DC Photojournal 155


	Pan Teaching Daphnis to play the pipes by sculptor Heliodorus of Rhodes from the 2nd Century BC. I call this photo: "Pan and Pathic Matron - 4" I was reading today that the clitoris is mostly invisible - its a vestigial penis that does not develop in the female fetus - The ancient Greco-Roman-Egyptian practice of caging the male penis is a Fibula until 25 probably had the effect of activating the Roman clitoris and turning it into a "Mentule" ... * In the Satryicon our male heroes are punished for violating the rites of Priapus. In this scene they stumble on a garden and temple where women members of the cult are humming in a cavern holding emblems of Priapus in their hands: "As it suited our purpose to avoid the public streets, we strolled through the more unfrequented parts of the city, and just at dusk we met two women in stolas, in a lonely spot, and they were by no means homely. Walking softly, we followed them to a temple which they entered, and from which we could hear a curious humming, which resembled the sound of voices issuing from the depths of a cavern. Curiosity impelled us also to enter the temple. There we caught sight of many women, who resembled Bacchantes, each of whom brandished in her right hand an emblem of Priapus. We were not permitted to see more, for as their eyes fell upon us, they raised such a hubbub that the vault of the temple trembled. They attempted to lay hands upon us, but we ran back to our inn as fast as we could go. ... " * In this scene, our heroes a brought before the chief priestess of the Priapus cult who questions them as to their motives in violating her holy rites: " ... We were still holding our tongues and refraining from any expression of opinion, when the lady herself entered the room, attended by a little girl. Seating herself upon the bed, she wept for a long time. Not even then did we interject a single word, but waited, all attention, for what was to follow these well ordered tears and this show of grief. When the diplomatic thunderstorm had passed over, she withdrew her haughty head from her mantle and, ringing her hands until the joints cracked, "What is the meaning of such audacity?" she demanded; "where did you learn such tricks? They are worthy of putting to shame the assurance of all the robbers of the past! I pity you, so help me the God of Truth, I do; for no one can look with impunity upon that which it is unlawful for him to see. In our neighborhood, there are so many gods that it is easier to meet one than it is to find a man! But do not think that I was actuated by any desire for revenge when I came here: I am more moved by your age than I am by my own injury, for it is my belief that youthful imprudence led you into committing a sacrilegious crime. That very night, I tossed so violently in the throes of a dangerous chill that I was afraid I had contracted a tertian ague, and in my dreams I prayed for a medicine. I was ordered to seek you out, and to arrest the progress of the disease by means of an expedient to be suggested by your wonderful penetration! The cure does not matter so much, however, for a deeper grief gnaws at my vitals and drags me down, almost to the very doors of death itself. I am afraid that, with the careless impulsiveness of youth, you may divulge, to the common herd, what you witnessed in the shrine of Priapus, and reveal the rites of the gods to the rabble. On this account, I stretch out my suppliant hands to your knees, and beg and pray that you do not make a mockery and a joke of our nocturnal rites, nor lay bare the secrets of so many years, into which scarcely a thousand persons are initiated." ... " * In this next scene, our heroes agree to a vow of secrecy and to sumbit to the punishment prescribed - a "wonderful penetration" - after being warned that if they refuse they will be violated by a "troop in readiness": " ... The tears poured forth again, after this appeal, and, shaken by deep sobs, she buried her whole face and breast in my bed; and I, moved by pity and by apprehension, begged her to be of good cheer and to make herself perfectly easy as to both of those issues, for not only would we not betray any secrets to the rabble, but we would also second divine providence, at any peril to ourselves, if any god had indicated to her any cure for her tertian ague. The woman cheered up at this promise, and smothered me with kisses; from tears she passed to laughter, and fell to running her fingers through the long hair that hung down about my ears. "I will declare a truce with you," she said, "and withdraw my complaint. But had you been unwilling to administer the medicine which I seek, I had a troop in readiness for the morrow, which would have exacted satisfaction for my injury and reparation for my dignity! "To be flouted is disgraceful, but to dictate terms, sublime Pleased am I to choose what course I will, Even sages will retort an insult at the proper tune. Victor most is he who does not kill." Then she suddenly clapped her hands, and broke into such a peal of laughter that we were alarmed. The maid, who had been the first to arrive, did likewise, on one side of us, as also did the little girl who had entered with the madame herself. * In this scene, the chief priestess attempts to inflict the prescribed punishment - "wonderful penetration" of the young men, but is unable to - sending her into a rage and forcibly sending out heroes to a palace: " ... The whole place was filled with mocking laughter, and we, who could see no reason for such a change of front, stared blankly at each other and then at the women. (Then Quartilla spoke up, finally,) "I gave orders that no mortal man should be admitted into this inn, this day, so that I could receive the treatment for my ague without interruption!" Ascyltos was, for the moment, struck dumb by this admission of Quartilla's, and I turned colder than a Gallic winter, and could not utter a word; but the personnel of the company relieved me from the fear that the worst might be yet to come, for they were only three young women, too weak to attempt any violence against us, who were of the male sex, at least, even if we had nothing else of the man about us, and this was an asset. Then, too, we were girded higher, and I had so arranged matters that if it came to a fight, I would engage Quartilla myself, Ascyltos the maid, and Giton the girl. (While I was turning over this plan in my mind, Quartilla came to close quarters, to receive the treatment for her ague, but having her hopes disappointed, she flounced out in a rage and, returning in a little while, she had us overpowered by some unknown vagabonds, and gave orders for us to be carried away to a splendid palace.) Then our determination gave place to astonishment, and death, sure and certain, began to obscure the eyes of suffering. * In this scene - the heroes are trussed up in the palace and forced to drink aphrosisiacs: "Pray; madame," I groaned, "if you have anything worse in store, bring it on quickly for we have not committed a crime so heinous as to merit death by torture." The maid, whose name was Psyche, quickly spread a blanket upon the floor (and) sought to secure an erection by fondling my member, which was already a thousand times colder than death. Ascyltos, well aware by now of the danger of dipping into the secrets of others, covered his head with his mantle. (In the meantime,) the maid took two ribbons from her bosom and bound our feet with one and our hands with the other. (Finding myself trussed up in this fashion, I remarked, "You will not be able to cure your mistress' ague in this manner!" "Granted," the maid replied, "but I have other and surer remedies at hand," she brought me a vessel full of satyrion, as she said this, and so cheerfully did she gossip about its virtues that I drank down nearly all of the liquor, and because Ascyltos had but a moment before rejected her advances, she sprinkled the dregs upon his back, without his knowing it.) When this repartee had drawn to a close, Ascyltos exclaimed, "Don't I deserve a drink?" Given away by my laughter, the maid clapped her hands and cried, "I put one by you, young man; did you drink so much all by yourself?" "What's that you say?", Quartilla chimed in. "Did Encolpius drink all the satyrion there was in the house?" And she laughed delightfully until her sides shook. Finally not even Giton himself could resist a smile, especially when the little girl caught him around the neck and showered innumerable kisses upon him, and he not at all averse to it. * Then a male catamite is brought in - The next scene seems corrupt but what seems to have happened is our heroes and the catamite were gored by the chief priestess with her "her whalebone wand" (Catamites do not gore, they are gored) - " Quartilla, with her robe tucked high, held up her whalebone wand" - a fearful secret that they promise to keep. Then dress up time for a formal dinner " ... We would have cried aloud in our misery but there was no one to give us any help, and whenever I attempted to shout, "Help! all honest citizens," Psyche would prick my cheeks with her hairpin, and the little girl would intimidate Ascyltos with a brush dipped in satyrion. Then a catamite appeared, clad in a myrtle-colored frieze robe, and girded round with a belt. One minute he nearly gored us to death with his writhing buttocks, and the next, he befouled us so with his stinking kisses that Quartilla, with her robe tucked high, held up her whalebone wand and ordered him to give the unhappy wretches quarter. Both of us then took a most solemn oath that so dread a secret should perish with us. Several wrestling instructors appeared and refreshed us, worn out as we were, by a massage with pure oil, and when our fatigue had abated, we again donned our dining clothes and were escorted to the next room, in which were placed three couches, and where all the essentials necessary to a splendid banquet were laid out in all their richness. We took our places, as requested, and began with a wonderful first course. We were all but submerged in Falernian wine. When several other courses had followed, and we were endeavoring to keep awake Quartilla exclaimed, "How dare you think of going to sleep when you know that the vigil of Priapus is to be kept?" * Next was sleep and then more food and drink and catamite play - The catamite sings for the pathic or phallic women. Again, the text seems corrupt - what probably happened was the sexual penetration of the catamite and our heroes: " ... The banquet began all over again, and Quartilla challenged us to a drinking-bout, the crash of the cymbals lending ardor to her revel. A catamite appeared, the stalest of all mankind, well worthy of that house. Heaving a sigh, he wrung his hands until the joints cracked, and spouted out the following verses, "Hither, hither quickly gather, pathic companions boon; Artfully stretch forth your limbs and on with the dance and play! Twinkling feet and supple thighs and agile buttocks in tune, Hands well skilled in raising passions, Delian eunuchs gay!" When he had finished his poetry, he slobbered a most evil-smelling kiss upon me, and then, climbing upon my couch, he proceeded with all his might and main to pull all of my clothing off. I resisted to the limit of my strength. He manipulated my member for a long time, but all in vain. Gummy streams poured down his sweating forehead, and there was so much chalk in the wrinkles of his cheeks that you might have mistaken his face for a roofless wall, from which the plaster was crumbling in a rain. * The night wears on and our heroes manage to escape a drunken mess - but not without being forced to witness a hieros gamos or "mystical marriage" between a boy and a girl. The chief priestess was herself forced into child marriage at a very young age: " ... She was still talking when Psyche, who was giggling, came to her side and whispered something in her ear. What it was, I did not catch. "By all means," ejaculated Quartilla, "a brilliant idea! Why shouldn't our pretty little Pannychis lose her maidenhead when the opportunity is so favorable?" A little girl, pretty enough, too, was led in at once; she looked to be not over seven years of age, and she was the same one who had before accompanied Quartilla to our room. Amidst universal applause, and in response to the demands of all, they made ready to perform the nuptial rites. I was completely out of countenance, and insisted that such a modest boy as Giton was entirely unfitted for such a wanton part, and moreover, that the child was not of an age at which she could receive that which a woman must take. "Is that so," Quartilla scoffed, "is she any younger than I was, when I submitted to my first man? Juno, my patroness, curse me if I can remember the time when I ever was a virgin, for I diverted myself with others of my own age, as a child then as the years passed, I played with bigger boys, until at last I reached my present age. I suppose that this explains the origin of the proverb, 'Who carried the calf may carry the bull,' as they say." The Satyricon of Petronius, Vol. 1 * That was probably the Roman standard - hypersexual women who were sexually initiated very young and penis caged sexually passive men The 7 year old Giton was probably anally sodomized by the 7 year old Pannychis. From all prior knowledge of the Roman penis - it was caged from a young age - The 7 year old girl was probably the "calf" that later matured into a "bull" ... That was just the Roman or Etruscan way ... And it's not speculative - there is a sculpture on page 150 of a mother hermaphrodite and her young daughter who also has a penis attached ... The sexually aggressive Pan was the Roman "Animus" or female unconsious psyche. - Today Pan is is the devil incarnate - but in Rome he was mostly female sexual pleasure - The heiros gamos is usually a male sky god in sexual congress with a female earth goddess. But in Rome and Egypt that was reversed. The sexual union was between a sexual male earth god - Pan and Priapus and a sky goddess - incarnated by the Roman woman ... Garden of Priapus - 54 Boss lady sodomizing her trussed up husband In this verse Garlands as praise are promised to Priapus in exchange for the sexual favors of a girl "troubled by piles" - ie Probably meaning having issues with anal sodomy - or "a girl with piles full many piled" - ie a girl who has given a lot of anal sodomy - just not to the supplicant in question who she avoids from sporting with ... 50 To Priapus Latin: Quaedam, si placet hoc tibi, Priape, fucosissima me puella ludit et nec dat mihi nec negat daturam, causas invenit usque differendi. quae si contigerit fruenda nobis, totam cum paribus, Priape, nostris cingemus tibi mentulam coronis. Burton's Translation: A certain person, an thou please (Priapus!), Plays me, a girl with piles full many piled; And nor she gives me nor denies her gift, While for deferring ever finds she cause. But, if to 'joy her shall our lot befall, We will (Priapus!) gird thy total yard With the twin garlands to thy favours due. Plain English: If it like thee, O Priapus, a certain girl, most sorely troubled with the piles, sports with me, and neither gives me nor denies her favours, but hitherto has found pretexts for deferring. If it shall to my lot to enjoy her, we will encircle the whole of thy mentule, O Priapus, with our twin garlands. Garden of Priapus - 55 Boss lady sodomizing a slave over his cage ...The "wonderful medicine" of Quartilla the chief priestess of the Priapus cult in the Satryricon! A Roman inheritance from ancient Greece - the Triabes and the Bacchantes ... And before that almost certainly ancient Egypt and Babylon - wherever the penis was in the Fibula ... And as Juvenal points out - if Roman husbands were not to be found, slaves were fine too ... And most slaves were castrated - ie sexual passives. But not just slaves, reading between the lines, Roman men seem to have prefered being sodomized by virile young Amazons ! Quartilla to the heroes of the Satyricon: "That very night, I tossed so violently in the throes of a dangerous chill that I was afraid I had contracted a tertian ague, and in my dreams I prayed for a medicine. I was ordered to seek you out, and to arrest the progress of the disease by means of an expedient to be suggested by your wonderful penetration!" - So it seems the gods decided who was chosen to administer the "wonderful medicine" of Triabe on male anal sex ... * In this verse Apples are offered to Priapus - that's code for balls - or ass and balls - or Roman men offering themselves for the "wonderful medicine" of AmazonTriabe-on-male anal sex - 53 To Priapus Latin: Contentus modico Bacchus solet esse racemo, cum capiant alti vix cita musta lacus, magnaque fecundis cum messibus area desit, in Cereris crines una corona datur. tu quoque, dive minor, maiorum exempla secutus, quamvis pauca damus, consule poma boni. Burton's Translation: Bacchus often is wont with a moderate bunch to be sated, When the deep brim-full vats hardly the must shall contain; So when the threshing-floors all fail for the plentiful harvest Ceres' ringlets to crown only one garland we bring. Thou too, a minor god, example borrow from the major-- Though few apples we give, take thou our gift in good part. Plain English: Bacchus is wont to be content with a modest cluster from the vine, even when the deep vats can barely contain the must. And when the spacious threshing floors are insufficient for the rich harvest, in Ceres' locks a single garland is wreathed. Do thou also, less potent deity, guided by their greater example, although our offering be only a few apples, take it in good part. - In other parts of the Priapea Bacchus is described as lean and feminine as opposed to the pathic of phallic Bacchantes ... The phallic Triabe Amazons have vanished from ancient Greek history Garden of Priapus - 56 The general in red heels sodomizing a hooded penis-caged man ... In this verse Latin word play encodes secretive Amazon Triabe on male anal sex: according to Burton "The D (Te) stands for the anus to be cleaved by the mentule." 54 Priapus Latin: CD si scribas temonemque insuper addas, qui medium vult te scindere, pictus erit. Burton's translation: E, D, an thou write, conjoining the two with a hyphen, What middle D would bisect this shall be painted to view. Plain English: If thou writest E and D then addest a joining line, that which wishes to cleave through the middle of D [thee] will be represented.[1] [1. If you write the letters E D and place a dash between them, thus E-D, a mentule will be represented, which wishes to cleave through the middle of D. The ambiguity is in writing the letter D, instead of the Latin word Te (thee), in the second verse. The shape of the mentule is not strikingly apparent at first sight, but the top and bottom strokes of the letter E may be taken as forming the testicles, whilst the middle stroke of the E, continued by the dash thus E-, represents the mentule itself. The D (Te) stands for the anus to be cleaved by the mentule.] Garden of Priapus - 57 Buff and tatooed boss lady sodomizing a penis-caged and trussed up man. In this verse disrespectful robbers in a garden of Priapus are warned that they will be irrumated - or forced to give oral sex 56 Priapus Latin: Derides quoque, fur, et impudicum ostendis digitum mihi minanti? eheu me miserum, quod ista lignum est, quae me terribilem facit videri. mandabo domino tamen salaci, ut pro me velit irrumare fures. Burton's translation: Thou too dost mock me, Thief! and the infamous Finger dost point when menaced by me! Ah hapless I, that should be only wood What makes me ever formidable seem! Yet will I charge my garden's lustful lord For me deign robber-folk to irrumate. Plain English: Thou also mockest, O thief, and when threatened, dost stretch out to me the indecent finger![1] Alas, unhappy I! that the thing is but wood which makes me seem fearsome. But no matter, I will charge the lecherous owner of the garden that he may be willing to irrumate the thieves for me. [1. The middle finger. It was called 'infamous', according to some writers, on account of the custom of the Jews, who used to wipe the podex when they suffered from bleeding piles. This is not so. It derived its name from its resemblance to the mentule, and it is used in that sense here. When the middle finger is pointing, the other fingers are turned inside, representing a mentule with its accessories; for which reason it was thus pointedly shown in derision to sodomites. Martial: 'Cestus with tears in his eyes often complains to me, Mamurianus, of being teased with your finger.' In an admirable article on pederasty in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night: 'Debauchees had signals like Freemasons whereby they recognised one another. The Greek skematizein was made by closing the hand to represent the scrotum and raising the middle finger as if to feel whether a hen had eggs; hence the Athenians called it catapygon or sodomite and the Romans digitus impudicus or infamis, the 'medical finger' of Rabelais and the Chiromantists--though properly speaking medicus is the third or ring-finger, as shown by the old Chiromantist verses. The modern Italian does the same by inserting the thumb-tip between the index and medius to suggest the clitoris. When the Egyptians wish to represent pederasty, they painted two partridges, who, when bereft of their mates, were supposed to enjoy each other. Pliny supports this statement. The finger was also pointed at people as a mark of simple contempt. Martial: 'He points with the finger, but with the infamous finger.' Persius says, without any obscene afterthought, 'The grandmother cleanses with infamous finger the infant.'] Garden of Priapus - 58 Boss lady sodomizing a man in a penis cage and humbler. He had a real body shaking orgasm! - Which proves there is a male sex organ in the rectum ... That was probably a night in the Roman stews under the athletic Tribades ... Greece and Asia Minor too - especially Asia Minor - Trojan men were catamites. In this verse the catamite's apples - ie balls and ass are described as a prize that will be denied to both male and female robbers in the garden of Priapus 58 Priapus Latin: Quicumque nostram fur fefellerit curam, effeminato verminet procul culo; quaeque hic proterva carpserit manu poma puella, nullum reperiat fututorem. Burton's Translation: Whatever thief shall trick my faith may he Wither, far banisht from th' effeminate bum! Whatever damsel plucks with wanton hand This fruitage, never find she one to strum! Plain English: Whatever thief who deceives my faith may he wither away, far from the buttocks of a catamite. And whatso girl who with audacious hand plucks off these apples, may she meet with no futterer. Garden of Priapus - 59 18th dynasty Egyptian family. Like Trojans thats probably a pathic wife on the left, a catamite husband in the middle and a phallic girl on the right - or a Harpocrates. - Although the met caption says those are 3 males! - Metropolitan Museum of Art These were Akhenaten days and also the days of the Minoan bull jumpers - who are labelled male, but on closer inspection are actually pathic females. The Egyptian penis cage went on early and stayed on longer - until the 30 year Sed festival - which meant Egyptian men were defacto females for the first half of their lives - and maybe like catamite Roman youths expected to anally service phallic Egyptian women in a ritual group setting. According to the Met this is a: "Statue of two men and a boy that served as a domestic icon ca. 1353-1336 B.C. New Kingdom, Amarna Period On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 121 All of the individuals in this small group are males, represented according to the conventions of Amarna art. The intriguing group has been variously interpreted as a family comprising a grandfather, a father, and a son, or as one man at three different stages of life. The latter is most unlikely as the multiple representations of a single individual in one statue are not shown interacting as they do here. In fact careful examination of the faces and figures points to the statue's being a kind of domestic icon. The figure at left is a high-status individual and likely the oldest; he is probably a revered relative or the respected overlord of the man and boy who stand closely entwined with one another. The statuette would probably have received veneration in the household of its owner. ..." Met In this verse the poet laments that Priapus is offered more verse than apples - apples being code for catamite balls and ass 60 To Priapus Latin: Si quot habes versus, tot haberes poma, Priape, esses antiquo ditior Alcinoo. Burton's Translation: Hadst thou as many of apples as offers of verses (Priapus!), Richer than Alcinous ancient of days were thy lot. Plain English: If as many verses so many apples thou hast dedicated to thee, O Priapus, thou wilt be richer than of yore Alcinous. Garden of Priapus - 60 More Asia action: a young queen with an erect mentule whipping a bound old slave in a basement dungeon/throne room Service to the pathic phallus was selective - not all qualified for a session with the mentule: In this verse a soft catamite unsuccessfully steals from the garden of Priapus with the intent of being sodomized by a pathic maiden 64 Priapus Latin: Quidam mollior anseris medulla furatum venit huc amore poenae: furetur licet usque, non videbo. Burton's Translation: One than a goose's marrow softer far, Comes hither stealing for its penalty's sake: Steal he as please him: I will see him not. Plain English: A certain one, more tender than the marrow of a goose, comes hither thieving for love of the punishment.[1] He may steal when he fists, I shall not see him. [1. The effeminate come, allured by the pleasure of being sodomised] Garden of Priapus - 61 More Asia action part 2 : a young queen with an erect mentule whipping a bound old slave in a basement dungeon/throne room. With the erect mentule the young maiden becomes Priapus - That's the Pan/Priapus surprise - all that raw sexuality was really female - or the female uncounsious psyche made real - Like the raw sexuality of the Apis bull was female in ancient Egypt. In this verse, modest maidens are warned off "the virile sip" of the Priapus cult 66 Priapus Latin: Tu, quae ne videas notam virilem, hinc averteris, ut decet pudicam: nimirum, nisi quod times videre, intra viscera habere concupiscis. Burton's Translation Thou, who lest manly mark thy glances meet, Hence fain avertest thee as suits the pure; No wonder 'twere if that to see thou fear'st Within thy vitals thou desire to feel. Plain English Thou who, lest thou behold the virile sip, hence withdrawest, as becomes a maiden of modesty: forsooth, unless what thou fearest to see, in thy bowels to have thou longest. Garden of Priapus - 62 Three young American amazons whipping a bound older man in a barn. In this verse stealing sweets from the garden of Priapus will lead to the robbing of the sweets or ass and balls of the thief 72 Priapus Latin: Si commissa meae carpes pomaria curae, dulcia quid doleam perdere, doctus eris. Burton's Translation: An thou pluck of this orchard fruit to my guarding committed, How for losing the sweets grieve I thou quickly shalt learn. Plain English: If thou pilferest the orchards entrusted to my care, that I grieve to lose pleasurable things thou wilt be taught.[1] [1. By being sodomised. The text seems to infer that the god took pleasure in punishing a thief.] Garden of Priapus - 63 Boss lady roughly sodomizing an older slave in a penis cage and humbler. The penis cage and humbler activate the male vagina hidden away in the rectum. Very few men ever experience the anal orgasm - That's the birthplace of the serpent of the Kundalini ... In this verse the continued virility of a rustic and "stiff-nerved" Priapus is prayed for 82 To Priapus Latin: Dum vivis, sperare decet: tu, rustice custos, huc ades et nervis, tente Priape, fave. Burton's translation: While there is life 'tis fitting to hope, O rustical guardian! Here be thou present and thou aid us, Priapus stiff-nerved. Plain English: Whilst there is life, 'tis fitting to hope; do thou, O rustic guardian, be present here; and, O stiff-nerved Priapus, be propitious. Garden of Priapus - 64 "Illustration of the Assyrian Sargon legend (1913): The young Sargon, working as a gardener, is visited by Ishtar "surrounded by a cloud of doves". ..."