀ āharlotā. In fact, the wordĀ āharlotā definitely has no links to Mesopotamia, and the simplest of Wiktionary searches will tell you that.
Next up: Spanish puta comes from the Latin word forĀ āwellā. Surprisingly, it doesnāt. There is a Latin word puteus meaningĀ āpitā orĀ āwellā, but there is no etymological link. Go figure.
Puticuli, the Latin word forĀ āgrave-pitsā, actuallyĀ meansĀ āthe womb of rebirthā? Wow, I wouldāve thought it came from puteus + the diminutive culus.
Donāt mind me, Iām just burying myself in the puticuli.
At this point, you can probably tell Iām pretty done with this article. In summary, the article was published on a non-academic website dedicated to fringe theories, uses outdated sources written by people from a different field, and presents some very shoddy etymologies as fact. Its core may reflect current research, but please, guys, there are far better sources out there. Try @bayoreadās book recommendation of The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity. Try this academic article about sacred prostitutes in Greek and Roman times. Even this Tumblr post does a better job of explaining it than Ancient Origins.
Iāll conclude by linking my guide to online researchĀ and reminding you all to please check the content of what youāre sharing. Sharing without reading spreads misinformation - and this kind of misinformation is particularly harmful to Mesopotamian studies. I genuinely donāt care if people believe Ishtar was called the Goddess Har (though I will roll my eyes at it), but when people start believing aliens were responsible for Mesopotamian civilisation - thus discrediting the actual, Middle Eastern people behind it - and buying cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals on the black market so they can own something made by aliens, it becomes a serious problem. Itās much easier to check what you share and avoid supporting this kind of misinformation altogether.