- Wikipedia According to Freud in "Moses and Monotheism" the founder of Mesopotamia Sargon was the illegitimate son of a Vestal Virgin who like Moses was put out to drown then saved by a humble family. A goddess fell in love with him and made him King. Babylon probably had the same system as Rome - including the Fibula or penis cage - Not much work has been done here for more than 100 years! First time I've heard of Vestal Virgins in Babylon " ... A Neo-Assyrian text from the 7th century BC purporting to be Sargon's autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate son of a priestess. Only the beginning of the text (the first two columns) is known, from the fragments of three manuscripts. The first fragments were discovered as early as 1850. Sargon's birth and his early childhood are described thus: My mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not. The brothers of my father loved the hills. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My high priestess mother conceived me, in secret she bore me. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river which rose over me. The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water, took me as his son and reared me. Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener. While I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me her love, and for four and ... years I exercised kingship. Similarities between the Sargon Birth Legend and other infant birth exposures in ancient literature, including Moses, Karna, and Oedipus, were noted by psychoanalyst Otto Rank in his 1909 book The Myth of the Birth of the Hero. The legend was also studied in detail by Brian Lewis, and compared with many different examples of the infant birth exposure motif found in European and Asian folktales. He discusses a possible archetype form, giving particular attention to the Sargon legend and the account of the birth of Moses.Joseph Campbell has also made such comparisons. Sargon is also one of the many suggestions for the identity or inspiration for the biblical Nimrod. Ewing William (1910) suggested Sargon based on his unification of the Babylonians and the Neo-Assyrian birth legend. Yigal Levin (2002) suggested that Nimrod was a recollection of Sargon and his grandson Naram-Sin, with the name "Nimrod" derived from the latter.... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 65 Statuette of a hermaphrodite. Babylon, Parthian period, 1st BC-1st AD. - Babylon female phallus - that's probably the source of the biblical Sodom and Gommorah Not sure of the meaning of this verse - But it's probably a secret religious warning or code to either keep the Priapus fire burning or risk being burned instead 85 To Priapus By Marcus Valerius Martialis Latin: Non horti neque palmitis beati sed rari nemoris, Priape, custos, ex quo natus es et potes renasci, furaces, moneo, manus repellas et siluam domini focis reserues: si defecerit haec, et ipse lignum es. Burton's translation: Neither of garden nor of blessed vine But of a little holt (Priapus!) guard, Wherein wast born and may'st be born again; I warn thee plundering hand alway repel And keep the fuel for thy master's fire-- An this be wanting, mind! of wood thou art. Plain English: Priapus, guardian not of a garden nor of the sacred vine but of the little grove from which thou wert born and mayst again be born. I warn thee drive off thievish hands and preserve the wood for thy master's hearth. If this be wanting, remember thou too art wooden.[1] [1. For lack of the stolen wood, his master would burn the image of Priapus.] Garden of Priapus - 66 Boss lady sodomizing her husband in chains ... In this verse, Priapus reveals a fear of being destroyed by burning when deep winter descends ... ie he fears being burnt for firewood when it gets too cold and vanishing ... Which is what happened at the end of Rome ... 86 To Priapus Latin: Vere rosa, autumno pomis, aestate frequentor spicis; una mihi est horrida pestis hiemps. Nam frigus metuo et vereor, ne ligneus ignem hic deus ignavis praebeat agricolis. Burton's translation: Roses in spring in the autumn fruits and in summer they bring me Wheat-ears, while to my mind winter is horrible pest; For that the cold I dread lest I being god made of timber End me as fuel for fire chopped by those ignorant boors. Plain English: In spring I am worshipped with roses, in autumn with apples, in summer with corn-wreaths, but winter is one horrid pestilence for me. For I fear the cold, and am apprehensive lest I, a wooden god, should in that season afford a fire for ignorant yokels. [1. For lack of the stolen wood, his master would burn the image of Priapus.] Garden of Priapus - 67 Boss lady seizing the "apples" or balls and ass of a chained slave In this closing verse the garden of Priapus is gone - nothing but a marble statue of Priapus for the robbers to steal 92 On a Cilician Thief by Marcus Valerius Martialis Latin: Fur notae nimium rapacitatis compilare Cilix uolebat hortum, ingenti sed erat, Fabulle, in horto praeter marmoreum nihil Priapum. Dum non uolt uacua manu redire, ipsum subripuit Cilix Priapum. Burton's translation: A robber famed for greed exceeding wonder (Eke a Cilician) would this garden plunder; Yet in its vasty space, Fabullus, naught Save a Priapus stood in marble wrought So the Cilician, who with hand sans pelf Scorned departing, stole Priapus' self. Plain English: A Cilician thief of but too notorious rapacity wished to rob a certain garden; but large as the garden was, O Fabullus, there was naught in it save a marble Priapus. Not desiring to go back empty-handed, the Cilician stole Priapus himself. Garden of Priapus - 68 The general mounting a penis caged man on the stairs - The Roman reality ! Shot Blocked. Used workaround Here is the 1890 introduction to the Priapea: " ... The Priapeia, now for the first time literally and completely translated into English verse and prose, is a collection of short Latin poems in the shape of jocose epigrams affixed to the statues of the god Priapus. These were often rude carvings from a tree-trunk, human-shaped, with a huge phallus which could at need be used as a cudgel against robbers, and they were placed in the gardens of wealthy Romans, for the twofold purpose of promoting fertility and of preventing depredations on the produce. Most of these facetiae are by unknown authors. Although they appear in early editions of Vergil, and are attributed to that writer by J. M. Catanaeus, it is, to say the least, doubtful that he played any part in their authorship. Politian attributes them to Ovid; others, such as Francois Guiet, hold Domitius Marsus to be their author. The general opinion is that they are the collective work of a group of beaux esprits who formed a reunion at the house of Maecenas (the well known patron of Horace), and who amused themselves by writing these verses in a garden-temple consecrated to Priapus. Subsequently Martial and Petronius added several imitative epigrams, and eventually the whole were collected in one volume by the writer of the opening verses. Catullus, Tibullus, Cinna and Anser are also credited with a share in the work. The cento consists chiefly of laudatory monologues by Priapus himself, jocosely and satirically written, in praise of his most prominent part--the mentule--and of fearful warnings to thieves not to infringe upon the Garden God's domains under pain of certain penalties and punishments, obscene and facetious. At times a witty epigram sparkles from the pages, notably numbers 2, 14, 2 5, 37, 47, 69 and 84, the Homeric burlesque in number 69 being merum sal, whilst numbers 46 and 70 show a degree of pornography difficult to parallel. That the Priapeia has not hitherto been translated into the English tongue is to be expected: the nature of the work is such that it cannot, be included in a popular edition of the classics. But to the philological and anthropological student this collection is most valuable, and the reason for omitting it from the list of translations is not applicable to a version produced for private circulation and limited to an edition of five hundred copies. Putting aside conventionalities, the translators have endeavoured to produce a faithful reflection of the original Latin, shirking no passages, but rendering all the formidably plain-spoken expressions in a translation as close as the idioms of the two languages allow. Indeed the keynote to the volume will be found in Epigrams 1 and 46, on pages 33 and 70, verses probably scrawled on the temple walls of Priapus or scribbled upon the base of his statue by some libertine poet. Although the value of the work in illustrating the customs of the old Romans may be small per se, yet when read in conjunction with the legacies of certain writers (Catullus, Petronius, Martial, Juvenal and Ausonius, for example), it explains and corroborates their notices of sundry esoteric practices, and thus becomes a supplement to their writings. With the view of making the work an explanatory guide to the erotic dicta of the authors above-mentioned, the bulk of the notes and the excursus explaining and illustrating the text and exceeding its length by some five times is devoted to articles on pederasty with both sexes, irrumation, the cunnilinges, masturbation, bestiality, various figurae Veneris (modes and postures of coition, particularly that in which the man lies supine under the woman); excerpts from the Latin erotic vocabulary, including exhaustive lists of Latin terms designating the sexual organs, male and female; a list of classical amatory writers, and a host of miscellaneous matters, e.g. the habits of the Roman dancing-girls, eunuchism, tribadism of the Roman matrons, the use of phalli, religious prostitution, aphrodisiacs, the 'infamous' finger, tabellae or licentious paintings, the fibula as a preventive of coition, the crepitus ventris, etc., etc., illustrated by poetical versions of many of the epigrams culled from various sources, by parallel elucidatory passages (many hitherto untranslated) from classical writers, and by quotations from authors, ancient and modern. English literary students have good reason to congratulate them selves on the collaboration of a certain talented litterateur, the mere mention of whose name would be a sufficient guarantee for the quality of the work. He has most kindly enriched the volume with a complete metrical version of the epigrams, and this is, indeed, the principal raison d'etre of this issue. I have also gratefully to acknowledge obligations of no small weight, not only for his careful and thorough revision of the prose portion of the translation, but also for the liberal manner in which I have availed myself of his previous labours in the preparation of my notes and excursus. The name of Sir Richard F. Burton, translator of The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, has been inadvertently connected with the present work. It is, however, only fair to state that under the circumstances he distinctly disclaims having taken any part in the issue. And here I may state that a complete and literal translation of the works of Catullus, on the same lines and in the same format as the present volume, is now in preparation. Catullus is, of all the Latin poets, the one who has been oftenest paraphrased and traduced, and even yet, in the year of grace 1890, we have no version of him in our tongue which can be regarded by the student as definitive. Of the merits of Catullus's poesy and the desirability of a trustworthy translation there is no need to speak. A long dissertation on Priapic worship, the Linga-puja of the Hindus, considered as an ancient and venerable faith, would be out of place in this recueil; consequently that subject is merely glanced at in the next few pages, most of the information here presented being drawn from modern volumes which contain a digest of the writings of well-known authorities and specialists. In the earliest ages the worship of the generative Energy was of the most simple and artless character, rude in manner, primitive in form, chaste in idea, the homage of man to the Supreme Power, the Author of Life, the Sun, as symbolised by the reproductive force. Afterwards the cult became depraved, a religion of feeling, of sensuousness, corrupted by a priesthood who, not slow to take advantage of this state of affairs, inculcated therewith profligate and mysterious ceremonies, union of gods with women, religious prostitution and other sexual rites. Thus it was not long before the emblems lost their real and original meaning, and became licentious statues and debased art.[1] Hence we have the debauched ceremonies at the festivals of Bacchus, who became, not only the representative of the creative Energy, but the god of pleasure and licentiousness. [1. Sir R. F. Burton, in his paper read before the Anthropological Society on 'Certain Matters connected with the Dahoman', describes the Dahoman Priapus as 'a clay figure of any size between a giant and the pigmy, crouched upon the ground as if contemplating its own attributes. The head is sometimes a wooden block, rudely carved, more often dried mud, and the eyes and teeth are supplied by cowries. A huge penis, like a section of a broomstick, projects horizontally from the middle.'] This corrupted religion readily found eager votaries, captives to a pleasant bondage compelled by the impulse of physical luxury: such was the case in India and Egypt, and among the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Hebrews and other Eastern races. Sex-worship once personified became the supreme and governing deity, enthroned as the ruling god over all; and monarchs, complying with the prevailing faith, became willing devotees to the cult of Isis and Venus on the one hand, and on the other of Bacchus and Priapus, appealing, as they did, to the most tyrannical passion of human nature. The worship of Priapus amongst the Romans was derived from the Egyptians, who, under the form of Apis, the Sacred Bull, adored the generative Power of Nature; and as the syllable pri or pre signifies (we are assured) principle, production, natural or original source, the word Priapus may be translated principle of production or of fecundation of Apis. The same symbol also bore among the Romans the names of Tutenus, Mutinus[1] and Fascinum.[2] According to Macrobius, the corresponding deity amongst the Egyptians was called Horus--a personification of the sun. This Horus is painted as a winged youth, with a quoit lying at his feet, a sceptre in his right hand, and in his left a Phallus[3] equal in size to the rest of his body. [1. According to Festus, Mutinus or Mutenus is a god differing wholly from Priapus, having a public sanctuary at Rome, where the statue was placed sitting with penis erect. Newly-mated girls were placed in his lap, before being led away to their husbands so that the deity might appear to have foretasted their virginity, this being supposed to render the bride fruitful. In Primitive Symbolism we read, 'The Romans named Mutinus or Tutenus, the isolated Phallus, and Priapus, the Phallus affixed to a Hermes.' 2. Fascinum primarily means a bewitching, an enchantment. It gained its topical meaning from a custom practised by the ancients of hanging a Phallus round the neck of children as a charm or preventive against witchcraft, and hence the word became synonymous with penis. 3. Phallus, or privy member (membrum virile), signifies 'he breaks through or passes into'; German (pfahl); English (pole); of Phoenician origin, the Greek word, pallo--'to brandish preparatory to throwing a missile'; in Sanskrit, phal--'to burst, to produce, to be faithful', 'a ploughshare', and also the names of Shiva and Mahadeva, who are Hindu deities of destruction. The kteis, or female organ, as the symbol of the passive or reproductive powers of nature, generally occurs on ancient Roman monuments as the concha Veneris, a fig, barley, corn and the letter delta.] The Phallus was the ancient emblem of creation, and representative of the gods Bacchus, Priapus, Hercules, Siva, Osiris, Baal and Asher, who were all Phallic deities, the symbols being used as signs of the all-creative Energy or operating Power of the Demiurgos, from no consideration of mere animal appetite but in token of the highest reverence.[1] [1. Survivals of this worship may be seen in our maypole, the steeple, the ecclesiastical cross, etc.] The tortoise, believed to have been androgynous, was chosen to accompany statues of Venus. The fig was a still more common symbol, the statue of Priapus being made of that tree, and the fruit being carried with the Phallus in the ancient processions to the honour of Bacchus. In conformity with the religious ideas of the Greeks and Romans, Vergil describes the products of the globe as the result of the conjugal act between Jupiter (the sky) and Juno (the earth). Among the Greeks, the membrum virile was borne in procession to the temple of Bacchus and was there crowned with a garland by one of the most respectable matrons of the city. According to St Augustine the sexual organ of man was consecrated in the temple of Liber, that of women in the sanctuaries of Liberia, these two divinities being named father and mother. Payne Knight states that Priapus, in his character of procreative deity, is celebrated by the Greek poets under the title of Love or Attraction, the first principle of Animation, the father of gods and men, the regulator and dispenser of all things. He Is said to pervade the universe with the motion of his wings, bringing pure light, and thence to be called 'the splendid, the self-illumined, the ruling Priapus'. According to Natalis Comes, the worship of Priapus was introduced into Athens by express order of an oracle. The Priapi were of different forms, some having only a human head and the Phallus, some with the head of Pan or of a faun--that is, with the beard and ears of a goat. Among the paintings found in Pompeii there are several representations of hircine sacrifices and offerings of milk and flowers to Priapus. The god is represented as a Hermes on a square pedestal, with the usual characteristic of the deity, a prominent Phallus. Similar Hermae or Priapi were placed at the forkings of two or three roads, and were confounded with the divinities Mercury and Terminus presiding over boundaries. When furnished with arms, in his character of 'Terminus', Priapus held with one hand a reaping hook and, like Osiris, grasped with the other the characteristic feature of his divinity which was always of a monstrous size and in a state of statant energy. One of the paintings discovered at Pompeii represents a sacrifice or offering to Priapus, made by two persons. The first is a young man with a dark skin, entirely naked, except for the animal's skin which is wrapped round his loins, his head being encircled with a wreath of leaves. He carries a basket wherein are flowers and vegetables, the first offerings of his humble farm; and he bends to place them at the foot of a little altar, on which there is a small statue in bronze representing the god of gardens. On the other side is a woman, also wearing a wreath, and dressed in a yellow tunic with green drapery; she holds in her left hand a golden dish and in her right a vase and she appears to be bringing an offering of milk: Sinium lactis et haec te liba, Priape, quotannis Expectare sat est; custos es pauperis horti. VERGIL, Eclogues Offerings were made to Priapus according to the season of the year: Vere rosa, autumno pomis, oestate frequentor Spicis: una mihi est horrida pestis hiems Epigram 86 In another painting Priapus is represented as placed on a square stone, against which rest two sticks. His head is covered with a cap, he has a small mantle on his shoulder, and exhibits his usual prominent characteristic.[1] According to Herodotus and Pausanias statues of Mercury were represented as ithyphallic,[2] and the latter mentions one in particular at Cyllene. [1. The statue is evidently placed by the roadside, and holds a stick in its hand to point out the way to travellers. 2. Ithyphallus, a piece of wood shaped like the erect virile member, which was carried about in the festivals of Bacchus. Hence, applied to Priapus, who was represented with an erect member. Priapus was also called Triphallus (triphallos), a threefold phallus, an immense phallus, on account of the extraordinary size of his member.] In the towns Priapus had public chapels, whither devotees suffering from maladies connected with his attributes repaired for the purpose of offering to him ex-votos figuring the parts afflicted; these ex-votos being sometimes paintings and, at others, statuettes made of wax or of wood, and occasionally of metal, stone and marble. Females as superstitious as they were lascivious might be seen offering in public to Priapus as many garlands as they had had lovers. These they would hang upon the enormous phallus of the idol, which was often hidden from sight behind the number suspended by one woman alone. Others presented to the god as many phalli, made of willow-wood, as the men whom they had vanquished in a single night. St Augustine informs us that it was considered by the Roman ladies a very proper and pious custom for young brides to seat themselves upon the monstrous member of Priapus; and Lactantius says, 'Shall I speak of that Mutinus, upon the extremity of which brides are accustomed to seat themselves in order that the god may appear to have been the first to receive the sacrifice of their modesty?' These facts prove that the worship of Priapus had greatly degenerated amongst the Romans since, losing sight altogether of the object typified, they attached themselves to the symbol alone, in which they could see only what was indecent; and hence religion became a pretext for libertinism. Respected so long as Roman manners presented their pristine simplicity, but degraded and vilified in proportion as the morals of that people became corrupted, the very sanctuary itself of Priapus failed to protect him from the biting sarcasm of the poets, and the obloquy and ridicule of the wits. Thus his statue[1] was placed in orchards as a scarecrow to drive away superstitious thieves, as well as children and birds. [1. The statue of Priapus was generally chopped roughly out from the trunk of a standing tree. It was usually shaped from fig-tree wood, dry oak or cypress; sometimes of marble or even of wheaten dough. The 'personal' history of Priapus represents him as the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite. It is said that Aphrodite, who was in love with Dionysus, went to meet him on his return from India, but soon abandoning him, made for Lampsacus, and there gave birth to her child by the god. Hera, who was dissatisfied with her conduct, caused her to bear a babe of extreme ugliness, who was presently named Priapus. The earliest Greek poets, as Homer and Hesiod, do not mention this divinity, and it was only in later times that he was honoured with divine worship. He was adored more especially at Lampsacus on the Hellespont, whence he is sometimes called Hellespondiacus.[2] [2. The enormous size of his member so endeared him to the women of Lampsacus that their husbands banished him from the city, whereupon a fell disease attacked their pudenda and continued until, by the oracle's command, he was recalled and crowned as the garden god.] By some writers Priapus is said to have been the son of Dionysus and a nymph called Chione. He was regarded as the promoter of fertility both in vegetation and in all animals connected with an agricultural life, and in this capacity he was addressed as the protector of sheep and goats, of bees, of the vine, of all garden produce and even of fishing. Like other divinities presiding over agricultural pursuits, he was believed to be possessed of prophetic powers and he is sometimes mentioned in the plural. As Priapus had many attributes in common with other gods of fertility, the Orphics identified him with their mystic Dionysus, Hermes, Helios and others. The Attic legends connect Priapus with such sensual and licentious beings as Conisalus, Orthanes and Tychon; in like manner he was confounded by the Italians with Mutunus or Muttunus, the personification (as has been shown) of Nature's fructifying power. The sacrifices offered to him consisted of the firstlings of gardens, vineyards and fields; of milk, honey, calves, rams, asses and fishes. He was represented by carved images, mostly in the form of Hermae, carrying fruit in the sinus of the garment and either a sickle or cornucopia in the hand; the statues of Priapus in Italy, like those of other rustic divinities, were usually painted red, whence the god is called ruber or rubicundus.[1] [1. The Hindus follow a similar custom of painting their gods with vermilion.] A chief seat of the worship of this god was Priapus, a city of Mysia, on the Propontis, a colony of the Milesians; in Spain he was worshipped under the name of Hortanes, and in Slavonia under the appellation of Pripe-gala. ... [Christian survivals and sketch of Dionysia] ... " NEANISKOS July 1890 Garden of Priapus - 69 Phallic Boss lady and friend caning a naked and bound slave. - The "tribadism of the Roman matrons" ... Shot blocked - used workaround Reeds or canes were part of the annual rites of Cybele .... They also had a role in Dionysian rites - which in ancient Greece were originally female only drunken orgies- Bacchantes- - Greek men like Roman men were in the penis cage - celebration of the erect phallus and its generative powers was female in the ancient world. see: Dionysia in Introduction to the Priapea - And in this case figs have a code or secret meaning that is discussed in the Priapea - female-on-male anal sex. All this came out of Egypt - ie out of Africa ......: " ... I will conclude this hasty sketch of the Priapic cult with a brief description of the Dionysia, or festivals celebrated in honour of Bacchus, which throw considerable fight on this worship. They were brought from Egypt into Greece by Melampus, the son of Amithaon, and the Athenians celebrated them with more pomp than the other Greeks. The principal Archon presided over diem, and the priests who celebrated the religious rites occupied the first places in the theatre and in the public assemblies. Originally these festivals exhibited neither extravagance nor splendour, they were simply devoted to joy and pleasure within the houses; all public ceremonies were confined to a procession, in which there appeared a vase full of wine and, wreathed with vine leaves, a goat, a basket of figs and the Phalli. At a later period this function was celebrated with greater pomp; the number of priests of Bacchus increased; those who took part therein were suitably dressed, and sought by their gestures to represent some of the customs which faith attributed to the god of wine. They dressed themselves in fawn skins; they wore on head a mitre; they bore in hand a thyrsus, a tympanum or a flute and their brows were wreathed with ivy, vine leaves and pine-branches. Some imitated the dress and fantastic postures of Silenus, of Pan and of the Satyrs; they covered their legs with goatskins, and carried the horns of animals; they rode on asses, and dragged after them goats intended for sacrifice. In the town this frenzied crowd was followed by priests carrying sacred vases, the first of which was filled with water, then followed young girls selected from the most distinguished families, and called Canephori, because they bore small baskets of gold full of all sorts of fruit, of cakes and of salt; but the principal object among these, according to St Croix, was the Phallus, made of the wood of a fig tree. (In the comedy of the Acharnians, by Aristophanes, one of the characters in the play says, 'Come forward a little, Canephoros, and you, Xianthias, slave, place the Phallus erect.') After these came the Periphallia, a troop of men who carried long poles with Phalli[1] hung at the end of them; they were crowned with violets and ivy, and they walked repeating obscene songs. [1. In the Thesaurus Eroticus Linguae Latinae, four kinds of Phalli are described: 1 Those made of wood, chiefly of the fig tree, used at the festivals of Priapus and Bacchus. 2 Those of glass, ivory, gold and silken stuffs and linen, which Giraldus tells us were used by the Lesbian women to satisfy their passions. 3 Wheaten images shaped like the male pudenda. 4 Drinking vessels of gold or glass of a like shape.] These men were called Phallophori;[1] these must not be confounded with the Ithyphalli, who, in indecent dresses and sometimes in women's costume, with garlanded heads and hands full of flowers, and pretending to be drunk, wore at their waist-bands monstrous Phalli made of wood or leather; among the Ithyphalli also must be counted those who assumed the costume of Pan or the Satyrs. [1. Herodotus speaks of these Phallophori in the festivals of Bacchus as men who bore statues of a cubit's length, with members almost equal in size to the rest of their bodies.] There were other persons, called Lychnophori, who had care of the mystic winnowing-fan, an emblem whose presence was held indispensable in these kinds of festivals. Hence the epithet 'Lychnite', given to Bacchus. Outside the town, the more respectable persons, the matrons and modest virgins, separated themselves from the procession. But the people, the countless multitude of Sileni, of Satyrs and of Nymph-bacchantes, spread themselves over the open spaces and the valleys, stopping in solitary places to get up dances or to celebrate some festival and making the rocks re-echo with the sound of drums, of flutes, and more especially with cries, constantly repeated, by which they invoked the god: 'Evohe Sabae! Evohe Bacche! O Iacche! Io Bacche!' The first of these words recalls the words with which Jupiter encouraged Bacchus when, in the Giants' War, the latter defended his father's throne. The description here given applied chiefly to the greater Dionysia, or to the new Dionysia; there were six other festivals of this name, the ceremonies of which must have borne some resemblance to those already mentioned. There were, in the first place, the ancient Dionysia, which were celebrated at Limnae, and in which appeared fourteen priestesses called Geraerae, who, before entering on their duties, swore that they were pure and chaste. There were the lesser Dionysia, which were celebrated in the autumn, and in the country; the Brauronia of Brauron, a village of Attica; the Nyctelia, whose mysteries it was forbidden to reveal; the Theoina; the Lenean festivals of the wine press; the Omophagia in honour of Bacchus Carnivorus, to whom human victims were formerly offered, and whose Priests ate raw meat; the Arcadian, celebrated in Arcadia by dramatic contests; and, lastly, the Trieterica, which were repeated every three years in memory of the period during which Bacchus made his expedition to further Ind. The Bacchic mysteries and orgies are said to have been introduced from Southern Italy into Etruria, and thence to Rome. Originally they were celebrated only by women, but afterwards men were admitted, and their presence led to the greatest disorders. In these festivals, the Phallus played a prominent part, and was publicly exhibited. At Lavinium the festival lasted a month, during which time a Phallus, remarkable for its proportions, was carried each day through the streets. The coarsest language was heard on all sides and a matron of one of the most considerable families placed a wreath on this suggestive image. Pacula Annia, pretending to act under the inspiration of Bacchus, ordered that the Bacchanalia should be held during five days in every month. It was from the time of these orgies being carried on after this plan that, according to the statement of an eye-witness (Livy xxxix, 13), licentiousness prevailed and crimes of every description were committed. Disorder was carried to such an excess that the Senate in 186 B.C. issued a decree to suppress and prohibit these festivals; and it was ordered that no Bacchanalia should be held in Rome or in Italy. Garden of Priapus - 70 The general on the stairs - part 2. The warm wood and red phallus reminds me of the wooden Priapus and his detachable red phallus ! When I first posted the images of the Pan and the Pathic matron on page 153 I received the inner image of an American women - specifically a famous black woman that I was watching on TV - as being "severed" from the goat-man and losing their color ... In America the goat-man is the dark skinned black man - the archtypal ghetto negro ... I suppose one way to fix that problem is to alter that projection. The penis cage means that sexual power is transferred from the projection onto the woman - That's probably a partial solution. Black men are already in the penis cage in America - as I've already noted. Anti-miscegenation laws and customs are a form of the penis cage. The ghetto Negro projection is all of Rap music and culture - but to me that's a demeaning deal for black men - Brazil has a healthier solution for this problem - Samba and Carnaval ... Garden of Priapus - 71 Boss lady in one of her favorite scenes. Probably what happened to our trussed up heroes in the Satyricon - Quartilla and the "wonderful penetration" of her whalebone wand. Also probably what happened at the women only Bacchic mysteries of ancient Greece. The drunken orgies cannot have been purely female - like in the Roman Bona Dea celebrations men were probably invited as women - in women's clothes and it goes without saying - in the penis cage ... Garden of Priapus - 72 Another real scene from the boss lady! My inner dream images are the opposite though - modern American women want men to be men ... " ... Let that word which seldom reaches our ears - I am ashamed to utter it - the name of tribadic licentiousness be paraded freely around, let every one of our women's chambers become Philaenis, disfigured by androgynous desires. ..." The Pseudo-Lucianic Loves (Amores) - Rome. c 3rd century AD Roman women in contrast wanted to ride their men - a la Philaenis! A lost form of Eros ... It's probably true that you can't understand the long lost "Aryan" civilization without the penis cage and "tribadic licentiousness" ... Ancient India was in the penis cage for religious reasons ... the rising of the Kundalini Garden of Priapus - 73 Boss lady irrumating a hooded and penis-caged slave This was probably the reason irrumation was a more severe penalty that anal sodomy for violating the garden of Priapus. Her Mentule down his throat has just finished sodomizing his rectum ... Odysseus and his crew probably spent their time on the Island of Calypso doing this as her pigs! - There's also probably a link here to the secret annual Eleusinian mysteries that have never been revealed - All participants of the mysteries were required to provide a piglet for sacrifice - I read a sexual code in that - A female on male sexual orgy - "Tribadic licentiousness" - was probably a basic component of the Eleusinian mysteries ... - Strange to modern ears - but in ancient Greece the "hieros gamos" was always an annual sexual ritual event between the Queen of Athens and a priest of Bacchus. From reading the Priapea Bacchus was a catamite and the Queen of Athens pathic or phallic: more "Tribadic licentiousness" - Hieros Gamos being the marriage of male and female energies in one body - or a phallus for a woman and a vagina for a man " ...Evohe Sabae! Evohe Bacche! O Iacche! Io Bacche!' The first of these words recalls the words with which Jupiter encouraged Bacchus when, in the Giants' War, the latter defended his father's throne" ..." Introduction to the Priapae - Sabae is probably ancient Saba or Ethiopia Garden of Priapus - 74 Dmitrys: A black African Amazon sodomizing her blond elf slave while roasting a whole pig in the dead of night Pig was a code in ancient Rome for the men who were sodomized in the garden of Priapus Garden of Priapus - 75 Boss lady, a friend, the cane and the mentule part 2 ... The cane was a part of the rites of Cybele - It's also part of the modern naked Swazi reed dance in southern Africa - the last surviving example of an ancient Bantu tradition. Most Bantu today are Christian - and these dances are absolute taboo ... * Babylon seems to have been a female phallus only civilization - and sacred prostitution seems to have been common at a Temple level. In the following blog excerpt I am sure terms like "plowing the furrow" mean the mentule and female-on-male anal intercourse: " ... 1. Sacred Marriage ... In the ancient Near East sacred prostitution, which is most likely a misnomer, was common as a form of sacred marriage. The ‘marriage’ took place between the king of a Sumerian city-state and the High Priestess of the goddess Inanna. This Inanna was the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility and warfare. There were many temples and shrines, all along the course of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which were dedicated to worship of the goddesses. The temple of Eanna or ‘house of heaven’ was one of the greatest in the city of Uruk, the biblical Erech, and now modern Warka. This temple was the earthly abode of Naditu the priestess of the goddess. During the ritual of the sacred marriage the High Priestess would select for her nubtial couch a young man who represented Inanna’s consort, shepherd god Dumuzi. The Hieros gamos ritual was celebrated during the annual New Year Festival of Akitu at the Spring Equinox. The simulated sexual union of Inanna and Dumuzi was the prototype of the Sumerian ‘sacred marriage’ a ritual that became widespread in other societies including Babylon and Greece (Dening, 2009), and for a long period of time the Sacred Marriage was an important fertility ritual in ancient Mesopotamia (Frayne, 1985). For millennia the sacred marriage was an ancient ritual performed by numerous cultures across the Mediterranean region. The ritual, where the king became the consort of Inanna represented a sharing of her invaluable fertility power and potency (Kramer, 1969). If the ‘Sacred Marriage Rite’ ever involved human participants the priestess, acting as Inanna, would have engaged in ritual copulation with the king (Stuckey, 2005). In the Sumerian version of the ‘Sacred Marriage’ the High Priestess is known as Entu and, as Inanna personal and actual is identity obscured (Safati, 1998), she would ceremonially copulate with the king or High Priest to ensure the renewal and continuance of fertility. The successful performance of the sacred marriage would henceforth guarantee the revitalised growth of all human, animal, and plant life (Dening, 2009). The Entu was a woman of very high social status and, whatever else she may have been, she was not a prostitute, Stuckey (2005). What imbued the sacred marriage ritual with its spiritual significance was its impersonal and informal nature (Dening, 2009), a rite where the temple priestesses would undertake the sacred marriage or ritual intercourse with any male worshipper who wanted union with the goddess. The Inanna of the ‘Sacred Marriage’ was not improperly named. The goddess was believed to possess, and use therefore, the body of a willing and devout priestess in a state of ecstasy, who was certainly not a cult prostitute. The priestess of the temple came to embody the very essence of the Goddess in sexual union with those who came to pay for the privilege. Scholarship has suffered from the inability of academics to imagine any cultic role for women in antiquity that did not involve the practice of ritualised sexual intercourse. Even if ancient priestesses were involved in ritual sexuality, even if they received offerings for their temples they were not prostitutes, and cannot be considered as such, but devotees worshipping their goddess (Stuckey, 2005). ... 2 - Myth and Sacred Prostitution** The so-called ‘sacred prostitute’ or temple priestess was associated with the religions of the Great Mother goddess in ancient times. These temple priestesses became the representatives in physical form of the Goddess and entered into sacred sexual rituals with male worshippers, and this provides evidence of the ‘sacred feminine’ then and now. Sacred or temple ‘prostitution’ was supposedly performed in ancient temples as a fertility ritual that involved the practice of sacred sexual intercourses part of the religious worship of the Goddess. However, with regard to temple prostitution the sequence is at best doubtful because the " ... term ‘sacred prostitution’ for any and all sexual practices connected with temple service keeps us from understanding the meaning of such practices for contemporaries. (Lerner, 1986). It becomes a necessity to distinguish between ‘cultic sexual service’ and commercial prostitution. Cultic sexual service by men and women may date back to the Neolithic age, to various cults of the Mother Goddess, or the so-called Great Goddess in her many manifestations (Gimbutas, 1982). Unfortunately many scholars do not attempt to differentiate between ritual sex as a form of worship, and the use of sexual favours for pay (Henshaw, 1994). Ritual sex would not have been prostitution, even if the act produced an offering to the temple, because it was regarded and performed as a mutually accepted act of worship. Many ritual practices in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean focussed on promoting the fecundity of the land. In early Mesopotamia the "Sacred Marriage" of Hieros gamos, with its focus on fertility, could have possibly involved a ‘sacred prostitute whereby" ...cultic prostitution is a practice involving the female and at times the male devotees of fertility deities, who presumably dedicated their earnings to their deity.” (Yamuchi, 1973). Furthermore, the motives of the ‘Sacred Marriage’ rite in Mesopotamia were where the king had sexual congress with a ‘temple prostitute’ who performed, using a form of role play, as an earthly receptacle for the goddess. Mesopotamian titles for these priestesses or ‘sacred prostitutes’ have been translated and include naditu, qudishtu, qadishtu and entu (Odens, 2000). However, in general, naditu priestesses were of high status and were expected to be chaste (Henshaw, 1994), and there appears to be no actual evidence that the duties of a naditu included having ritual or cultic sexual intercourse. The title of qadishtu meant " ...holy, consecrated, or set apart woman” (Odens, 2000), and derives from the same root as the Hebrew deshah, which implies the qadishtu was not indeed a cultic prostitute. ...Most Mesopotamian priestesses were expected to be chaste with the one exception being the entu whom the Sumerians called Lady deity or Lady who is a Goddess (Frayne, 1985; Henshaw, 1994). Sumerian and Akkadian entu were highly regarded and socially superior priestesses who were distinguished with special ceremonial attire, who owned property, and initiated the Hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings (Dening, 1996). The naditu served as priestesses in the temples of Inanna in the ancient city of Erech or Uruk. Recruited from high ranking families they were expected to remain childless. The Sumerian word Nin, Eres in Akkadian, means Lady, the Sumerian word Nin-Dingur means Divine Lady. In Sumerian epic texts such as Emmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, the Nu-Gig were priestesses in temples dedicated to Inanna. The qadishtu served in the temples of the Sumerian goddess Qetesh, and the ishtaritsu specialised in dancing, music and singing in the temples of Ishtar. Babylon has often been, somewhat inaccurately and emotionally, equated with and denigrated as the home of sacred prostitution. Nonetheless, often associated with the Sumerian goddess Inanna is the great goddess of Babylon called Ishtar. Ishtar who possessed two main functions or attributes. Firstly she was the goddess of love and sexuality, and secondly she was a fierce war goddess who was sometimes shown riding on a lion. Two of her epithets were Mother of Harlots and the Great Whore of Babylon. The Mesopotamian city of Erech or Uruk was known as, and referred to as, the town of sacred courtesans. Temples to Ishtar were inhabited supposedly by sacred prostitutes and priestesses, called ishtartu or Joy-maidens, dedicated to the service of the goddess. Their sexuality was seen as belonging to Ishtar and used only in sacred rites undertaken in her worship. These women were not common prostitutes which were known in ancient Babylon as harimtu. Ishtar did not differentiate in bestowing her sexual favours and honoured the sexual act howsoever and with whomsoever it was performed. From The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi we find Inanna exclaiming “who will plough my vulva?” and “Who will water the Holy lap?”. These are obvious in their agricultural connotations. In an interesting side note the word fuck is at one with, and comes from, the medieval fork (of Indo-European origin) or plough (Taylor, 1996). In other words to fuck is to plow or furrow. ... The original meaning of the word ‘prostitute’ was to stand on behalf of, that is to represent the power of the goddess This is why the ishtartu were forbidden to marry in the connubial sense and instead were dedicated to the Rite of Sacred Marriage. Sacred sexual intercourse, if and when it occurred, it occurred took place in the temples of Inanna and Ishtar and was an important and common form of sacred sexuality practised in ancient Mesopotamia. The rite was believed to invigorate the land with divine fertile energy 3-Fertility Magic and Ritual ... In ancient Mesopotamia the Sumerians had scant regard for, and little modesty concerning ritual sexuality. In the myth of the supreme goddess Inanna there is unashamed delight in the sexual encounter. Inanna is not solely Mother Goddess but is often shown with her foot on a lion. Lions, when associated with female deities, represent the undomesticated, fierce, and aggressive aspect of the female goddess. In Sumeria both sexual intercourse and sacred, or temple prostitution, were believed to form part of the divine, which governed the universe and known to them as me. In the fertility rituals of Inanna the man could achieve an erection simply by stimulating his penis, or in the actual temple ceremony his reaction could be enhanced by a priestess applying a special mixture of puru-oil. Anal intercourse was not frowned upon or considered taboo. As a practice it was permitted, and perhaps encouraged or suggested, by Entu-priestesses during sexual rituals as a practical means of avoiding pregnancy. In ancient Babylon, during the temple sexual ritual, it was believed sexual union released divine energy which has a modern counterpart in neo-tantric belief. ... " Goddess Worship, Sacred Sexuality, and the Divine Feminine Garden of Priapus - 76 Boss lady working the mentule on a slave... In Babylon Ishtar the goddess of love has an androgynous nature - to me there is no doubt this meant her ritual hieros gamos sex meant female on male mentule anal sex. Furthermore, like Greeks and Romans, Babylonian men must have been in the penis cage - that's probably the only explanation for the high libido of the Babylonian female sex priests: " ... Inanna-Ishtar The goddess in Mesopotamia who embodied sexuality in all its aspects was known as Inanna (in the Sumerian language) and Ishtar (in the Akkadian language). Inanna/Ishtar was the manifestation of sex and eroticism - bride of brides, solace of married women, and patron of prostitutes. It is difficult to evaluate when Inanna was first linked with sexuality. In the fourth millennium bce, Inanna was primarily venerated as the planet Venus. Her two epithets morning and evening describe the two manifestations of the goddess, one shining in the morning and one in the evening. Her dyadic character stemmed from her bipolar astral disposition, which incorporated all extremes of behavior in her complex personality. Thus, over time, she became both the beautiful goddess of love, sexuality, and sexual behavior, and the power hungry goddess of war and violence. By the latter part of the third millennium bce, 'Ashtar (the earliest form of Ishtar) was invoked in Akkadian love incantations. This aspect became preeminent in the Sumerian corpus of love lyrics from the Neo-Sumerian period (c. 2112 to 2004). The theme of this corpus is the love between the young maiden goddess Inanna and the shepherd god Dumuzi as the archetypal bride and groom. ... The sexual identity of this goddess is controversial. In one late text, Ishtar says of herself: "I am a woman, I am a man." Ishtar could be viewed as a beautiful goddess of love who rules the day and as a bearded god(dess) of war who rules the night. It is claimed that the androgyny of Inanna/Ishtar provided a powerful symbol of the ambiguities of pure sexuality reflected in her cult, and in the transvestism of her cultic personnel (Groneberg 1986). It is not so clear, however, that Inanna (in contrast to Ishtar) had male or androgynous features. In Sumerian poetry, the goddess repeatedly lauds her own sexual beauty, both in lyric song and mythic narratives. Inanna sings: "These [my] female genitals ...my moored boat of heaven, clothed in beauty like the new crescent moon ... this high well-watered field of mine: my own female genitals, the maiden's, a well-watered opened-up mound - who will be their ploughman?" (Dumuzi-Inanna Song P, ii 16-26). In the first millennium bce, the two appearances of Venus were attributed to two distinct sexual manifestations: As morning star, Venus was female; as evening star, male. The two aspects are said to correspond to the double character of Inanna/Ishtar as goddess of love and war. Among the thousand prayers, hymns and references to her, there are only scattered mentions of a bearded form of Ishtar among the overwhelming evidence that she was female. In his hymn to Ishtar of Nineveh, Ashurbanipal, the king of Assyria (r. 668 to 627 bc), describes her as "Like the god Ashur, she wears a beard" (line 7). Ishtar of Babylon is once described as bearded and male. The question is whether Ishtar has a completely separate male manifestation or not. The references to her beard may allude to an astronomical phenomenon because her star, Venus, also has a beard. On the other hand, in Semitic cities, such as Mari, in the third millennium, there were several 'Ashtar manifestations, of which one was a male. Ishtar has been considered androgynous because even in her male role she never becomes fully male, but seems to be a female with male gender characteristics. She is nevertheless always referred to as female with feminine grammatical agreement. ... Inanna and Ishtar assumed various gender roles. The proper gender role of Inanna is a theme in various Sumerian narratives. For instance, "But why did you treat me, the woman, in an exceptional manner? I am holy Inanna - where are my functions?" Enki answered his daughter, holy Inanna: "How have I disparaged you? Goddess ... How can I enhance you? ... I made you speak as a woman with pleasant voice. I made you go forth ... I covered ...with a garment. I made you exchange its right side and its left side. I clothed you in garments of women's power. I put women's speech in your mouth. I placed in your hands the spindle and the hairpin. I ... to you women's adornment. I settled on you the staff and the crook, with the shepherd's stick [symbols of kingship] beside them." (Enki and the World Order, 422-436) The feminine gender roles served by Inanna/Ishtar run the spectrum of possibilities: young girl and bride, wife and mother, prostitute, and mistress. In the Sumerian love poetry concerning Dumuzi's courtship of Inanna, Inanna is portrayed as a young woman, with her teenage enthusiasms, passionate love, and sexual yearnings for her beloved. Compositions in which the king takes the role of Dumuzi probably had their cultic context in the "sacred marriage" rituals. The royal sobriquet "spouse of Inanna" and the royal love songs for the divine bride are hallmarks of Sumerian kingship. When Sumerian theologians organized the gods into families, they placed Inanna as a mother of other deities, although her maternity was of no real consequence. The father of the children is not Dumuzi, and her sons play no role in her mythology or worship. In the second millennium and later, however, ordinary individuals appealing to her for clemency addressed her as "mother." ... Further, one hymn puts these words into the mouth of Inanna: "When I sit in the alehouse, I am a woman, and I am an exuberant young man. When I am present at a place of quarrelling, I am a woman, a perfect figure. When I sit by the gate of the tavern, I am a prostitute familiar with the penis; the friend of a man, the girlfriend of a woman" (Inanna Hymn I 16-22). ... The festivals of this goddess involved reversals in categories of age, status, and sex. As articulated in one Sumerian hymn to Inanna: Inanna was entrusted by Enlil and Ninlil with the capacity to gladden the heart of those who revere her, ...to turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man, to change one into the other, to make young women dress as young men on their right side, to make young men dress as young women on their left side, to put spindles into the hands of men ... and to give weapons to the women; to see that women amuse themselves by using children's language, to see that children amuse themselves by using women's language. ("Hymn to Inanna for Ishme-Dagan" 19-25) The chief participants and actors in the goddess's cult are well known by name but of uncertain sexual identity. These religious officiants may represent the undefined sexless characters who occur in mythic tales concerning Inanna and Ishtar, although gender ambiguity often has religious connotations. While it is known that these cultic functionaries dressed in distinctive garments and adorned their hair and body in certain peculiar manners, their physical and mental constitution are uncertain. They could have been born with physical abnormalities, such as hermaphrodites, or emasculated into physically castrated persons, or they could have been persons whose mental sexual identity was androgynous, such as transvestites. It is also possible that the inversion of their sexual identity and/or gender roles was maintained only in the performance of rituals. Through symbolic inversion, such beliefs and rituals provided a context for the resolution of conflicts often associated with gender roles and gender identity. ... " Encyclopedia Garden of Priapus - 76 Boss lady with whip and friend sodomizing a slave in the pillory. In Mesopotamia the male counterparts of the sex priestesses were called Gala - probably related to the Cybele Gallus. My guess is the phallus was entirely female in Babylon due to the penis cage: " ... Mesopotamia was polytheistic, and one of the many gods worshiped was Inanna. Also known as the Queen of Heaven, Inanna was the goddess of love, beauty, sex, violence, and justice. Although she was the goddess of sex, it’s interesting to note that she was not a goddess of procreation or indeed a mother herself. She was usually portrayed as promiscuous, but this wasn’t a negative thing—as far as Inanna was concerned, sex was a sacred rite to be enjoyed as an expression of love and not exclusively for the purpose of procreation. Sex wasn’t something shameful yet. An all-powerful goddess with a devoted cult, she is often portrayed with lions. Surviving artifacts from later periods, when she evolved into or was combined with Ishtar, even show her riding a chariot being pulled by lions. If love, beauty, war, and justice aren’t enough for one goddess to handle, Inanna also had another very important ability. She could change men into women and women into men. That’s not just awkward phrasing there - that’s a quote. Around 2280 BCE, Enheduanna (2285-2250 BCE), the Akkadian High Priestess of the Moon in the Sumerian city of Ur, wrote a number of poems and hymns for Inanna, including “The Great-Hearted Mistress,” “The Exaltation of Inanna,” an “Goddess of the Fearsome Power.” She describes some of this power here: Without your consent, no destiny is determined, the most ingenious solution finds no favour. To run fast, to slip away, to calm, to pacify are yours, Inanna, To dart aimlessly, to go too fast, to fall, to get up, to sustain a comrade are yours, Inanna. To open high road and byroad, safe lodging on the way, helping the worn-out along are yours, Inanna. To make footpath and trail go in the right direction, to make the going good are yours, Inanna. To destroy, to create, to tear out, to establish are yours, Inanna. To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inanna. This isn’t a metaphor, and it isn’t the only source that mentions this. In the Epic of Erra, a Babylonian poem, there are references to kurgarra and assinnu, classes of servants of the goddess, “whose maleness Ishtar turned to female, for the awe of the people.” The British Museum has a fragment of a five-thousand-year-old statue with a still clear inscription that translates to: “Silimabzuta, hermaphrodite of Inanna.” But these are only references to the goddess’s ability to transform gender. The most compelling evidence for trans and non-binary identities among her worshipers is the existence of her priests, known as the Gala. The Gala were a class of priests sacred to Inanna. It was said they were initially created by the god Enki to sing “heart-soothing laments,” for the goddess, and they certainly did that. To begin with, one of their primary roles was to sing hymns and laments to the goddess in eme-sal, a Sumerian dialect spoken primarily by women that was used to render the speech of female gods. They presided over religious rites, healed the sick, predicted the future, made music, raised money for the poor, and “dissolved evil” during lunar eclipses. Akkadian omen texts said that having sex with them was lucky. They were well-known and respected members of their communities, and many of them were what we would think of now as transgender. While it can be problematic to apply modern terminology to five-thousand-year-old gender identities, I’ll tell you what we know of them. Whether called in a dream, given a vision of the goddess, or driven by devotion, biological males entered into the service of the goddess and became female for all intents and purposes, taking on feminine pronouns and dressing and living as women. While various sources argue that ritual castration was involved, there isn’t a lot of evidence to support that this early, and in any case, surgery is still not necessary to validate gender identity today. As they saw it, Inanna had made them women, and though they didn’t have the same verbiage for it, their society accepted that identity.* After all, this change was a gift of the goddess. ... " dirtysexyhistory. Garden of Priapus - 78 Inanna, lion and chief assistant Ninshubur - Like Cybele and her lions ... Both goddesses had male manifestations ... I am confident the large number of depictions of anal sex from Babylon are females with beards sodomizing feminized men ... "Ancient Akkadian cylinder seal depicting Inanna resting her foot on the back of a lion while Ninshubur stands in front of her paying obeisance, c. 2334 to c. 2154 BC" Wikipedia Ninshubur, also known as Ninshubar, Nincubura or Ninšubur) was the sukkal or second-in-command of the goddess Inanna in Sumerian mythology. Her name means "Queen of the East" in ancient Sumerian. Much like Iris or Hermes in later Greek mythology, Ninshubur served as a messenger to the other gods. Ninshubur accompanied Inanna as a vassal and friend throughout Inanna's many exploits. She helped Inanna fight Enki's demons after Inanna's theft of the sacred me. Later, when Inanna became trapped in the Underworld, it was Ninshubur who pleaded with Enki for her mistress's release. .... In later Akkadian mythology, Ninshubur was syncretized with the male messenger deity Papsukkal. In older sources, Ninshubur herself is usually referred to as a male god as well; more recent sources have recognized this portrayal as erroneous. The gender of a sukkal always matches the gender of the deity it serves. Thus, Enki's sukkal Isimud is male, but Ninshubur is female.[ In her primary aspect as the sukkal to Inanna, Ninshubur was female, but, when she served as the sukkal to An, he was male. Garden of Priapus - 79 Inanna And The Huluppu Tree Inanna -kneeling under tree and talking to a dead relative in the garden of the Huluppu tree. To me those are three women with erections or mentules on either side of the tree ... " ... Inanna[a] is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, beauty, sex, war, justice and political power. She was originally worshiped in Aratta and Sumer under the name "Inanna", and was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians under the name Ishtar. She was known as the "Queen of Heaven" and was the patron goddess of the Eanna temple at the city of Uruk, which was her main cult center. She was associated with the planet Venus and her most prominent symbols included the lion and the eight-pointed star. Her husband was the god Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz) and her sukkal, or personal attendant, was the goddess Ninshubur (who later became the male deity Papsukkal). Inanna was worshiped in Sumer at least as early as the Uruk period (c. 4000 BC to c. 3100 BC), but she had little cult before the conquest of Sargon of Akkad. During the post-Sargonic era, she became one of the most widely venerated deities in the Sumerian pantheon, with temples across Mesopotamia. The cult of Inanna/Ishtar, which may have been associated with a variety of sexual rites, was continued by the East Semitic-speaking people (Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians) who succeeded and absorbed the Sumerians in the region. She was especially beloved by the Assyrians, who elevated her to become the highest deity in their pantheon, ranking above their own national god Ashur. Inanna/Ishtar is alluded to in the Hebrew Bible and she greatly influenced the Phoenician goddess Astoreth, who later influenced the development of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Her cult continued to flourish until its gradual decline between the first and sixth centuries AD in the wake of Christianity, though it survived in parts of Upper Mesopotamia among Assyrian communities as late as the eighteenth century. Inanna appears in more myths than any other Sumerian deity. Many of her myths involve her taking over the domains of other deities. She was believed to have stolen the mes, which represented all positive and negative aspects of civilization, from Enki, the god of wisdom. She was also believed to have taken over the Eanna temple from An, the god of the sky. Alongside her twin brother Utu (later known as Shamash), Inanna was the enforcer of divine justice; she destroyed Mount Ebih for having challenged her authority, unleashed her fury upon the gardener Shukaletuda after he raped her in her sleep, and tracked down the bandit woman Bilulu and killed her in divine retribution for having murdered Dumuzid. In the standard Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to become her consort. When he refuses, she unleashes the Bull of Heaven, resulting in the death of Enkidu and Gilgamesh's subsequent grapple with his mortality. Inanna/Ishtar's most famous myth is the story of her descent into and return from Kur, the ancient Sumerian Underworld, a myth in which she attempts to conquer the domain of her older sister Ereshkigal, the queen of the Underworld, but is instead deemed guilty of hubris by the seven judges of the Underworld and struck dead. Three days later, Ninshubur pleads with all the gods to bring Inanna back, but all of them refuse her except Enki, who sends two sexless beings to rescue Inanna. They escort Inanna out of the Underworld, but the galla, the guardians of the Underworld, drag her husband Dumuzid down to the Underworld as her replacement. Dumuzid is eventually permitted to return to heaven for half the year while his sister Geshtinanna remains in the Underworld for the other half, resulting in the cycle of the seasons. ... " Wikpedia Garden of Priapus - 80 Anal sex on a terra cotta plaque from Mesopotamia, early 2nd millennium BCE (The Israel Museum) - My guess is that is a bearded priestess of Innana wearing a Mentule sodomizing a penis caged paying male customer in the Temple of Inanna ... Garden of Priapus - 81 Boss lady in red, buff and in tattoos working the mentule on the couch in the rectum of a slave in the penis cage. Some urgency from the "jinns" on the Babylon stuff! That was once their sweet spot! Last night felt an overwhelming drowsiness when I decided to stop on print 76 - but I did not have enough good enough material to work with! The urgency followed me in my sleep ... Something urgent trying to get through ... Like I wrote before - not everyone can do this and do it well ... Garden of Priapus - 82 The large blue Mentule and the tight steel Fibula on butterfly boy - in pre-flight chains ... I do not think I am mistaken - the phallus was female in Mesopotamia. When you see that - you can expect a bee-hive and torrid sexuality and a queen Bee ... " ... consider that “The Lady of Largest Heart” which is literally one of the oldest works of literature in the world, written by the first named author in human history (a woman) describes a ritual in which Inanna removes the symbols of womanhood and “consecrates [a] maiden’s heart as male,” then does the same with a man, granting each the role and status of another gender by divine fiat and simultaneously inducting them into her priesthood. She herself appears as whatever gender she pleases, and pays no regard to expectations while doing so. Inanna is no minor deity; she is Queen of Heaven, Priestess of the Gods, winner of the holy me from Enlil, pre-eminent Goddess of sexuality, battles, and all of the arts and sciences and skills of rulership and the social order. ... "Inanna, the Sacred B and the Sacred T, Sara Amis (2015) - patheos Garden of Priapus - 83 Female bearded priestess sodomizing a man drinking beer from a straw - Sumerian or Babylonian terracotta - 2nd to 1st millenium BC. Labelled male on female, but based on the previous religious poem - “The Lady of Largest Heart” - that's a mentule penetrating the rectum of a man in a fibula or penis cage. This was probably an everyday experience from men paying to be sodomized in the Temples of the Euphrates. Garden of Priapus - 84 Butterfly boy in tight steel penis cage being sodomized with a large blue mentule ... What was good for the Inanna priesthood was probably also good for the Babylonian people - So you had men in the penis cage "working the spindle" and women with strap on mentules waging war - as another Sumerian poem declares ... There are images of normal Sumerian coitus - but given the intensity of Mentule sex and the anal orgasm - most men probably preferred remaining in the penis cage even in their mature years ... * " ... Inanna in the Ancient World For the people of Sumer, some three to four thousand years ago, Inanna was already an ancient goddess. Although her origins are still unclear, there are two possible theories as to where she came from before she was adopted by Sumerians. The first possibility is that she emerged as a deity within the polytheistic Semitic groups of the Near East around 3500-4000 B.C.E., and then was eventually adopted by the Sumerians to fill in some gaps in their pantheon, taking on roles that hadn't already been designated as the domain of existing gods and goddesses. The second theory is that Inanna was a syncretic goddess - one who formed as a blend of the characteristics of several already existing deities in the Sumerian world. Regardless of how she came to be, over time Inanna merged with the figure of Ishtar in the ancient world, and they are often portrayed as one and the same. She was widely venerated all over Mesopotamia, and her cult's primary temple was located in the city of Uruk, near the Euphrates River in what is present-day Iraq. She became known as a queen of both heaven and earth, and soon evolved into a goddess associated not only with war and the underworld, but also with sex and power; much of this is reflected in her mythologies. Many of Inanna's early priests were androgynous men, and those who were what we today would view as transgender. Her priests were believed to dress in women's clothing, take traditionally female names, and sing lamentations that were historically the domain of feminine worshipers. Some scholars have theorized that the priests of Inanna were similar to those the people of India refer to as hijra. Although there was once a theory that these priests engaged in sacred prostitution, modern scholars have rejected this idea ... Inanna appears in a number of myths and legends that explain her various roles. A Sumerian hymn details how she became a goddess of sexual love, particularly for women. In the story, Inanna asks her twin brother Utu to accompany her to a magical place called the kur, where sacred plants grow; she is forbidden from traveling alone. When they arrive, she wants to eat a sacred fruit of knowledge so that she can learn the secrets of intimacy, telling Utu, What concerns women - namely, men - I do not know. What concerns women - lovemaking - I do not know. Utu relents, allowing her to eat the fruit, and so Inanna becomes aware of the power of her own sexuality. Her connection to the underworld is portrayed in the myth of her descent into the "great below." When she decided that heaven and earth weren't quite enough, and it was time to expand her domain, Inanna packed up all of her things and traveled to the underworld, where she demanded entrance. As she passed through the seven gates, she was stripped of both her finery and her power, and once arriving at the center, her sister Ereshkigal condemned her to death. Inanna was later revived and restored to life by the magic of her priests. She was also honored by Sumerians as a violent and bloody war goddess, and one of her hymns reveals that In her joyful heart she performs the song of death on the plain... Axes smash heads, spears penetrate and maces are covered in blood... On their first offerings she pours blood, filling them with death. ... " Inanna, Goddess War, Sex, and Justice - learnreligions Garden of Priapus - 85 Aspects of Inanna's power: - prancing goats with erect phalli - a submissive lion under her foot, weapons of war and her assistant Ninshubur - also armed. Above them are the double headed Labrys or Amazon axe and the eight pointed star. The palm tree is probably a forbidden garden of Priapus where the sacred fruit is eaten by women - or in other words the rectums of penis caged men are sodomized. Garden of Priapus - 86 Topless boss lady sodomizing a slave in a penis cage - over his cage ... That's the meaning of the erect goats in the print above - Inanna and her assistant Ninshubur were the goatish and phallic avatars of the Sumerian woman. * The Times of Israel, 17 January 2014,: " .. The first plaque shows a man penetrating a woman from behind, while standing. The second, slightly smaller one, depicts a man and woman in a similar position, with the woman drinking beer through a straw from a jug. According to Dr. Julia Assante, a Near Eastern social historian, the woman drinking beer from a straw was not just a reflection of lifelike sexual encounters, but was “undoubtedly a [visual pun].” The straw in the woman’s mouth and the man raising a cup of wine to his lips were symbolic of performing oral sex on their respective partners. The Babylonians, Assante writes, held “an exalted cultural view of sex as inducing an altered state of wonder.” Museums are often misconstrued as dusty and lifeless - the least likely place to find something hot and steamy. But the Ancient Near East section in The Israel Museum’s Archaeology Wing features rare erotic art from the land between the rivers (Tigris and Euphrates), which predates India’s Kama Sutra by over 1,500 years. Such astonishingly intimate works reveal a side to the ancient Near East that contrasts sharply with the modesty prevalent in the modern Middle East. Two clay plaques, small enough to hold in your palm, depict couples copulating in remarkable detail. Dating from the early second millennium BCE, the Old Babylonian period, they come from a 300-year window when mass-produced terra cotta plaques were popular, including those that exhibit sexual acts. Mesopotamian erotica was “really something racy,” Laura A. Peri, curator of Western Asiatic Antiquities, said when we met in the labyrinthine bowels of the museum. “It’s not all, you know, missionary and that’s it.” The first plaque shows a man penetrating a woman from behind, while standing. The second, slightly smaller one, depicts a man and woman in a similar position, with the woman drinking beer through a straw from a jug. According to Dr. Julia Assante, a Near Eastern social historian, the woman drinking beer from a straw was not just a reflection of lifelike sexual encounters, but was “undoubtedly a [visual pun].” The straw in the woman’s mouth and the man raising a cup of wine to his lips were symbolic of performing oral sex on their respective partners. The Babylonians, Assante writes, held “an exalted cultural view of sex as inducing an altered state of wonder.” The terra cotta plaques from Mesopotamia yield numerous different sexual positions, but one of the most popular was what’s referred to technically by the Latin: coitus a tergo - from behind. While erotic Mesopotamian art doesn’t detail a specific means of entry, anal sex was deemed a popular means of contraception by ancient couples before the invention of prophylactics. The depiction of couples engaging in rear entry may be indicative of that practice. Other plaques show partners side-by-side, standing up (aka llevame) and plain old missionary; some depict women with legs spread, squatting over a comically large phallus. That the erotic clay plaques were found in temples, graves and private homes makes it difficult to generalize about their intended use, but is testament to their popularity. That excavators found the erotic artwork in high-traffic rooms of homes leads Assante to infer that they were accessible to men, women and children. “It’s a kind of pop art, because it’s very cheap material and easy to make,” curator Peri said. She explained that sexuality was very prominent in ancient Sumerian and Babylonian art and literature, particularly in the late-third and early-second millennia. Cylinder seals - small cylinder-shaped stones etched with figures and cuneiform used as a signet - occasionally featured men and women in erotic poses. Peri, an expert in understanding the symbolism of the seals, noted that erotic scenes usually weren’t the central image, nor did those seals belong to the king or officials. Ancient Mesopotamian texts were so graphic in their detailing of the erotic arts that “you can really reenact the actions - what they did between the sheets - according to the descriptions,” Peri explained when we met at her office in The Israel Museum. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Mesopotamia’s great literary work, lauds sex as one of the carnal pleasures humans ought to indulge in during our brief tenure on this planet. Siduri, a divine alewife, tells the eponymous king of Uruk to “let your belly be full, your clothes clean, your body and head washed; enjoy yourself day and night, dance, sing and have fun; look upon the child who holds your hand, and let your wife delight in your lap! This is the destiny of mortals.” Peri explained that “delight in your lap” was a common euphemism for sex in ancient Akkadian, the language in which Gilgamesh was written. The Gilgamesh epic also describes sexuality as a potent force that distinguishes humans from beasts. Enkidu, the wild man who becomes Gilgamesh’s comrade-in-arms, is tamed by a temple prostitute who ensnares him with her sexual wiles: “She was not restrained, but took his energy. She spread out her robe and he lay upon her, She performed for the primitive the task of womankind.” Israelite and Canaanite artwork, by comparison, typically had very little overt sexuality, only nude female figures that disappeared after the institutionalization of early Judaism in the eighth century BCE. A mid-second millennium BCE Canaanite scarab seal found at Tel el-Far’a - near the junction of the Israeli border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip - shows the figures of a man and woman in a standing posture similar to the clay plaque at The Israel Museum. Both figures are fully clothed, however, and there is no latent intercourse, only the suggestion of it. Siduri’s advice finds its way into the biblical literature, appearing in a toned-down version in Ecclesiastes 9:7-9. “Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart,” Kohelet says among his many iterations of “under the sun.” But whereas the Mesopotamians spoke of enjoying sex, the Bible enjoins man to “Enjoy life with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity.” The similarity between the two passages comes as little surprise. Ancient Israel was the land bridge connecting the two major civilizations of the ancient Near East, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and its culture was influenced heavily by both. A stark difference, however, was the difference in ancient Babylonian and Israelite perspectives on male homosexuality. The Babylonians, writes Prof. Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat in her book Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, “didn’t condemn this practice” and observed a live-and-let-live attitude in regard to male-male sex. The Book of Leviticus, on the other hand, bans lying “with mankind, as with womankind” as “an abomination.” Artifacts from ancient Babylon exhibit latent - even shockingly graphic - sexuality, but the exact purpose of the plaques remains unclear. Dr. Ilan Peled of The Hebrew University said there’s a scholarly debate over what purpose the erotic art served, with some contending they were votive objects for the veneration of Ishtar, the love goddess. Assante argues they were apotropaic, like other terra cotta amulets from the era, meant to keep away evil spirits. Others say that the clay plaques “portrayed prostitution, sexual relations conducted within a tavern, or sexual intercourse between a husband and wife,” with no particular context. “It is possible that we merely face here a very early version of Playboy, Middle-Eastern style,” Peled said. ... " 4,000-year-old erotica depicts a strikingly racy ancient sexuality, by Ilan Ben Zion (2014) Garden of Priapus - 87 Nude and penis caged man offering a fruit basket to a robed Inanna - on the Uruk Vase, c. 3200-3000 BC. - That's a pure Garden of Priapus scene. The "fruits" are his sodomized rectum ... "She was not restrained, but took his energy." - Temple prostitute in the Epic of Gilgamesh * " ... The Warka Vase, is the oldest ritual vase in carved stone discovered in ancient Sumer and can be dated to round about 3000 B.C. or probably 4th-3rd millennium B.C. It shows men entering the presence of his gods, specifically a cult goddess Innin (Inanna), represented by two bundles of reeds placed side by side symbolizing the entrance to a temple. ... It is over one meter (nearly 4 feet) tall. On the upper tier is a figure of a nude man that may possibly represent the sacrificial king. He approaches the robed queen Inanna. Inanna wears a horned headdress. The Queen of Heaven stands in front of two looped temple poles or "asherah," phallic posts, sacred to the goddess. A group of nude priests bring gifts of baskets of gifts, including, fruits to pay her homage on the lower tier. This vase is now at the Iraq Museum in Bagdad. ... " crystalinks Garden of Priapus - 88 Young Asian in leather and wearing a mentule finising up a flogging of a restrained young slave - Flogging is another basic of the Garden of Priapus although it is not in all versions of the Satyricon - That's how Enkidu the wild man was tamed by a temple prostitute in Gilgamesh - "She was not restrained, but took his energy." Garden of Priapus - 89 More young Asian with a mentule whipping a naked and bound man ... Shot partly blocked or altered - In Babylon the Temple prostitutes were a central feature of civilized life - based in Sumerian myth and artefacts they used their mentules in the rectums of paying men in the penis cage: " ... Shamhat ... is a female character who appears in Tablets I and II of the Epic of Gilgamesh and is mentioned in Tablet VII. She is a sacred prostitute who plays a significant role in bringing the wild man Enkidu into contact with civilization. ... Shamhat plays the integral role in Tablet I, of taming the wild man Enkidu, who was created by the gods as the rival to the mighty Gilgamesh. Shamhat was a sacred temple prostitute or harimtu. She was asked to use her attractiveness to tempt Enkidu from the wild, and his 'wildness', civilizing him through continued sacred love-making. She was brought to a water source where Enkidu had been spotted and exposed herself to Enkidu. He enjoyed Shamhat for "six days and seven nights" (a fragment found in 2015 and read in 2018, disclosed that they had two weeks of sexual intercourse, with a break spent in discussion about Enkidu's future life in Uruk). Unfortunately for Enkidu, after this long sexual workshop in civility, his former companions, the wild animals, turned away from him in fright, at the watering hole where they congregated. Shamhat persuades him to follow her and join the civilized world in the city of Uruk, where Gilgamesh is king, rejecting his former life in the wild with the wild animals of the hills. Henceforth, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become the best of friends and undergo many adventures (starting with the Cedar Forest and the encounter with Humbaba). When Enkidu is dying, he expresses his anger at Shamhat for making him civilized, blaming her for bringing him to the new world of experiences that has led to his death. He curses her to become an outcast. The god Shamash reminds Enkidu that Shamhat fed and clothed him. Enkidu relents and blesses her, saying that all men will desire her and offer her gifts of jewels. ... Shamhat's name means literally "the luscious one". Shamhat's role in bringing Enkidu from nature to civilization through sex has been widely discussed. Rivkah Harris argues that "the intermediate role of the prostitute in transforming Enkidu from one at home with nature and wild animals into a human being is crucial". According to classicist Paul Friedrich, Shamhat's sexual skills establish "the connection between artful, or sophisticated sensuousness and civilization". Her sexual arts lead Enkidu to understand how basic animal urges can be transformed into something sophisticated, or "civilized". Mesopotamians believed that prostitution was one of the basic features of civilization: "a prime representative of urban life". Shamhat then becomes Enkidu's urbane "mother", teaching him the basics of civilized life, eating, drinking wine, and dressing himself. ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 90 Temple prostitute wearing a beard and mentule sodomizing a man bent over and drinking from a straw. Following poem is given as proof that this is a male-male sexual encounter. I disagree though. In Babylon, men were women thanks to the penis cage and women were men thanks to the mentule ... The double axe or Labrys above- plate 85 - is proof that Babylon was an Amazon civilization ... See: A Male Prostitute’s Incantation (KAR 144/K 3464) July 6, 2016 - mostlydeadlanguages “An incantation for profit to the innkeeper of the docks” Ishtar of the nations, most heroic of the goddesses, this is your sanctum. Be happy and rejoice! Come, enter our house. Let your handsome bed-partner enter with you, your seducer or your temple-boy. [1] May my lips be sugar-syrup; may my hands be sensual; may the lips of my “hole” be honeyed lips. [2] Just like birds flutter over a snake as it emerges from its pit, may people fight each other over me! [3] From the sanctum of Ishtar or the abode of Ninlil, even from the herds of Ningizzida: [4] seize him and bring him to me, so I can please him! If he is faraway, may he return; if he is upset, may he come back. May his heart come back to me, good as gold. Just like the sky fertilizes the earth, so that plants became abundant, so may I overflow with my bounty! [5] [1] “Seducer” (habbubu) is a very rare word in Akkadian, but it comes from a verb (to caress, make love) that most famously describes Gilgamesh’s behavior toward his lover Enkidu. In all the verb’s appearances, it describes active male sexual behavior. In contrast, “temple-boy” (kulu’u) described one group of Ishtar’s priests, men who were frequently identified with sexual, feminine behavior. Thus, both terms describe a male sexual partner, but they portray the range from an active, “masculine” man to a passive, “feminine” man. [2] “Hole” (kipattu) is a notoriously difficult word to translate, because it only appears in this one place. Because “lips” are a common description of the female vulva, most translators suggest that meaning. However, the word may be connected to kippatu, a term for “circle, hoop, loop.” “Circle, loop” could potentially describe the vulva, but it seems more appropriate as a metaphor for the anal sphincter. It also rhymes nicely with qinnatu, a term for the buttocks that was used to describe anal sex. While this translation must remain speculative until another instance of the word is found, it is certainly at least as plausible as “vulva.” [3] Almost all translators note the phallic connotations of the snake emerging from its hole, and its double entendre is further bolstered by a wordplay: “flutter” can refer to birds chirping and tweeting, but it’s also the same verb for sexual caresses (habubu) that appeared earlier. The meaning of this metaphor is thus crystal-clear: the subject is the emerging snake, and the clients are the birds, vying with each other to lavish sexual attention. But if the snake is a phallic metaphor, then the obvious conclusion is that the subject, like the clients, is male. [4] The “sanctum” of Ishtar was a space where sacred sexual rites took place, and Ninlil was the wife of Enlil, so her abode would also be a cultic space. In contrast, Ningizzida was a god who guarded the underworld. His invocation represents a hyperbolic extreme: Ishtar should bring the subject new suitors, even if she has to dredge them up from the legions of the dead. [5] The meaning of this last line is unclear, and I have translated it rather vaguely. The most common understanding is “may my malt-baskets abound”; malt-baskets were used in brewing beer. In this case, the baskets could be literal (more clients would result in higher demand for alcohol) or metaphorical (either for general economic success, or as a sexual connotation of the fecund sprouting malt). I have not translated the ritual instructions here, but they involve gathering dust from various urban locations, providing ritual offerings to Ishtar, and repeating the incantation several times. Notably, the instructions are in the second-person masculine (“you should recite the incantation seven times,” etc.). This does not preclude a female subject for the spell, since sometimes male priests would recite incantations intended for a female client. However, it does mean that a man would have recited these words, “honeyed lips” and all. For a recent, exhaustive study that includes the original text, check out Panayotov’s “A Ritual For A Flourishing Bordello.” Garden of Priapus - 91 Nude penis caged men and devotional malt-baskets presented for a robed goddess Inanna. The Warka Vase. - From the King on down men are naked and penis caged in front of a robed high priestess of Inanna. Female on male anal sex and drinking of beer would follow - as in the Roman Garden of Priapus. May his heart come back to me, good as gold. Just like the sky fertilizes the earth, so that plants became abundant, so may I overflow with my bounty! - “An incantation for profit to the innkeeper of the docks Garden of Priapus - 92 Asian soldier sodomizing a slave in a pillory while boss lady whips him What happened to the nude and penis caged basket bearers above - from King on down ... King Gilgamesh resisted anal sex with Inanna - to check his unlawful ambition the gods created Enkidu - the wild man ... and a mad bull too " ... Mesopotamian Views of Culture and Civilization: Enkidu and the Harlot, January 16, 2017 by Abhijeet Pratap What does the story of Enkidu’s education by the prostitute tell us about Mesopotamian views of culture and civilization? Sex is like a rite of passage for Enkidu. It is the harlot that introduces him to the society and the civilization. She educates Enkidu about several things and not just sex. The prostitute tells him about the Uruk society and how it is controlled by a mighty king. The first thing that gets clear from the prostitute’s education of Enkidu is that the royalty held enormous power in the Mesopotamian society and that it could act unrestrained. It shows how the ancient Mesopotamian culture equated the royalty with God. The harlot brings Enkidu to challenge Gilgamesh. She says, “‘Let us go, and let him see your face. I know very well where Gilgamesh is in great Uruk. O Enkidu, there all the people are dressed in their gorgeous robes, every day is a holiday, the young men and the girls are wonderful to see. How sweet they smell! All the great ones are roused from their beds. O Enkidu, you who love life, I will show you Gilgamesh, a man of many moods; you shall look at him well in his radiant manhood. His body is perfect in strength and maturity; he never rests by night or day. He is stronger than you, so leave your boasting. Shamash the glorious sun has given favours to Gilgamesh, and Anu of the heavens, and Enlil, and Ea the wise has given him deep understanding. I tell you, even before you have left the wilderness, Gilgamesh will know in his dreams that you are coming”. In the Mesopotamian view of culture and civilization, the divinity was at the top, then were the royalty. The common man was at the lower rung and at the lowest step were the poor and the outlaws. There are three very important things that the Prostitute educates Enkidu about. The first is the enormous clout of the royalty. She tells Enkidu how Gilgamesh lords it over all the others. Next is the divinity. She tells of the Gods and Goddesses that were worshiped and revered by the Mesopotamian society. In this way she also clarifies the special relationship between divinity and royalty to Enkidu. The royalty is blessed by the divinity and exercises the special powers granted to it. The ancient Mesopotamian culture and civilization as they reflect in her words show a strong faith in the Sun God and a depiction of the heavens and other minor Gods and Goddesses that serve as a link between humanity and the higher divinity. Readers also get some demonstration of the way of life in ancient Mesopotamia and that of its colorfulness. People wear colorful robes and lead happy lives. It shows that ancient Mesopotamia was wealthy where people wore perfumed clothes and led cheerful lives. Both culture and civilization were flourishing in ancient Mesopotamia and this picture gets clear from the advice the harlot gives to Enkidu. Moreover, this culture revered the divinity greatly and royalty was considered to have divine rights. The rest of the society was inferior to it and therefore under its control. The strong walled Uruk and the blessed temple of Ishtar and Anu are examples of great Mesopotamian architecture. Gilgamesh’s palace has been compared to heavens. It all shows that as a culture and civilization Mesopotamia was flourishing where people were happy signifying economic strength. The temples and palaces depicted in the story show a culture rich in arts and architecture. ... " notesmatic Garden of Priapus - 93 Boss lady as a Nazi sodomizing a slave on a cross ... An Inanna rite of passage and day to day reality for all penis caged Babylonian men. - The Nazi regalia is not out of place - Babylon was next door the mythical Sanskrit "Aryan" civilizaition that almost certainly had a similar female on male anal sex requirement ... And Inanna had a dual aspect - Venus as sex goddess but also Venus as bloodthirsty destroyer Tweet By Cheryl Morgan on May 2, 2017 in Ancient World " .. To destroy, to create, to tear out, to establish are yours, Inanna. To turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inanna. Those are the words of Enheduanna, High Priestess of the Moon in the Sumerian city of Ur. They are part of her poem, Passionate Inanna, which she wrote in the 23rd Century BCE. Enheduanna is the earliest known example of someone signing their name to a literary work. Inanna, who became, or merged with, Ishtar in the successor civilizations of Babylon and Assyria, is a fascinating character who is often described as liminal, paradoxical or contradictory. Some commentators have even described her as androgynous, though this appears to be a misunderstanding of the source material made by people unfamiliar with gender theory. There have been suggestions that Inanna has been described as bearded. In some cases this is probably no more than gender performance, an indication of her might. In others it is a misunderstanding of references to the appearance of Inanna’s astronomical aspect, the planet Venus. Translators of ancient languages wisely tend towards literal renderings so as to avoid interpretation, but Enheduanna’s words might be referring to gender stereotypes. A possible interpretation might be simply, “To make a man meek and a woman brave are yours, Inanna.” Besides, the actions of gods belong in the realm of myth, not real life. Do we have any evidence of actual gender transition in Sumerian society? One well known text of similar antiquity to Enheduanna’s work describes a religious festival held in honour of Inanna. It describes the celebrants as follows: The people of Sumer parade before you. [ - ] The male prostitutes comb their hair before you. They decorate the napes of their necks with coloured scarfs. [ - ] The women adorn their right side with men’s clothing. [ - ] The men adorn their left side with women’s clothing. [ - ] The ascending kurgarra priests raise their swords before you. This has led commentators to state that Inanna’s temples employed “transvestites.” Can we cite these comments as evidence for the existence of trans people in the earliest human civilization? That rather depends upon what we mean by “trans people.” In modern parlance the term “transvestite” would usually refer to people who identify as male but wear women’s clothing at times for various reasons. However, many of these commentators, especially those from the twentieth century and earlier, may not have seen any difference between such cross-dressers and other trans people who identify strongly as female and seek to live as such for their entire lives. We must be careful not to impose modern ideas of identity on the ancient world. The Western concept of the transsexual relies in part on medical technology not available to the ancients. However, people such as two spirits from North America and hijra from India have traditions dating back into antiquity. And even modern non-binary people often don’t identify as transsexual. The use of trans as an umbrella term allows us to encompass a variety of identities, including those from history. The description of the festival appears to show the people of the city cross-dressing specifically for the purpose of the celebration. Indeed the whole thing sounds very like a gay pride parade, with lots of people just dressing up for the party. We must be careful to exclude any recreational cross-dressing, but look instead for evidence of lives lived outside of the narrow gender binary. Gwendolyn Leick speculates that some of Inanna’s gender variant cult workers may have played a role similar to that of the hijra in Indian society. There is certainly evidence to support the suggestion. To find it we need to look for other references to the gender of Inanna’s followers. The myth of Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld, thought to be a mythic explanation of where Venus goes in between being the morning star and evening star, survives in different versions from different periods of Mesopotamian history. In all of them Inanna is captured by Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld, and has to be rescued by the other gods. A Sumerian version of the myth explains how the god Enki sends two emissaries, a kurgarra and a galatur, to rescue the goddess by tricking Ereshkigal into granting them a boon. There is a temptation to assume that these are simply types of demon, except that both are known from other texts as names for people associated with Inanna’s cult. The kurgarra march in the festival brandishing swords, so they are not meek and girly, but then they do serve a goddess who is often shown bristling with weapons and riding on a lion. We shouldn’t make gender-normative assumptions about anything to do with Inanna. The gala, on the other hand, appear more effeminate. A gala is a temple employee whose job it is to sing lamentations, and a galatur is simply a junior gala. They appear to have spoken a Sumerian dialect called Emesal which was possibly reserved for women. One well-known statuette of a person named Ur-Nanshe was found in the Sumerian city of Mari. An inscription on the back describes this person as a master singer and includes a dedication to a version of Inanna. The statuette has a soft face, a suggestion of eye make-up, is clean-shaven, has long hair and a suggestion of breasts. Although Ur-Nanshe is a male name, the statuette has variously been gendered as female and a eunuch as well. The original dig report has a lengthy section on the gender of the person depicted. Singers of lamentations, of course, might well be required to have a high-pitched voice, suggesting possible castration in childhood. Then again, the inscription states that Ur-Nanshe is a “naru,” a singer, not specifically a “gala.” Also we can’t be certain that the Sumerians followed our own conventions for gendered representation of people. Man-boobs do exist, and the statuette’s maker might simply have shown them honestly. All of this makes precise interpretation very difficult. Another clue might be the mention of male sex workers in the description of the festival. One Sumerian proverb refers to a gala wiping “that which belongs to my mistress” from his backside. That’s presumably a reference to semen as Inanna is a fertility goddess. A possible literal translation of the word “gala” is “penis-anus.” In an Assyrian version of the story the kurgarra and galatur are replaced by an assinnu. Stephanie Dalley coyly translates this as “Good-looks the playboy,” but the word “assinnu” is often translated as “feminine man” and there are references in other documents that have been taken to indicate assinnu doing sex work. Further evidence comes from the Babylonian poem, The Epic of Erra. This also references kurgarra and assinnu, of whom the poet says, “Whose maleness Ishtar turned female, for the awe of the people.” A complication is that some Sumerian sources refer to women who are the wives of gala, and even a few gala that have children (ironically one of the best known examples is a gala called Dada). Possible explanations for this include that gala are associated with more than one god, and only Inanna requires castration; or that we are seeing a change in the status and function of gala over time. I note also that it is probable, given a sizeable population of gala, that they would have exhibited a range of gender identities and sexualities. Babylonian law has extensive provision governing adoption, so the concept is likely to have been known in Sumer. Therefore queer families were not out of the question. Possibly the clearest evidence, however, comes from a fragment of a statue held in the archives of the British Museum, dating probably from the late third millennium BCE. It is only the right shoulder and arm, but it bears an inscription. The British Museum’s Dr. Irving Finkel translated this as: “Silimabzuta, hermaphrodite of Inanna.” The term hermaphrodite is, of course, of post-Sumerian invention, and these days carries a specific biological meaning. The literal translation is more like, “person-man-woman.” The term “man-woman” is found in many cultures when referring to trans people. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Silimabzuta was a eunuch or intersex. It may simply indicate social gender transition. What it does say very clearly is that someone in Sumer recognized the existence of people who were neither man nor woman. The presence of people living outside of the gender binary in the ancient world doesn’t necessarily imply social acceptance, and over thousands of years attitudes can change. In the Assyrian version of The Descent, Ereshkigal curses the assinnu to be shunned by the rest of society. This is an addition to the Sumerian text, implying a possible downgrading of the status of gender diverse people in Assyria as compared to Sumer. What does seem probable is that in the cradle of human civilisation people were not only living lives outside of the gender binary, but in doing so played a key role in important religious ceremonies. ... " notchesblog Garden of Priapus - 94 Boss lady grabbing the "apples" or balls of a caged slave that she is sodomizing Inanna was Venus with a penis! - All sex, all the time ... Garden of Priapus - 95 Inanna with a beard and a strap on mentule sodomizing her shepard lover Dumuzdi - The archetype of Sumerian sacred sex! Terracotta votive plaque dating to the Old Babylonian Period(c. 1830 BC to c. 1531) Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archaeology Wing, Israel Museum, Jerusalem The western model of this was Aphrodite and Adonis - and Aphrodite is famous for having a phallus! " ... The myth of Inanna and Dumuzid later became the basis for the Greek myth of Aphrodite and Adonis. The Greek name Adonis, is derived from the Canaanite word adon , meaning "lord". The earliest known Greek reference to Adonis comes from a fragment of a poem by the Lesbian poetess Sappho, dating to the seventh century BC, in which a chorus of young girls asks Aphrodite what they can do to mourn Adonis's death. Aphrodite replies that they must beat their breasts and tear their tunics. Later rescensions of the Adonis legend reveal that he was believed to have been slain by a wild boar during a hunting trip. According to Lucian's De Dea Syria, each year during the festival of Adonis, the Adonis River in Lebanon (now known as the Abraham River) ran red with blood. ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 96 More Asian female on male sodomy - She roughly brought an orgasm to the man locked in the penis cage and humbler - That's the rare male ass orgasm! That was Sumerian sex ... Especially in the ritual form when the goddess Inanna in the form of the Temple prostitute penetrated the male supplicant with a mentule - The Hieros Gamos ... The images from the excerpt below call to mind the breaking of a horse - the only way to do that is to ride it while locking up or cutting off its genitals! The inner images are backed up by Sumerian myth and poetry ... New Gilgamesh Fragment: Enkidu's Sexual Exploits Doubled, by Sophus Hellem 28 November 2018 " ... The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Babylonian story about the eponymous hero Gilgamesh, the legendary king of the city of Uruk, in what is now Iraq. Thousands of years before Homer, the people of ancient Iraq composed poetry, debated the meaning of life, and studied the movement of the stars. These cultures - the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian - wrote their texts in the cuneiform script on tablets made of clay. Unlike the papyrus of the ancient Egyptians, clay can easily endure the passage of time, and so cuneiform tablets have survived in huge numbers. Archaeologists have uncovered around half a million texts written in cuneiform. But unbaked clay is also quite brittle, so the tablets usually do not come to us intact, but in bits and pieces. Today, philologists like Kleinerman, Gadotti, and George are hard at work piecing the fragments back together, but there is a long way to go. We are still just beginning to explore the treasure trove that is Babylonian literature. The Epic of Gilgamesh is undoubtedly the most famous of these cuneiform texts. It is not, as is often claimed, the earliest known work of literature, in fact there are literary texts that are almost a thousand years older than the epic. But Gilgamesh is still a remarkable text. The fact that it continues to captivate readers from all the world, millennia after its original composition, tells you just how extraordinary the epic really is. In the course of eleven tablets, we are told the story of Gilgamesh's friendship with the wild man Enkidu, and his failed search for immortality after Enkidu dies. As a young king, Gilgamesh is afflicted by a powerful restlessness. There is “a storm in his heart”, an abundance of energy that leads him to abuse the citizens of Uruk. Exhausted by his constant excess, the Urukeans pray for help. The gods decide to create Enkidu as a friend for Gilgamesh, hoping that the new playmate will keep the king occupied. Enkidu grows up among the animals of the steppe, until one day he comes face to face with a hunter. Terrified by this savage creature the hunter asks his father what to do, and he is told to go to Uruk and present the problem to Gilgamesh. The king tells the hunter to bring a woman named Shamhat to the steppe. She will seduce Enkidu and thereby separate him from his animal companions. The hunter and Shamhat journey out into the wild, where they find Enkidu by a watering hole. Shamhat strips off her clothes and lures Enkidu into having sex with her for six days and seven nights. After this marathon of love, Enkidu finds that he has lost his raw animal strength, having instead gained the consciousness and intellect of a human being. One or two scenes? The Epic of Gilgamesh exists in a number of different versions. First, it was told as a cycle of independent poems in the Sumerian language. Then, the various threads of the story were woven together to form a single epic, in the Akkadian language. This is known as the Old Babylonian version, and it was composed c. 19th - 17th century BCE. Later, the epic was reworked, expanded, and updated to create what is known as the Standard Babylonian version. This is the version that is most often read today, and it was most likely composed around the 11th century BCE. Sometimes the same episode is preserved in both an Old Babylonian and a Standard Babylonian version, allowing us to compare the different recensions. For example, Gilgamesh has two dreams that foreshadow his friendship with Enkidu, and though the gist of the episode is the same, the Standard Babylonian recension is more schematic and repetitive, as opposed to the livelier Old Babylonian text. Scholars used to think that the scene where Enkidu becomes human by having sex with Shamhat also existed in both an Old Babylonian and a Standard Babylonian version. Though there are slight differences between them, the sequence of events is essentially the same: the two make love for a week, and then Shamhat invites Enkidu to come to Uruk. But the new tablet shows that this cannot be the case. The fragment gives us relatively little text, but it does provide us with a missing link between other, more fully preserved manuscripts. However, it joins these manuscripts in a way that is not at all what we expected. The new tablet contains both the end of the Old Babylonian episode, and the beginning of the Standard Babylonian one. Accordingly, the two episodes cannot be different versions of the same scene. Instead, both versions preserve one part of the same sequence: Enkidu and Shamhat have sex for a week, Shamhat invites Enkidu to Uruk, they have sex for a second week, and then Shamhat invites Enkidu to Uruk again. How to be human The discovery makes Enkidu and Shamhat's sexual marathon all the more impressive: two weeks of sex in a row is a daunting (if not unappealing) prospect. But the new tablet is also important for another reason. The two versions of the episode are slightly different, and since we now know these episodes to be part of the same story, the differences become all the more important. In a nutshell, the differences between the two episodes reflect different stages of Enkidu's transition from an animal to a human being. The discovery allows us to study this transition in more detail: What does it mean to become human? What steps lead from a life among the animals to a full human consciousness? What did humanity entail for the ancient Babylonians? The first time Shamhat invites Enkidu to come to Uruk she describes Gilgamesh as superb in strength and horned like a bull. Enkidu readily accepts her invitation, saying that he will come to Uruk - but only to challenge Gilgamesh and usurp his power. “I shall change the order of things”, he declares. “The one born in the wild is mighty, he has strength.” Though Enkidu has learned to plan and speak like a human being, his way of thinking is still very much that of a wild animal: he immediately sees Gilgamesh as an alpha male, a rival bull to be defeated. The only thing that matters to him at this point is strength and domination. But the second time Shamhat invites him to Uruk, after they have had sex for yet another week, he sees things differently. Shamhat says that she will lead him to the temple, home of Anu, the god of heaven. Rather than change the order of things, Enkidu is to find a place for himself in society: “Where men are engaged in labours of skill, you, too, like a true man, will make a place for yourself.” Enkidu, now wiser after a second bout of civilizing sex, is ready to accept this invitation. “He heard her words, he consented to what she said: a woman's counsel struck home in his heart.” He has understood the value of urban life, accepting the fact that human society is not all about domination and strength, but also about cooperation and skill. Each human being is part of a larger social fabric, where everyone must find their own place. What is interesting about this is that the epic tells that becoming human is a two-step process. First, one must learn to think like a human being, and second, one must learn to think like a member of society. After the first week of sex Enkidu may have acquired human language and a capacity for reflection, but he is still stuck in the world of animals: he thinks only in terms of challenging rivals and locking horns. To become fully human, he must learn to see himself not as an individual who has to assert his own strength, but as a social being who must participate in the life of the city. ... " worldhistory Garden of Priapus - 97 Asian female on male sodomy part 2 The ass orgasm over the locked penis - Sumeria was an Amazon civilization. - And sex was out in the open. The part that's left out is what kind of sex. I am certain it was Amazon sex - or the female Mentule in the male Anus. The Roman Priapea almost certainly originates in ancient Babylon - although the same thing also occured in ancient Egypt - the phallic but female Sekhmet -Min and Hathor and Horus and the penis caged Egyptian man ... * Sacred female on male sex in Sumeria was not restricted to prostitutes - all women were required to have sex in the temple with a paying customer at least once in their lives. This practice continued in the Roman temple of Aphrodite - who had a female phallus: Love, Sex, and Marriage in Ancient Mesopotamia, by Joshua J. Mark - 16 May 2014 " ... Herodotus reports that every woman, at least once in her lifetime, had to sit outside the temple of Ishtar (Inanna) and agree to have sex with whatever stranger chose her. This custom was thought to ensure the fertility and continued prosperity of the community. As a woman's virginity was considered requisite for a marriage, it would seem unlikely that unmarried women would have taken part in this and yet Herodotus states that `every woman' was required to. The practice of sacred prostitution, as Herodotus describes it, has been challenged by many modern-day scholars but his description of the bride auction has not. Herodotus writes: Once a year in each village the young women eligible to marry were collected all together in one place; while the men stood around them in a circle. Then a herald called up the young women one by one and offered them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was sold for a high price, he offered for sale the one who ranked next in beauty. All of them were then sold to be wives. The richest of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the loveliest young women, while the commoners, who were not concerned about beauty, received the uglier women along with monetary compensation ...All who liked might come, even from distant villages, and bid for the women. This was the best of all their customs but it has now fallen into disuse. (Histories I: 196) ... " worldhistory Garden of Priapus - 98 Asian female on male sodomy part 3 * More data on sex in Mesopotamia - but this is through the anglo female sexual eye. The carnal nature of female sex during the penis caged Greco-Roman era is missing - also the hieros gamos between Inanna and the King is seen as purely symbolic not physical ... In ancient Mesopotamia, sex among the gods shook heaven and earth, by Louise Pryke April 22, 2018 " ....Sexuality was central to life in ancient Mesopotamia, an area of the Ancient Near East often described as the cradle of western civilisation roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, and parts of Syria, Iran and Turkey. It was not only so for everyday humans but for kings and even deities. Mesopotamian deities shared many human experiences, with gods marrying, procreating and sharing households and familial duties. However when love went wrong, the consequences could be dire in both heaven and on earth. Scholars have observed the similarities between the divine “marriage machine” found in ancient literary works and the historical courtship of mortals, although it is difficult to disentangle the two, most famously in so-called “sacred marriages”, which saw Mesopotamian kings marrying deities. Divine sex Gods, being immortal and generally of superior status to humans, did not strictly need sexual intercourse for population maintenance, yet the practicalities of the matter seem to have done little to curb their enthusiasm. Sexual relationships between Mesopotamian deities provided inspiration for a rich variety of narratives. These include Sumerian myths such as Enlil and Ninlil and Enki and Ninhursag, where the complicated sexual interactions between deities was shown to involve trickery, deception and disguise. In both myths, a male deity adopts a disguise, and then attempts to gain sexual access to the female deity - or to avoid his lover’s pursuit. In the first, the goddess Ninlil follows her lover Enlil down into the Underworld, and barters sexual favours for information on Enlil’s whereabouts. The provision of a false identity in these myths is used to circumnavigate societal expectations of sex and fidelity. Sexual betrayal could spell doom not only for errant lovers but for the whole of society. When the Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, is abandoned by her lover, Nergal, she threatens to raise the dead unless he is returned to her, alluding to her right to sexual satiety. The goddess Ishtar makes the same threat in the face of a romantic rejection from the king of Uruk in the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is interesting to note that both Ishtar and Ereshkigal, who are sisters, use one of the most potent threats at their disposal to address matters of the heart. The plots of these myths highlight the potential for deceit to create alienation between lovers during courtship. The less-than-smooth course of love in these myths, and their complex use of literary imagery, have drawn scholarly comparisons with the works of Shakespeare. Love poetry Ancient authors of Sumerian love poetry, depicting the exploits of divine couples, show a wealth of practical knowledge on the stages of female sexual arousal. It’s thought by some scholars that this poetry may have historically had an educational purpose: to teach inexperienced young lovers in ancient Mesopotamia about intercourse. It’s also been suggested the texts had religious purposes, or possibly magical potency. Several texts write of the courtship of a divine couple, Inanna (the Semitic equivalent of Ishtar) and her lover, the shepherd deity Dumuzi. The closeness of the lovers is shown through a sophisticated combination of poetry and sensuousness imagery - perhaps providing an edifying example for this year’s Bad Sex in Fiction nominees. In one of the poems, elements of the female lover’s arousal are catalogued, from the increased lubrication of her vulva, to the “trembling” of her climax. The male partner is presented delighting in his partner’s physical form, and speaking kindly to her. The feminine perspective on lovemaking is emphasised in the texts through the description of the goddess’ erotic fantasies. These fantasies are part of the preparations of the goddess for her union, and perhaps contribute to her sexual satisfaction. Female and male genitals could be celebrated in poetry, the presence of dark pubic hair on the goddess’ vulva is poetically described through the symbolism of a flock of ducks on a well-watered field or a narrow doorway framed in glossy black lapis-lazuli. The representation of genitals may also have served a religious function: temple inventories have revealed votive models of pubic triangles, some made of clay or bronze. Votive offerings in the shape of vulvae have been found in the city of Assur from before 1000 BC. Happy goddess, happy kingdom Divine sex was not the sole preserve of the gods, but could also involve the human king. Few topics from Mesopotamia have captured the imagination as much as the concept of sacred marriage. In this tradition, the historical Mesopotamian king would be married to the goddess of love, Ishtar. There is literary evidence for such marriages from very early Mesopotamia, before 2300 BC, and the concept persevered into much later periods. The relationship between historical kings and Mesopotamian deities was considered crucial to the successful continuation of earthly and cosmic order. For the Mesopotamian monarch, then, the sexual relationship with the goddess of love most likely involved a certain amount of pressure to perform. Some scholars have suggested these marriages involved a physical expression between the king and another person (such as a priestess) embodying the goddess. The general view now is that if there were a physical enactment to a sacred marriage ritual it would have been conducted on a symbolic level rather than a carnal one, with the king perhaps sharing his bed with a statue of the deity. Agricultural imagery was often used to describe the union of goddess and king. Honey, for instance, is described as sweet like the goddess’ mouth and vulva. A love song from the city of Ur between 2100-2000 BC is dedicated to Shu-Shin, the king, and Ishtar: In the bedchamber dripping with honey let us enjoy over and over your allure, the sweet thing. Lad, let me do the sweetest things to you. My precious sweet, let me bring you honey.** Sex in this love poetry is depicted as a pleasurable activity that enhanced loving feelings of intimacy. This sense of increased closeness was considered to bring joy to the heart of the goddess, resulting in good fortune and abundance for the entire community - perhaps demonstrating an early Mesopotamian version of the adage “happy wife, happy life”. The diverse presentation of divine sex creates something of a mystery around the causes for the cultural emphasis on cosmic copulation. While the presentation of divine sex and marriage in ancient Mesopotamia likely served numerous purposes, some elements of the intimate relationships between gods shows some carry-over to mortal unions. While dishonesty between lovers could lead to alienation, positive sexual interactions held countless benefits, including greater intimacy and lasting happiness. ... " theconversation Garden of Priapus - 99 The phallic Min left - Middle, a nude goddess and standing on a lion -maybe Astrate a biblical version of Inanna. 19th dynasty Egypt. " ... British Museum EA 191, upper register of limestone stele of chief craftsman Qeh. Naked goddess identified as ‘Ke(d)eshet, lady of heaven’ flanked by the ithyphallic Egyptian god Min and Syro-Palestinian god Reshep. Deir el-Medina (Dynasty 19). Photograph - Trustees of the British Museum. “Her name Qds(-t) simply means ‘holy’. As such, it can be attached to almost any goddess, including the whole of the A-team: Anat, Astarte, Asherah and Athirat. The question is: did there exist an independent goddess named Qedeshet at all? She is not known from any Canaanite or Ugaritic texts or inscriptions. Rather, she only appears as a named goddess in Egypt. There, she is honoured with such typical titles as ‘Lady of heaven’ and ‘Mistress of all the gods’ - which are not specific to her but could equally apply to any goddess in Egypt.” ... " therealsamizdat. King Solomon was rumoured to be a follower of Astrate.: " ...In Israel, her worship is associated with the Sidonians, but Solomon in his later years went after "Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians" (i Kings 11:5), and Josiah destroyed the cult places which Solomon had built on the "Mount of Corruption (see: Mount of Olives) for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians" (ii Kings 23:13). ... " Ashtoreth, encyclopedia In Greece she bacame the phallic Aphrodite - who with the catamite Bacchus gave birth to Priapus. - At midnight in the cult of Aphrodite the sexes switched clothes and the women became men sexually ... An import from the Babylon Inanna/King of Sumeria sex cult * " ... Astarte is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Astoreth (Northwest Semitic), a form of Ishtar (East Semitic), worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name is particularly associated with her worship in the ancient Levant among the Canaanites and Phoenicians. She was also celebrated in Egypt following the importation of Levantine cults there. The name Astarte is sometimes also applied to her cults in Mesopotamian cultures like Assyria and Babylonia. Astarte is one of a number of names associated with the chief goddess or female divinity of both Canaanite and Phoenicians. She is recorded in Akkadian as As-dar-tu , the feminine form of Ishtar. The name appears in Ugaritic as Athtart or Attart , in Phoenician as Ashtart or Ashtart , in Hebrew as Ashtoret The Hebrews also referred to the Ashtarot or "Astartes" in the plural. The Etruscan Pyrgi Tablets record the name Uni-Astre Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. She has been known as the deified morning and/or evening star. The deity takes on many names and forms among different cultures, and according to Canaanite mythology, is one and the same as the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ishtar, taken from the third millennium BC Sumerian goddess Inanna, the first and primordial goddess of the planet Venus. Inanna was also known by the Aramaic people as the god Attar, whose myth was construed in a different manner by the people of Greece to align with their own cultural myths and legends, when the Canaanite merchants took the First papyrus from Byblos (the Phoenician city of Gebal) to Greece sometime before the 8th century by a Phoenician called Cadmus the first King of Thebes. Astarte was worshipped in Syria and Canaan beginning in the first millennium BC and was first mentioned in texts from Ugarit. She came from the same Semitic origins as the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, and an Ugaritic text specifically equates her with Ishtar. Her worship spread to Cyprus, where she may have been merged with an ancient Cypriot goddess. This merged Cypriot goddess may have been adopted into the Greek pantheon in Mycenaean and Dark Age times to form Aphrodite. It has been argued, however, that Astarte's character was less erotic and more warlike than Ishtar originally was, perhaps because she was influenced by the Canaanite goddess Anat, and that therefore Ishtar, not Astarte, was the direct forerunner of the Cypriot goddess. Greeks in classical, Hellenistic, and Roman times occasionally equated Aphrodite with Astarte and many other Near Eastern goddesses, in keeping with their frequent practice of syncretizing other deities with their own. Other major centers of Astarte's worship were the Phoenician city states of Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos. Coins from Sidon portray a chariot in which a globe appears, presumably a stone representing Astarte. "She was often depicted on Sidonian coins as standing on the prow of a galley, leaning forward with right hand outstretched, being thus the original of all figureheads for sailing ships." In Sidon, she shared a temple with Eshmun. Coins from Beirut show Poseidon, Astarte, and Eshmun worshipped together. Other centers were Cythera, Malta, and Eryx in Sicily from which she became known to the Romans as Venus Erycina. A bilingual inscription on the Pyrgi Tablets dating to about 500 BC found near Caere in Etruria equates Astarte with Etruscan Uni-Astre, that is, Juno. At Carthage Astarte was worshipped alongside the goddess Tanit. The Aramean goddess Atargatis may originally have been equated with Astarte, but the first element of the name Atargatis appears to be related to the Ugaritic form of Asherah's name: Athirat. Allat the pre-Islamic Arabian deity and Astarte may have been assimilated to each other, and the two were closely linked. On one of the tesserae used by the Bel Yedi'ebel for a religious banquet at the temple of Bel the deity Allat was given the name Astarte. The assimilation of Allat to Astarte is not surprising in a milieu as much exposed to Aramaean and Phoenician influences as the one in which the Palmyrene theologians lived. Similar to Astarte, Allat was as well associated with morning star (Venus),] war, prosperity, and lions. In the Baal Epic of Ugarit, Athirat, the consort of the god El, plays a role. She is clearly distinguished from Ashtart in the Ugaritic documents, although in non-Ugaritic sources from later periods the distinction between the two goddesses can be blurred; either as a result of scribal error or through possible syncretism. Astarte arrived in ancient Egypt during the 18th dynasty along with other deities who were worshipped by northwest Semitic people. She was especially worshipped in her aspect as a warrior goddess, often paired with the goddess Anat. In the Contest Between Horus and Set, these two goddesses appear as daughters of Ra and are given as allies to the god Set, here identified with the Semitic name Hadad. Astarte also was identified with the lioness warrior goddess Sekhmet, but seemingly more often conflated, at least in part, with Isis to judge from the many images found of Astarte suckling a small child. Indeed, there is a statue of the 6th century BC in the Cairo Museum, which normally would be taken as portraying Isis with her child Horus on her knee and which in every detail of iconography follows normal Egyptian conventions, but the dedicatory inscription reads: "Gersaphon, son of Azor, son of Slrt, man of Lydda, for his Lady, for Astarte." See G. Daressy, (1905) pl. LXI (CGC 39291). Plutarch, in his On Isis and Osiris, indicates that the King and Queen of Byblos, who, unknowingly, have the body of Osiris in a pillar in their hall, are Melcarthus (i.e. Melqart) and Astarte (though he notes some instead call the Queen Saosis or Nemanūs, which Plutarch interprets as corresponding to the Greek name Athenais). ... Ashteroth Karnaim (Astarte was called Ashteroth in the Hebrew Bible) was a city in the land of Bashan east of the Jordan River, mentioned in Genesis 14:5 and Joshua 12:4 (where it is rendered solely as Ashteroth). The name translates literally to 'Ashteroth of the Horns', with 'Ashteroth' being a Canaanite fertitility goddess and 'horns' being symbolic of mountain peaks. Figurines of Astarte have been found at various archaeological sites in Israel, showing the goddess with two horns. Astarte's most common symbol was the crescent moon (or horns), according to religious studies scholar Jeffrey Burton Russell, in his book The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity ... ." Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 100 Astrate on a late Roman empire coin - Augusta Julia Soaemias of the Severan dynasty - which was mainly from Syria The Augusta was the Inanna to the Emperor! - and the Roman nation. At midnight Roman men were catamites to the phallic Augusta ... That's the penis cage and all those phallic goddesses on page 150 of this site... A.D. 218-224 Roman coin of Carriage of Astarte on two wheels with four columns supporting roof; above, two palms to left and right; baetyl within "Obv : IVLIA SAEMIA AVGV Draped bust right Rev : COL AVR PIA METRO SID Carriage of Astarte on two wheels with four columns supporting roof; above, two palms to left and right; baetyl within" coinproject Garden of Priapus - 101 The return of Bacchus from India. In the chariot is the female Dionysos - maybe Ampelus. That was probably a trip to Babylon, not India - a trip to Inanna Bacchus was a catamite to Inanna or the phallic Aphrodite - producing Priapus Sarcophagus with triumph of Dionysos. Roman, Imperial Period, about A.D. 215-225. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Garden of Priapus - 102 Boss lady in a rough and passionate scene sodomizing a slave in a penis cage ... Shot blocked. Used work aroud ... Burton on ancient female on male sex: Braccae - " supposing them to have come from Media immediately after the confusion of Babel" [ie the fall of Babylon]- my guess is this is knowledge passed on in ancient secret societies! Braccae The braccae (translated as 'hose' in Epigram 46, page 70) were a kind of loose trousers, covering little save the pudenda, in use amongst the Medes, Indians and Scythians. [ Medes being : "Medes: a member of an Iranian people who inhabited ancient Media, establishing an extensive empire during the 7th century BC, which was conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 550 BC." google - Ancient Persia was in the Penis-cage!] The following passage from Smollett's curious satirical novel, The Adventures of an Atom, deserves quotation in extenso, although somewhat lengthy-- Here I intended to insert a dissertation on trousers or trunk breeches, called by the Greeks, brakoi, et perisdomata; by the Latins, braccae laxae; by the Spaniards, bragas anchas; by the Italians, calzone largo; by the French, haut de chausses; by the Saxons, braecce; by the Swedes, brackor, by the Irish, briechan; by the Celtae, brag, and by the Japanese, bra-ak. I could make some curious discoveries touching the analogy between the perisdomata and zonion gunaikion, and point out the precise time at which the Grecian women began to wear the breeches. I would have demonstrated that the cingulum muliebre was originally no other than the wife's literally wearing the husband's trousers at certain orgia, as a mark of dominion transferred, pro tempore, to the female. I would have drawn a curious parallel between the zonion of the Greek, and the shim or middle cloth worn by the black ladies in Guinea. I would have proved that breeches were not first used to defend the central parts from the injuries of the weather, inasmuch as they were first worn by the Orientals in a warm climate; as you may see in Persius, Braccatis illita medis--porticus. I would have shown that breeches were first brought from Asia to the northern parts of Europe by the Celtae, sprung from the ancient Gomanaus; that trousers were worn in Scotland long before the time of Pythagoras; and indeed we are told by Jamblychus that Abaris, the famous Highland philosopher, contemporary and personally acquainted with the sage of Crotona, wore long trousers. I myself can attest the truth of that description, as I well remember the person and habit of that learned mountaineer. I would have explained the reasons that compelled the posterity of these mountaineers to abandon the breeches of their forefathers, and expose their posteriors to the wind. I would have convinced the English antiquaries that the inhabitants of Yorkshire came originally from the Highlands of Scotland, before the Scots had laid aside their breeches, and wore this part of dress long after their ancestors, as well as the southern Britons, were unbreeched by the Romans. From this distinction they acquired the name of Brigantes, quasi Bragantes, and hence came the word to brag or boast contemptuously; for the neighbours of the Brigantes, being at variance with that people, used, by way of contumelious defiance, when they saw any of them passing or repassing, to clap their hands on their posteriors and cry Brag-Brag. I would have drawn a learned comparison between the shield of Ajax and the sevenfold breeches of a Dutch skipper. Finally, I would have promulgated the original use of trunk-breeches, which would have led me into a discussion of the rites of Cloacina, so differently worshipped by the southern and northern inhabitants of this kingdom. These disquisitions would have unveiled the mysteries that now conceal the origin, migration, superstition, language, laws and connections of different nations-- sed nunc non erit his locus. I shall only observe that Linscot and others are mistaken in deriving the Japanese from their neighbours the Chinese; and that Dr Kempfer is right in his conjecture, supposing them to have come from Media immediately after the confusion of Babel. It is no wonder, therefore, that being Braccatorum filii, they should retain the wide breeches of their progenitors. ... " Priapea Garden of Priapus - 103 The general in action - on a hooded but not penis caged slave! Sometimes Amazons let the penis free ... In the ancient world that was not possible in a bronze fibula ...Powerful gladiators who were sex magnets for rich roman matrons did not get to have erections! In bed they were women - anally sexed by pathic Roman matrons who helped drain down their energy ... Shot blocked. Used workaround. Photo also slightly altered. My guess is this heat is in another incompatible space than the consensus space - hence the automatic blocking ... * The sexual heat of Babylon was almost certainly due to the penis cage which required a foreskin: Babylon did not circumcise according to biblical writers: " ... According to Genesis, the practice of circumcision among the Hebrews began with Abraham, who was told to circumcise all males, including slaves, in his household (Gen 17:10-14). The cut around the penis became a signifying mark of all descendants of Abraham and later served as a physical marker for the nation of Israel. The biblical authors were well aware that some of Israel’s neighbors practiced circumcision while others did not. The book of Jeremiah lists “Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert” as circumcised (Jer 9:25-26). The Philistines, who lived in the land of Canaan but had migrated from western areas, however, did not circumcise and were often called “the uncircumcised” as a derogatory epithet (e.g., 1Sam 14:6; 1Sam 31:4; 2Sam 1:20). Circumcision was apparently not practiced in Assyria and Babylonia. ... " bibleodyssey Not sure about Egyptian circumcision - I have read that some mummies are not circumcised Garden of Priapus - 104 Parthian (Mesopotamian) priests with "dog-leash" tans from 3rd century AD Mesopotamia (Syria today). To me that's a sign of goddess worship and the penis cage - probably Astrate or Inanna - The 3rd caentury AD Roman Severan dynasty was from Syria which is probably the same thing - Mesopotamia! - They could also be black Africans - specifically Egyptians ! Queen of Sheba mythology flows from here - last days of Rome ... (The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was founded by shipwrecked Syrian Christians) "Detail from a 3rd century Ad frieze from Dura-Europas in which Palmyrene priests are shown sacrificing to their sun god" - Cover of "The Gnostic Jung" by Robert Segal " ... Dura-Europos ..., was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 metres (300 feet) above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiye, in today's Syria. In 113 BC, Parthians conquered the city, and held it, with one brief Roman intermission (114 AD), until 165 AD. Under Parthian rule, it became an important provincial administrative centre. The Romans decisively captured Dura-Europos in 165 AD and greatly enlarged it as their easternmost stronghold in Mesopotamia, until it was captured by the Sasanian Empire after a siege in 256 - 257 AD. Its population was deported, and after it was abandoned, it was covered by sand and mud and disappeared from sight. ... " Wikipedia" Garden of Priapus - 105 More young Asian mentule and whip action on an older bound man Images of the sacred prostitute in Babylon - my belief is the key to understanding here is the penis cage or binding of Sumerian men and the mentule or female phallus for women: In the excerpt below insatiable desire is Ishtar and female - and expressed through her sacred prostitutes. Ishtar's "loins" are probably a mentule - and "bent over the wall" probably means female on male anal sex: " ... And it is precisely “to the shadow of the city-wall,” that Ishtar, the divine harlot, beckons young men to appease her insatiable desire according to an Old Babylonian song: “Seven for her midriff, seven for her loins (...), Sixty and sixty satisfy themselves in turn upon her vulva (...) The young men have tired, yet Ishtar never tires.” (Foster 2005: 678) The only explicit Mesopotamian evidence for actual payment for sex is in a Sumerian literary text where Inana, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar, advertises that her fee when standing against a wall is one shekel, but bending over it is one and a half shekels - a not inconsiderate sum if we realize that a hired man’s salary in the Old Babylonian period was one shekel per month. However, Inana doesn’t tell us if the wall she leans against is interior or exterior. Lexical texts imagine prostitutes working in fields, prowling the banks of watercourses and haunting ruin hills. The only indoor venue listed is the tavern ..., and it is probably a tavern wall that Inana would lean against when selling her favors. Two Sumerian texts imagine Inana’s appearance as the evening star to be like a prostitute entering a tavern in the evening, and in a third text, Inana identifies herself as a prostitute sitting at the tavern gate. The tavern gate is associated with an earthly prostitute in the Sumerian composition Curse of Akkade, where one result of the gods’ curse is that “the prostitute will hang herself at her tavern’s gate,” and taverns and prostitutes are associated in Akkadian texts as well. ... " Jerrold S. Cooper, The Job of Sex: The social and economic role of prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia Garden of Priapus - 106 More Asian action - a young female sodomizes and older man with a mentule - he's "bending over" for Ishtar!: There were two kinds of women in Babylon - the wife who was required to veil herself in public and the sacred prostitute who was not. As an incarnation of the goddess Ishtar - the sacred prostitute was the dominant caste in ancient Babylon and had the power to violate the marriage bond to serve her sexual needs - she was the female "snake" eagerly awaited by the male "birds" in a poem cited above: " ... Ishtar of the nations, most heroic of the goddesses, this is your sanctum. Be happy and rejoice! Come, enter our house. Let your handsome bed-partner enter with you, your seducer or your temple-boy. May my lips be sugar-syrup; may my hands be sensual; may the lips of my “hole” be honeyed lips. Just like birds flutter over a snake as it emerges from its pit, may people fight each other over me! ... " “An incantation for profit to the innkeeper of the docks” "... Why prostitution? It is nearly universal, especially in traditional urban societies. Demand for extra-marital sex existed in Mesopotamia and elsewhere due to, ironically, the centrality of marriage and the emphasis on women’s premarital chastity and marital fidelity, in part to ensure the legitimacy of offspring (Cooper 2002). Males in Mesopotamia married relatively later than females, resulting in a pool of young single men, and there were male travelers, military personnel, and workers away from home, yet most women- other men’s wives and daughters, and religious celibates - were not sexually available. Demand was there. On the supply side, there were destitute vulnerable women - the widows and orphan girls whom rulers traditionally claimed to protect - as well, no doubt, as wives and daughters from impoverished families who saw no other alternative, and dependent women whose parents or owners might earn income from their sale of sexual favors. A socially sanctioned outlet for male desire was necessary to protect proper wives and daughters from improper advances or attacks; hence, the Middle Assyrian Laws required that married women appear veiled in public, but forbade prostitutes from doing so, visually marking the sexually approachable and the unapproachable ... But, returning to the Epic, when the sun-god reminds Enkidu that thanks to the prostitute, he has enjoyed the friendship of his beloved companion, Gilgamesh, Enkidu has a change of heart: “My mouth that cursed you shall bless you as well! Governors shall love you and noblemen too! At one league off men shall slap their thighs, at two leagues off they shall shake out their hair! No soldier shall be slow to drop his belt for you, obsidian he shall give you, lapis lazuli and gold! Ornate earrings shall be your gift! Ishtar, the ablest of gods, shall gain you entrance to the man whose home is established and wealth heaped high! For you the wife shall be deserted, though mother of seven!” In contrast to the street whore of Enkidu’s curse, we have the image of the high-class prostitute or courtesan, plied with precious metals and jewelry, patronized by nobles and high officials, and a threat to established marriages.... " Jerrold S. Cooper, The Job of Sex: The social and economic role of prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia Garden of Priapus - 107 More Asian action: older bent over man irumating the mentule of the young woman who had been sodomizing him. In the Roman Priapea - Irumation was the preserve of older men. The reference to men "Dropping the belt" for temple prostitutes above is almost certainly a reference to the penis cage - Roman wives "belted and bonded" their husbands at marriage - That was the moment chaste young roman girls were free to hunt for extra marital sex ... Babylon probably had the identical system - men married late because the penis cage did not come off before 25 years of age - any male sex before that was "bent over" to Ishtar or anal ... Garden of Priapus - 108 Babylon female on male anal sex - Ishtar was a phallic domme - often referred to as a bearded male and the man is sipping on beer - or in my imagination sweet nectar like something out of a bee hive ... - In Babylon the male penis is rarely witten about in contrast to a vivid focus on the female vulva ... In this scene I am sure that's a female with a beard and a mentule - straps around her waist - sodomizing a submissive male in false breasts ... There is expicit poetry of Ishtar doing this sexual role reversal for the "awe of the people" - and male prostitutes were always feminized catamites. * Gender role reversal - Godessess Inanna, Inara and Anat: If the gods are a reflection of the people, the pre Islamic middle east was a sexually outrageous place to live! Women sexed men anally - and even though fathers were the heads of the household, the deferred to their daughters when a conflict arose. The goddess Anat even threatens to beat up her father if he refuses her request! That may seem strange, but Rome had the same system - daughters revered their fathers, but did not defer to them ! See: the chaste Augustus versus his sexually voracious daughter Julia- That's the Amazon penis cage system - the wife was usually the penis cager, but was usually replaced by the daughter as the penis cager - That was the explicit system in Nubia and Egypt ... " ... Anath, also spelled Anat, chief West Semitic goddess of love and war, the sister and helpmate of the god Baal. Considered a beautiful young girl, she was often designated “the Virgin” in ancient texts. Probably one of the best-known of the Canaanite deities, she was famous for her youthful vigour and ferocity in battle; in that respect she was adopted as a special favourite by the Egyptian king Ramses II (reigned 1279 - 13 BC). Although Anath was often associated with the god Resheph in ritual texts, she was primarily known for her role in the myth of Baal’s death and resurrection, in which she mourned and searched for him and finally helped to retrieve him from the netherworld. Egyptian representations of Anath show a nude goddess, often standing on a lion and holding flowers. During the Hellenistic Age, the goddesses Anath and Astarte were blended into one deity, called Atargatis. ... " Britannica Anat was a special favourite by the Egyptian king Ramses II - a dark skinned 19th dynasty Punt dynasty king of Egypt who was surrouded by phallic women - including his powerful daughters! In her Atargatis version her male priests had to castrate themselves ... Inanna : "Come to me, Gilgamesh, and be my lover!" Then she uses explicit words: "Bestow on me the gift of your fruit!"** - to me that fruit is the figs of Priapus - a code for female on male anal sex " ... Aggressive goddesses, abusive men: gender role change in Near Eastern mythology by Ora Brison, Tel Aviv This article focuses on three charged encounters between goddesses and mortals as described in the mythological texts of three major ancient Near Eastern cultures. The first is the encounter between the Anatolian goddess Inara and the mortal Hupashiya, as portrayed in the Illuyanka myth (Beckman 1982:11-25; Hoffner 1998:10-14). The second is the encounter between the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna/lshtar and Gilgamesh, as portrayed in the sixth tablet of the "Epic of Gilgamesh" (Dalley 2002:77-83; cf. George 2003: 616-631). The third is between the Ugaritic goddess Anat and the hero Aqhat, as portrayed in "Aqhat" (Parker 1997:49-80). Several scholars have suggested analogies between these goddesses, who share a number of comparable characteristics. However, in this article I suggest an alternative reading of these texts using a gender-awareness approach, which put more emphasis on the role of the female protagonist, of the writer and of his audience. My analysis of these mythological texts is made with full awareness of the vast differences in socio-political value systems and Weltanschaung between these cultures and modern ones. I have chosen to present the theme of "gender role change" that takes place in these encounters, as the three have similar elements and parallel motifs. In my view, the theme of "gender role change" is an important means of demonstrating society's ambivalent attitude towards women, and clarifies the dialogue of polarity between "positive" and "negative" female behavior in these traditional societies. The theme of "gender role change" is also important for illustrating the "femininity paradigm" of the patriarchal cultures of the ancient Near East. First, a short synopsis of the three encounters: In the first encounter the goddess Inara is looking for a mortal to aid the Storm-god, probably her father (Haas 1994:436), to defeat his enemy, the Dragon Illuyanka. In return for his help, Hupashiya, a mortal, demands to sleep with the goddess and she complies. After the victory over Illuyanka, Inara settles Hupashiya in a house she builds on a rock in Tarukka. She orders him not to look out of the window while she is gone from the house, lest he sees his wife and children and wishes to return to them. Inara leaves the house and comes back after twenty days. During her absence Hupashiya disobeyed her order and when she returns he weeps, saying: "Let me go back home" (Hoffner 1998:12). Although the text is broken, most scholars assume that the goddess kills Hupashiya: (Haas 1994:104; Beckman 1982:19; Hoffner 1975:138). In the second encounter, the goddess Inanna sees Gilgamesh as he is washing and dressing and she desires him. She offers him sex, marriage, wealth, fame and immortality at her side. Gilgamesh shuns her offers with scorn and insults. The furious Inanna turns to her father, the god Anu, the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon, and threatens to bring destruction on the world if Anu refuses to give her the divine bull, in order to punish Gilgamesh. Reluctantly, he agrees. Inanna takes the divine bull to Uruk, Gilgamesh's city,and the bull wreaks havoc, before being killed by Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu. Inanna does not succeed in killing Gilgamesh but takes her revenge on him by causing Enkidu's death (Dalley 2000:77-84). In the third encounter, the goddess Anat sees the hero Aqhat and his bow. She desires the divine bow, crafted by the god Kothar-wa-Hasis, but she is also interested in Aqhat himself. She asks him for the bow but he refuses. She promises him silver, gold, and immortality , but he insults her and continues to refuse her offers. The furious Anat goes to the god El, probably her father, the head of the Ugaritic pantheon. She demands his consent to Aqhat's murder and threatens him with personal violence if he refuses. El capitulates. Anat entices Aqhat to join her on a hunting trip and recruits Yatpan, a mortal, to assist her. She disguises Yatpan as a vulture and hides him under her wings. They fly above the unsuspecting Aqhat while he sits down to eat in the field. Yatpan kills him and takes his bow, but it falls into the sea and disappears. Anat mourns Aqhat's death (Parker 1997:60- 67). In these three encounters we meet female goddesses who do not behave according to the social/cultural standards of their cultures, and "do not fit the traditional female stereotype of the patriarchal societies of the ancient Near East" (Jacobsen 1976:141). These special young and warlike goddesses, with closely aligned characters, present a paradox of independent, powerful females in andro-centric cultures. With their culturally masculine sphere of activities, their independent behavior and ingenious character cross the boundaries of the expected gender roles. ... The masculinity of the ancient was measured, according to Hoffner (1966:327), by one's prowess in battle and his ability to sire children. Two of the goddesses, Inanna and Anat, are famous for their warrior bravery and are actually engaged in combat and war, the most significant activities of men. ... Inanna is called "Lady of Battle" (Black 2004:335), and battle was to the Sumerians "Inanna's dance" (Jacobsen 1976:137). Anat is Baal's partner in combat and wars. Anat boasts of her long list of fights and victories: "Surely I fought Yamm, ... Surely I finished off River, the Great god. Surely I bound Tunnan and destroyed (?) him. I fought the Twisty Serpent. .. " (Parker 1997: 111). Inara shows great courage and fearlessness of character, as she is the only one who dares to face Illuyanka after he had defeated the Stormgod. The goddesses are also associated with hunting, Anat's favorite occupation, which is also identified as a masculine activity. Bows and arrows are part of Inanna's gear: "Let me prepare arrows in my quiver. Let me ... slingstones with the rope. Let me begin the polishing of my lance" (Inanna and Ebih: Black 2004:335). Anat covets Aqhat's bow, which was created by the craftsman god Kothar-wa-Hasis to be used for hunting. She asks Aqhat for the bow, he refuses and insults her by saying: "Bows are [weapons of (?)] warriors. Will womankind now be hunting?" (Parker 1997 :62). The bow and arrow are the most important masculine symbols in ancient Near Eastern cultures (Hoffner1966:326-334). In "Pashkuatti's Ritual against Sexual Impotence"(CTH 406), the sorceress Pashkualli performs the following ritual on a male patient: He is dressed in woman's clothes, holding woman's artifacts: a spindle and a distaff in his hands, he then exchanges them for the bow and arrow (Hoffner 1987:277). Another example appears in the "Ritual and Prayer to Ishtar of Nineveh" (CTH 716). The objective in both the ritual and the prayer is to destroy the masculinity and battle prowess of the enemy: "Take away from the (enemy) men manhood, courage, vigor and mal, maces, bows, arrows (and) dagger(s), and bring them into Hatti. For those (i.e., the enemy) place in the hand the distaff and spindle of a woman and dress them like women" (CoIl ins 1997:164; cf. Hoffner 1966:331). Inanna is also responsible for the reversal of the traditional sex roles entrusted to her by her parents, Enlil and Ninlil. Her purpose in the "Hymn for the goddess Inanna" is "to turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man, ... put spindles into the hands of men, and give weapons to the women" (Black 2004:91). Whereas Inanna/Ishtar changes warriors into women by taking away their bows, metaphorically, Anat actualizes the threat (Walls 1992:202). ... As for the sexual connotations, in the encounter between Inanna/Ishtar and Gilgamesh, she is trying to persuade him: "Come to me, Gilgamesh, and be my lover!" (Dalley 2000:77). Then she uses explicit words: "Bestow on me the gift of your fruit!" Such expressions are usually used in Sumerian love songs, to describe the female's secret parts: "Like her mouth, her vulva is sweet" (Alster 1985: 133). Inanna is behaving in this scene with sexual aggression precisely as Gilgamesh used to behave with the young women in Uruk: "Gilgamesh would not leave [young girls alone], the daughters of warriors, the brides of young men. The gods often heard their complaints" (Dalley 2000:52). Inanna behaves towards Gilgamesh with the same lack of restrictions and sexual aggressiveness as Gilgamesh himself had used. He exploited his status as the king of Uruk and demanded the "Droit de Seigneur," to sleep with young brides on their wedding night instead of their bridegrooms. His conduct angered the families who prayed for the gods' help. The matter was brought before the Annunaki, the great gods of heaven and earth, and resulted in the creation of Enkidu. Inanna's behavior represents a model of a "gender role change" as a sexually independent woman. This masculine behavior of Inanna is also the reason given by Gilgamesh to explain his insults and abuses. He tells her that she is unsuitable for married life and counts a long list of Inanna's previously abused lovers and their fate. He accuses her of treating them badly, turning them into animals and causing their death: "Which of your lovers [lasted] forever? Which of your masterful paramours went to heaven? ... And howabout me? You will love me and then [treat me] just like them!" (Dalley 2000:78-9; cf. Leick 1994:262). lnannal/shtar's sexually violent encounters are also mentioned in CTH 363, a "Hurro-Hittite Hymn to Ishtar": "You devoured your husbands ... You, Ishtar, thus always finish men off' (Gtiterbock 1997:67; cf. Archi 1977:309). In the first stage of the encounter between lnara and Hupashiya there is no apparent "gender role change." The sexually independent and aggressive party is Hupashiya. When Inara asks for his help Hupashiya says: "If I may sleep with you, then I will come and perform your heart's (desire). [So] he slept with her" (Hoffner 1998:12). In this stage he remains true to the conventions of the masculine role, but later the "gender role change" comes about, and Inara takes the lead. She is the one who had planned the feast, she lured Illuyanka out from his lair and helped Hupashiya to overcome and bind the serpent. After the victory over Illuyanka, Inara settles Hupashiya in a house she builds on a rock in Tarukka. The "gender role change" at this stage, in my view, is of particular significance. Hupashiya in this goddess/mortal relationship went through a full character transformation. From a male hero he turned into a traditional "feminine" stereotype. This transformation is expressed in several elements described in the myth. First, Inara builds a house and settles Hupashiya in it. She controls their relationship and orders him: "When I go out to the open country, don't look out the window. If you look out, you will see your wife and children" (Hoffner 1998: 12). In the Illuyanka myth we are introduced to a well-known motif of the "woman in the window." This motif illustrates the status of women in patriarchal societies as "the passive, looking out, like a prisoner who is a captive within the patriarchal home, looking out towards freedom" (Aschkenazy 1998:25). Hupashiya is behaving like this metaphorical woman. By lnara's orders he is confined to sit at home, waiting for her, while she is free to come and go at will. "When twenty days had passed, he looked out the window and saw his wife and children. When Inara returned from the open country, he began to weep, (saying): "Let me go back home" (Hoffner 1998: 12). Hupashiya is described as a man who lost his masculine characteristics and received feminine ones. From a mortal hero who helped the Storm-god defeat the dragon he turned into a stereotypical frightened "female" who is crying and begging to return home to his family. Inara's relationship with Hupashiya lasted only a short period; later on she dominates the relationship with fear and threats. Inara resembles Circe and Calypso in the Odyssey, who for a while controlled Odysseus and his men with witchcraft and magic, but finally he resisted both of them and returned home to his loyal wife. ... " Ora Brison, Aggressive goddesses, abusive men: gender role change in Near Eastern mythology Garden of Priapus - 109 Man being sodomized by a phallic woman or temple prostitute while drinking beer from a straw - or some sort of sweet nectar - That was high energy Amazon sex. On the left is probably an erotic dancer - taking part in a group sex ritual. Although the received wisdom is that is a woman being caught having sex by her husband. Sumerian clay impression Louvre (AOD 126) found in Susa. - Achaemenid period (6th - 4th century BC) The Sumerian model for sex was Inanna and her gender switching ritual - Men were either castrated or the Sumerian penis cage was permanent. - That's the Hieros Gamos! A physical ritual wherby the female animus in the form of a mentule penetrated the male anima in the form of anal sodomy ... - Gilgamesh disrupted this process - or you can say his anima was never given space to express itself Garden of Priapus - 110 Inanna temple ritual - Temple prostitute in a beard and mentule sodomizing a man bent over drinking from a vase with a straw. Babylon Terracotta plaque 2000 - 1500 BC Garden of Priapus - 111 More Asian action - This was what happened in the garden of Priapus in Rome. Sex in the Fibula or bronze penis cage ... Only there was a preference for young boys over older bearded men for pathic Roman women to sodomize. See the Priapea ... Older Roman male catamites had recourse to the Roman "Stews" Garden of Priapus - 112 Boss lady and the red mentule and the penis cage ... Arabia was ruled by one of these before Islam! - Al-Lat To Arabs she was the same as the Assyrian Aphrodite (Inanna) - that means the red mentule or female phallus and the penis cage and temple prostitutes... " ... Al-Lat also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongside Manat and al-'Uzza as one of the daughters of Allah. The word Allat or Elat has been used to refer to various goddesses in the ancient Near East, including the goddess Asherah-Athirat. Al-Lat was attested in south Arabian inscriptions as Lat and Latan, but she had more prominence in north Arabia and the Hejaz, and her cult reached as far as Syria. The writers of the Safaitic script frequently invoked al-Lat in their inscriptions. She was also worshipped by the Nabataeans and was associated with al-'Uzza. The presence of her cult was attested in both Palmyra and Hatra. Under Greco-Roman influence, her iconography began to show the attributes of Athena, the Greek goddess of war, as well as her Roman equivalent Minerva. According to Islamic sources, the tribe of Banu Thaqif in Ta'if especially held reverence to her. In Islamic tradition, her worship ended when her temple in Ta'if was demolished on the orders of Muhammad. ... " Wikipedia " ... Al-Lat was mentioned as Alilat by the Greek historian Herodotus in his 5th-century BC work Histories, and she was considered the equivalent of Aphrodite (Aphrodite Urania) " ... The Assyrians call Aphrodite Mylitta, the Arabians Alilat , and the Persians Mithra. ... " According to Herodotus, the ancient Arabians believed in only two gods: " ... They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat. ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 113 Relief of the Arabian goddess Al-Lat, Manat, and al-Uzza standing on a lion from Hatra, 2nd century AD. Iraq Museum - There was an African component to Al-Lat worship - an Al-Lat priestess killed on orders from Mohammed was found nude in the temple - she had dark skin - which probably means Ethiopian - maybe an Ethiopian temple prostitute... : " ... Pre Islamic Goddesses Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, Manat - January 1, 2016 In the Qur’an, Al-Lat is mentioned along with al-‘Uzza and Manat in Sura 53:19 - 23. The tribe of ad of Iram of the Pillars is also mentioned in Sura 89:5 - 8, and archaeological evidence from Iram shows copious inscriptions devoted to her for the protection of a tribe by that name. Al-lat is also explicitly attested from early Islamic records discussing the pre-Islamic period. According to the Book of Idols (Kitab al- Asnam) by Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, the pre-Islamic Arabs believed Al-lat resided in the Kabah and also had an idol inside the sanctuary. Al-‘Uzza was also worshipped by the Nabataeans, who equated her with the Greek goddess Aphrodite Ourania (Roman Venus Caelestis). A stone cube at at-Tā’if (near Mecca) was held sacred as part of her cult. She is mentioned in the Qur’an Sura 53:19 as being one of the goddesses that people worshiped. The temple dedicated to al-‘Uzza and the statue itself was destroyed by Khalid ibn al Walid in Nakhla in 630 AD. Shortly after the Conquest of Mecca, Muhammad began aiming at eliminating the last idols reminiscent of pre-Islamic practices. He sent Khalid ibn Al-Walid during Ramadan 630 AD (8 AH) to a place called Nakhlah, where the goddess al-‘Uzza was worshipped by the tribes of Quraish and Kinanah. The shrine’s custodians were from Banu Shaiban. Al-‘Uzza was considered the most important goddess in the region. Khalid set out with 30 horsemen to destroy the shrine. It appears that there were two idols of al-‘Uzza, one real and one fake. Khalid first located the fake and destroyed it, then returned to the Prophet to report that he had fulfilled his mission. “Did you see anything unusual?” asked the Prophet. “No,” replied Khalid. “Then you have not destroyed al-‘Uzza” said the Prophet. “Go again." Angry at the mistake that he had made, Khalid once again rode to Nakhla, and this time he found the real temple of al-‘Uzza. The custodian of the temple of al-‘Uzza had fled for his life, but before forsaking his goddess he had hung a sword around her neck in the hope that she might be able to defend herself. As Khalid entered the temple, he was faced by an unusual naked dark woman who stood in his way and wailed. Khalid did not stop to decide whether this woman might be there to seduce him or to protect the idol, so he drew his sword in the name of Allah and with one powerful stroke the woman was cut in two. He then smashed the idol, and returning to Mecca, gave the Prophet an account of what he had seen and done. Then the Prophet said, “Yes, that was al-‘Uzza; and never again shall she be worshipped in your land.” The pre-Islamic Arabs believed Manat to be the goddess of fate. She was known by the cognate name Manawat to the Nabataeans of Petra, who equated her with the Graeco-Roman goddess Nemesis, and she was considered the wife of Hubal. “The most ancient of all these idols was Manat. The Arabs used to name their children Abd-Manat and Zayd-Manat. Manat was erected on the seashore in the vicinity of al-Mushallal in Qudayd, between Medina and Mecca. All the Arabs used to venerate her and sacrifice before her. The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as the inhabitants of Medina and Mecca and their vicinities, used to venerate Manat, sacrifice before her, and bring unto her their offerings ...The Aws and the Khazraj, as well as those Arabs among the people of Yathrib and other places who took to their way of life, were wont to go on pilgrimage and observe the vigil at all the appointed places, but not shave their heads. At the end of the pilgrimage, however, when they were about to return home, they would set out to the place where Manat stood, shave their heads, and stay there a while. They did not consider their pilgrimage completed until they visited Manat.” - Book of Idols, pp 12 - 14 . The temple of Manat was raided and the idol was destroyed on the orders of Muhammad, in the Raid of Sa’d ibn Zaid al-Ashhali, in January 630 AD (8AH, 9th month, of the Islamic Calendar), in the vicinity of al-Mushallal. Some scholars have enumerated that Somnath Temple in India was attacked later by Muhammad Ghazni for an idol of Manat that had been secretly transferred to the said temple. ... " booksfact Garden of Priapus - 114 Boss lady and friend as two fascist soldiers with a large black and large white mentule sodomizing a bound man in the penis cage ... - That used to be the middle eastern reality! Who would have guessed it? Garden of Priapus - 115 Buff tattooed Boss lady and whip and nude bound man ... Most images I see of BDSM in American erotica are the opposite though - I think American women are already dommes by day - the night fantasy is being ravished in the old fashioned way ... *** Arabs used to name their sons Abd-Manat - or slaves of the goddess Manat . I am sure that included the famous dog-leash and polyandry ... Or rule by women - Or more clearly - rule by temple prostitutes - a separate caste - or what Japanese call "Futa" " ... Considered a goddess of fate, fortune, time, and destiny, she was older than both Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzza as theophoric names including hers, such as Abd-Manah or Zayd-Manah, are found earlier than names featuring Al-Lat's or Al-‘Uzzas. But aside from being the most ancient of the three chief goddesses of Mecca, she was also very possibly among the most ancient of the Semitic pantheon as well. Her now-lost major shrine was between Mecca and Medina on the coasts of the Red Sea, likely in al-Mushallal where an idol of her was erected. The Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj were considered to be among the most devoted of tribes to the goddess, so much that the place to make sacrifices to her was commonly referred to by its significance to the Khazraj, as known from a poem most likely written by Abd-al-‘Uzza ibn-Wadi‘ah al-Muzani: An oath, truthful and just, I swore By Manah, at the sacred place of the Khazraj Her early representations included a wooden portrait of her, which was covered with sacrificial blood, but the most notable representation of her was her idol erected in al-Mushallal. When pre-Islamic Arabians would pilgrim to al-Mushallal, they would shave their head and stand in front of Manat's idol for a while. They wouldn't consider their pilgrimage complete without visiting her idol. An idol of her was also likely among the 360 idols in the Kaaba. According to Ibn al-Kalbi, when worshipers would circumambulate the Kaaba, they would chant her name along with that of her sisters, al-Lat and al-Uzza, seeking their blessings and intercession. Manat was also thought to watch over graves, as indicated by a tomb inscription reading "And may Dushara and Manat and Qaysha curse anyone who sells this tomb or buys it or gives it in pledge or makes a gift of it or leases it or draws up for himself any document concerning it or buries in it anyone apart from the inscribed above". ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 116 A nude Astrate or Inanna cupping her breasts. This is a common image and is associated with the temple prostitutes. Already had one image above that this existed in Arabia - and it was not just nudity - Sex was sacred in the Inanna cult - The goddess demanded it - and there was a requirement that all women have sex with a stranger in the temple at least once in their lives. - The hieros gamos was not symbolic in Babylon! Garden of Priapus - 117 Elamite nude figurines cupping their breasts found at Susa, Iran. Elam was just north of Babylon - and these are probably nude images of Inanna or her avatars - the temple prostitutes. - cariferro Garden of Priapus - 118 A nude negro terracota Astarte from Phoenicia - protected by a negro Bes. 6th - 3rd century B.C. "...The plaque is a mixture of Mediterranean/Near Eastern styles that characterize Phoenician art. It represents the ancient Canaanite goddess Astarte, shown nude like the Mesopotamian Ishtar, but with an Egyptian face and wig. She stands within a shrine protected by typically Near Eastern snarling lions that support Egyptian columns surmounted by heads of the Egyptian god Bes. ... " Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Inanna and her temple prostitutes were probably black egyptians in ancient Phoenicia - Garden of Priapus - 119 Temple prostitute sodomizing a Gala or temple catamite. "When the gala wiped off his ass [he said], I must not arouse that which belongs to my mistress [ie Inanna] (Gordon 1959) no. 2100 - Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature edited by Will Roscoe, Stephen O. Murray at 66 This statement is read as a form of homosexuality. I prefer the plain meaning: his mistress Inanna though her temple prostitutes was using his anus for sexual pleasure - the "figs" of the Priapea. The necklace worn by the active partner can be seen in many temple prostitutes. Around her a waist is the mentule ... The two strands of hair around the passive can be seen in nude male images. - "Both linguistic and mythological evidence attests to the antiquity of alternate genders in Mesopotamia.... The Sumerian myth known as "The Creation of Man" (ca 2000 BCE) relates how Ninmah fashioned seven types of physically challenged persons, including "the woman who cannot give birth" and "the one who has no male organ, no female organ." Enki finds each one an occupation and position in society: The sexless on " stands before the king" (the role of the girequ), while the barren woman becomes the prototype for the Naditu priestesses ... " Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature edited by Will Roscoe, Stephen O. Murray at 67 - The Naditu were the temple prostitutes and avatars of Inanna. I am sure they were the active, not passive actors in sex acts re-enacting the Hieros Gamos or sacred marriage. The only way to keep this at high heat was a universal application of the penis cage or Fibula from a young age ... Garden of Priapus - 120 Another bearded Temple prostitute sodomizing a catamite sipping beer or nectar from a straw. Garden of Priapus - 121 Bearded Inanna with nectar vase: This blog post sees scientific instruments - I see sexual instruments ! " ... Excavating the Assyrian capital Assur from 1903 to 1914, Walter Andrae and his colleagues found in the Temple of Ishtar a battered statue of the goddess showing her with various "contraptions" attached to her chest and back. In 1934 archaeologists excavating at Marl came upon a similar but intact statue buried in the ground. It was a life-size likeness of a beautiful woman. Her unusual headdress was adorned with a pair of horns, indicating that she was a goddess. Standing around the 4,000-year-old statue, the archaeologists were thrilled by her lifelike appearance (in a snapshot, one can hardly distinguish between the statue and the living men). They named her The Goddess with a Vase because she was holding a cylindrical object. Unlike the flat carvings or bas-reliefs, this life-size, three-dimensional representation of the goddess reveals interesting features about her attire. ... On her head she wears not a milliner's chapeau but a special helmet; protruding from it on both sides and fitted over the ears are objects that remind one of a pilot's earphones. On her neck and upper chest the goddess wears a necklace of many small (and probably precious) stones; in her hands she holds a cylindrical object which appears too thick and heavy to be a vase for holding water. Over a blouse of see-through material, two parallel straps run across her chest, leading back to and holding in place an unusual box of rectangular shape. The box is held tight against the back of the goddess's neck and is firmly attached to the helmet with a horizontal strap. Whatever the box held inside must have been heavy, for the contraption is further supported by two large shoulder pads. The weight of the box is increased by a hose that is connected to its base by a circular clasp. The complete package of instruments - for this is what they undoubtedly were is held in place with the aid of the two sets of straps that crisscross the goddess's back and chest. ... " humanpast Garden of Priapus - 122 Goddess of the vase, Mari,18th century BC Garden of Priapus - 123 Syrian bearded Inanna with a vase. - Naked men from the king on down brought their fruit baskets to a Temple Prostitute in a robe and vase like this in the Warka vase above ... In the Priapea the fruits like apples and figs are a code for female on male anal sex ... Water-Goddess with vase and water spouting from the vase. Stone statue,detail. Archaic Dynasties - Early 2nd millennium BC National Museum Damascus,Syria Garden of Priapus - 124 Another Temple prostitute sodomizing a catamite sipping beer or nectar from a straw - or honey. Mesopotamia was a honey-hive - the honey being produced by penis caged catamites being sodomized by Temple prostitutes. Garden of Priapus - 125 Ishtar as Sekhmet - Min - The lion of Ishtar/Inanna. " ... Glazed brick relief from the city of Babylon, showing the lion, the symbol of Ishtar. The relief was part of the processional way from the temple of Marduk to the akitu-house, where the New Year's festival was celebrated. The relief dates to the time of king Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604-562 BCE). (Louvre Museum, AO 21118) Inana/Isthar (goddess) Inana (Sumerian)/Ishtar (Akkadian) is among the most important deities and the most important goddess in the Mesopotamian pantheon. She is primarily known as the goddess of sexual love but is equally prominent as the goddess of warfare. In her astral aspect, Inana/Ishtar is the planet Venus, the morning and the evening star. Functions Inana/Ishtar is by far the most complex of all Mesopotamian deities, displaying contradictory, even paradoxical traits (Harris 1991; see also Bahrani 2000). In Sumerian poetry, she is sometimes portrayed as a coy young girl under patriarchal authority (though at other times as an ambitious goddess seeking to expand her influence, e.g., in the partly fragmentary myth Inana and Enki, ETCSL 1.3.1 and in the myth Inana's Descent to the Netherworld, ETCSL 1.4.1). Her marriage to Dumuzi is arranged without her knowledge, either by her parents or by her brother Utu (Jacobsen 1987: 3). Even when given independent agency, she is mindful of boundaries: rather than lying to her mother and sleeping with Dumuzi, she convinces him to propose to her in the proper fashion (Jacobsen 1987: 10). These actions are in stark contrast with the portrayal of Inana/Ishtar as a femme fatale in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Taken by the handsome Gilgamesh, Inana/Ishtar invites him to be her lover. Her advances, however, are rejected by the hero who accusingly recounts a string of past lovers she has cast aside and destroyed (Dalley 2000: 77ff). There is, arguably, a persistent commonality between these two natures of Inana/Ishtar: her sexuality. The young Inana of Sumerian poetry, who says "Plough my vulva, man of my heart" Leick 1994: 91) is no less desirous than the Inana/Ishtar portrayed in Gilgamesh: "Let us enjoy your strength, so put your hand and touch our vulva!" (Dalley 2000: 79). Accordingly, Inana/Ishtar was the recipient of prayers regarding (im)potency or unrequited love (Biggs 1967: 115; Leick 1994: 193ff). Inana/Ishtar was also the patron goddess of prostitutes. (Abusch 2000: 23). Inana/Ishtar is equally fond of making war as she is of making love: "Battle is a feast to her" Harris 1991: 269). The warlike aspect of the goddess tends to be expressed in politically charged contexts (Leick 1994: 7) in which the goddess is praised in connection with royal power and military might. This is already visible in the Old Akkadian period, when Naram - Sin frequently invokes the "warlike Ishtar" (ashtar annunitum) in his inscriptions (A. Westenholz 1999: 49) and becomes more prominent in the Neo-Assyrian veneration of Inana/Ishtar, whose two most important aspects in this period, namely, Ishtar of Nineveh and Ishtar of Arbela, were intimately linked to the person of the king (Porter 2004: 42). The warrior aspect of Inana/Ishtar, which does not appear before the Old Akkadian period (Selz 2000: 34), emphasizes her masculine characteristics, whereas her sexuality is feminine. The role of the goddess in legitimizing political power was not, however, restricted to her masculine aspect as the warlike Ishtar but is attested also for the sexual Inana in her female aspect. Attributed to early Sumerian history, the so-called "sacred marriage" ceremony celebrated the marriage of Inana (represented by her high priestess) and Dumuzi (represented by the ruler) during the New Year's festival to ensure prosperity and abundance (Szarzyńska 2000: 63). Practiced in the late third and early second millennium BCE, the sacred marriage rite, which may have "have been only an intellectual construct, rather than an event in real life", nevertheless served to express the relationship between the king and the divine world (Jones 2003: 291). Accordingly, that many third-millennium rulers described themselves as her spouse, points to Inana's significant agency in wielding political power (Westenholz 2000: 75). Some mythological narratives dwell on the astral aspect of Inana/Ishtar, albeit indirectly. In the myth Inana and Shu-kale-tuda (ETCSL 1.3.3), the clumsy gardener boy Shu-kale-tuda has intercourse with the goddess whilst she is asleep under a tree. Enraged at what has happened, Inana/Ishtar goes in search for the hiding boy. The course she takes in searching her violator has been suggested to mimic that of the astral course of the Venus star (Cooley 2008). Likewise, her movements in the myth of Inana and Enki (ETCSL 1.3.1), in which the goddess travels first to Enki's city Eridu from Uruk and travels back again, recalls the cycle of Venus. Presumably the same journey was carried out terrestrially in festivals (Alster 1975: 27-9). A liminal, that is, in-between, role may also be ascribed to Inana/Ishtar by virtue of having travelled to and back from the underworld (Barret 2007). In her mythological descent to the netherworld, she sits on her sister Ereshkigal's throne, rouses the anger of the Anunnaki and is turned to a corpse. Only through the agency of her minister Ninshubur, who secures the help of Enki/Ea, is Inana/Ishtar able to come alive again and return to the world above (Dalley 2000). Notably, in another myth, among the MEs TT she takes from Enki/Ea are those associated with "going down into the netherworld" and "coming up from the netherworld". It has been argued by Barret 2007: 19-20 that Mesopotamian grave goods reflect the iconography of Inana/Ishtar more than that of any other deity because of this inherent association with transition between the world of the living and the dead. Divine Genealogy and Syncretisms The family tree of Inana/Ishtar differs according to different traditions. She is variously the daughter of Anu or the daughter of Nanna/Sin and his wife Ningal; and sister of Utu/Shamash (Abusch 2000: 23); or else the daughter of Enki/Ea. Her sister is Ereshkigal. Inana/Ishtar does not have a permanent spouse per se, but has an ambivalent relationship with her lover Dumuzi/Tammuz whom she eventually condemns to death. She is also paired with the war god Zababa. In the Assyrian Empire, Ishtar of Nineveh and Ishtar of Arbela were treated as two distinct goddesses in royal inscriptions and treaties of Assurbanipal. Also during this period Ishtar was made the spouse of Ashur and known by the alternative name of Mulliltu in this particular role (Porter 2004: 42). Cult Place(s) The main city of Inana/Ishtar is Uruk. As one of the foremost Mesopotamian deities, she had temples in all important cities: Adab, Akkade, Babylon, Badtibira, Girsu, Isin, Kazallu, Kish, Larsa, Nippur, Sippar, Shuruppak, Umma, Ur (Wilcke 1976-80: 78; see also George 1993 for a comprehensive list). Time Periods Attested Inana is listed in third place after An and Enlil in the Early Dynastic Fara god-lists (Litke 1998). Inana/Ishtar remains in the upper crust of the Mesopotamian pantheon through the third, second and the first millennia. She is especially significant as a national Assyrian deity, particularly in the first millennium. Iconography The Iconography of Inana/Ishtar is as varied as her characteristics. In early iconography she is represented by a reed bundle/gatepost Frankfort 1939: 15; Szarzyńska 2000: 71, Figs. 4-5), which is also the written form of her name in very early texts (Black and Green 1998: 108). The uppermost register of the famous Uruk Vase shows the goddess in anthropomorphic form, standing before two such gateposts (Black and Green 1998: 150, Fig.122). In human form as the goddess of sexual love, Inana/Ishtar is often depicted fully nude. In Syrian iconography, she often reveals herself by holding open a cape. The nude female is an extremely common theme in ancient Near Eastern art, however, and although variously ascribed to the sphere of Inana/Ishtar (as acolytes or cult statuettes), they probably do not all represent the goddess herself. A sound indication of divine status is the presence of the horned cap. In her warrior aspect, Inana/Ishtar is shown dressed in a flounced robe with weapons coming out of her shoulder, often with at least one other weapon in her hand and sometimes with a beard, to emphasize her masculine side. Her attribute animal as the goddess of war is the lion, on the back of which she often has one foot or fully stands. In praise of her warlike qualities, she is compared to a roaring, fearsome lion (see Inana and Ebih, ETCSL 1.3.2). In her astral aspect, Inana/Ishtar is symbolized by the eight-pointed star. The colours red and carnelian, and the cooler blue and lapis lazuli, were also used to symbolise the goddess, perhaps to highlight her female and male aspects respectively (Barret 2007: 27). ... " oracc.museum Garden of Priapus - 126 Four mentules hard at work ... The Roman garden of Priapus was probably Babylonian - Priapus was the son of the phallic Aphrodite and the catamite Bacchus - who was originally the son of Inanna and Dumuzi "When the gala wiped off his ass [he said], I must not arouse that which belongs to my mistress [ie Inanna] (Gordon 1959) no. 2100 - Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature edited by Will Roscoe, Stephen O. Murray at 66 " ... According to the Sumerian belief, it was a sacred duty for the king to marry a priestess every year in order to make the soil and women fertile. The ritual of sacred marriage involved the re-enactment of the union of two deities, usually Inanna/Ishtar and Dumuzi/Tammuz. Thus, the priestess represented Inanna, the goddess of fertility and sexual love, while the king represented Dumuzi, on the eve of their union. J. Stuckey (2005) describes the ritual of the sacred marriage: From extant hymns, we can piece together what happened in the ritual. First, Inanna was bathed, perfumed, and adorned, while Dumuzi and his retinue processed towards her shrine. The famous Uruk vase may represent this procession. All the while, temple personnel sang love songs, many of which are extant. Resplendent Inanna greeted Dumuzi at the door, which, on the Uruk vase, is flanked by her signature standards (gateposts), and there he presented her with sumptuous gifts. Subsequently, the pair seated themselves on thrones, although sometimes the enthronement took place only after sexual consummation. The deities entered a chamber fragrant with spices and decorated with costly draperies. Lying down on a ceremonial bed constructed for the occasion, they united in sexual intercourse. Afterwards, pleased by and with her lover, Inanna decreed long life and sovereignty for him and fertility and prosperity for the land. ... " ancient-origins Garden of Priapus - 127 Boss lady sodomizing her husband with a red mentule while he irumates a blue-haired friend ... - Shot blocked. Used workaround. The vases in the sexual prints above (ex. 120) are probably the vase being offered by the goddess in the robe - also above (122) . That's partial proof that the parties being sodomized were male and the phallus was female! This must have been a common scene in Babylon - the high class temple prostitute sodomizing the husband in front of his wife ... “An incantation for profit to the innkeeper of the docks” Ishtar of the nations, most heroic of the goddesses, this is your sanctum. Be happy and rejoice! Come, enter our house. Let your handsome bed-partner enter with you, your seducer or your temple-boy. May my lips be sugar-syrup; may my hands be sensual; may the lips of my “hole” be honeyed lips. Just like birds flutter over a snake as it emerges from its pit may people fight each other over me! Garden of Priapus - 128 Blue-haired boss lady sodomizing a black man! With an Asian friend ... - Shot blocked. Used workaround. Babylon studies have been exclusively white or "Aryan" - but the reality has some African in it - for example the 3 dark skinned priests above - and on page 151 is a Persian queen of Egypt as Mut with an erect penis - or a phallic queen. - Egyptian Hermaphrodite - 140 Mut in her phallic form: the ithyphallic leonine deity is designated as Mut-A’at or Mut the Great at at the Hibis Temple. Late Period built by the Persian pharaohs. At first I found that odd for a Persian queen - but now I see the picture more clearly: Sehkmet - Min or Mut and Ishtar or Inanna are the same or similar - They all have a phallus ... Garden of Priapus - 129 Irumation after rough anal sex with an asian amazon soldier in the stocks ... In Babylon enemy soldiers were turned into women. But not just enemy soldiers - Babylon men too! It was not complete though - there many examples of vanilla male female sex ... Garden of Priapus - 130 Nude Ishtar as Goddess of Love cupping her breasts - clay, Old Babylonian, 2nd millennium BC - Thats probably what men saw in the sacred prostitute or Naditu temples - The vulva is a recurring motif -That's probably a vulva helmet ! Men were probably expected to be experts in arousing the vulva - the Roman Irumation ... Garden of Priapus - 131 Pair having anal sex and reaching out to Inanna - That's the Hieros Gamos. My guess is the beard is a woman and the bent over partner is a man ... The religious imagery supports this view - The armed goddess penetrates the religious supplicant in the Naditu temple - through the Naditu or sacred prostitute ... Garden of Priapus - 132 Mari Statue - Bearded and robed Naditu priestess offering a vase ... 1800 BC Babylon. There are many images of anal sex with the bent over party drinking from that vase. She is offering the vase and he accepts ... - or the bearded Naditu anally penetrates the naked supplicant in the temple. Garden of Priapus - 133 3 Robed and bearded Naditu priestess' offering vases ... BC sculpted wall from Babylon. - Those are Naditu robes, but the faces are male and have beards. On their heads are vulva helmets like the one on a nude Ishtar above. They probably strapped on dildo's and sodomized supplicants in the Naditu temple. Garden of Priapus - 134 3 female hips with erect phalli - or Mentules - Faience votive genitalia - late Bronze age Babylon, Pergamon Museum, Germany. (labelled as male though - those are female hips!) Garden of Priapus - 135 Boss lady sodomizing a trussed up black man ... - Forgot how rare this is! The black male is missing from erotica ... Goatish sex - reminds me of a famous statue from ancient Naples of Pan sodomizing a goat - That was almost certainly female on male mentule sex - Rome was in the penis cage! Garden of Priapus - 136 Ishtar/Inanna as a winged lion - not a lioness! She has a beard and even the Egyptian penis leash or penis knot...Plus the vulva helmet - or maybe a penis helmet - or maybe 6 horns ... - The penis knot on the lion strongly suggests that in Babylon the penis was in the Fibula or penis cage ... A.H. Sayce, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, 5th ed., London, 1898, pp. 258-60. “Already, before the days of Sargon of Accad and the compilation of the great Babylonian work on astronomy, it had been discovered that the evening and morning stars were one and the same. Not only, therefore, was Istar the evening star, the companion of the moon; she became also the morning star, the companion and herald of the sun. It was thus that she assumed the attributes and titles of a male deity, since Dun-khud-e, “the hero who issues forth at daybreak,” was both a god and the morning star. As the morning star, therefore, Istar was a god and the successor of a god, so that it is not wonderful if the bewildered Semite, who found no visible sign of gender in the name of the divinity he had adopted, should sometimes have regarded Istar as the masculine form of Ashtoreth. Some of the early Accadian titles of Istar belong to her as the star of the morning, though the title of “Lady of Rising,” given her as “the wife of Anu” (H.C. Rawlinson, The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, 1886, ii. 54,15), would apply equally to the evening star. In making her the wife of the Sky-god, the mythologists were only expressing in another way what the poet of the legend of the seven evil spirits had denoted by saying that Istar set up her throne by the side of Anu. More usually, however, the relation between Istar and Anu was regarded as a genetic one; she was the daughter, rather than the wife, of the Sky. At times, again, she is called the daughter of the Moon-god, the Moon-god being here the larger body which begets the smaller star. It is possible that these different views about her descent are derived from different centres of worship; that which made her the daughter of Sin having its origin in Ur, while that which made her the daughter of Anu emanated from Erech. At any rate, her connection with the Moon-god seems to have been the more popular view in Semitic times. As a planet, Istar’s ordinary name was the Accadian Dilbat, or “Announcer.” One of the smaller cities of Babylonia had the same name, and was probably the chief seat of the worship of the goddess under this particular form. It is obvious that the name must have been originally applied not to the evening but to the morning star. It was only as the announcer of day and the herald of the sun that Venus could be the Accadian representative of the Semitic Nebo. The other messengers of the gods were male: and in Semitic times the fact that there had once been a female messenger was forgotten. The name of Dilbat, it is true, remained, but only as the name of a star; the place of lstar as the herald of the Sun-god was taken, at Babylon at all events, by Nebo. It is possible that the records of the city of Dilbat, if ever they are recovered, will show us that this was the primal home of the name of Istar itself, and the centre from which it first spread. If so, however, it was little more than the primal home of the goddess’s name. The real source and centre of the worship of Istar at the dawn of the historical period, the starting-point from which it was handed on to the Semites and became overlaid with Semitic beliefs and practices, was not Dilbat, but Erech. In the days when Erech had been a leading state, when the cult of the Sky-god had been carried by its people to other parts of the Eastern world, the cult of Istar also had been carried with it. Wherever the worship of Anu had gone, the worship of Istar, the daughter of Anu, went too.” A.H. Sayce, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, 5th ed., London, 1898, pp. 258-60. - from Morning Star, Evening Star, Ishtar, by Esteban Trujillo de Gutierrez - therealsamizdat. Garden of Priapus - 137 Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin Ishtar/Inanna as a winged bull - She has a beard and the vulva crown - or penis crown " ... Lama, Lamma or Lamassu ... is a Sumerian protective deity. Initially depicted as a female deity in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion - specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu. In some writings, it is portrayed to represent a female deity. ... Lamassu represent the zodiacs, parent-stars or constellations. ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 138 2 standing Lamassu with erections and penis or vulva helmets around a palm tree topped with the 8 pointed star of Ishtar. My analysis is the female phallus and the male Djed-pillar in the Sumerian form. In Egypt the Djed-pillar is erected at the 30-year Sed ferstival. - To me that's the rising of the Kundalini and the Hieros Gamos (Although that erect Sumerian bull-man is usually read as Enkidu) Molded plaque: bull-men flanking a tree trunk surmounted by a sun disc - Old Babylonian, ca. 2000 - 1600 B.C. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 406 Garden of Priapus - 139 Standing Lamassu with large erection and penis helmet - Lamassu in Sumeria was a female deity, so that's a female phallus. That's the image and situation that men had to accept when the when they encounted the Naditu priestess during the Sumerian spring sacred marriage festival - Rough anal sodomy with a bull-mentule ... More that that though - Sumerian men at home were probably being sodomized by bull-wives... * " ... Old Babylonian Clay Mould with Standing Bull Man, Circa 2000 BC to 1700 BC, Clay The Old Babylonian period describes south Mesopotamia between 2000-1600 BC. The early years saw a number of important states dominating the region: Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna and, from 1894 BC, Babylon. Babylon was ruled by a dynasty of Amorite kings. The sixth ruler was Hammurapi, who defeated the other southern states and expanded his control into north Mesopotamia. On the death of Hammurapi the empire gradually shrank over about 150 years. Nonetheless, Babylon remained an important power until it was sacked by the Hittite king, Mursili I, in about 1595 BC. During the Old Babylonian period literary activity flourished with scribes composing and recording religious, poetic and ‘scientific’ works in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform. Perhaps the most famous monument is the stele of Hammurapi, now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Ceramic plaques of this sort were mass- produced from moulds and represent a form of art available to a wide audience. The casting of plaques was a simple and inexpensive way to produce relief images, since numerous plaques could be made from a single mold. They have been excavated in temples as well as household shrines in private homes. Their subject matter varies widely, including religious images, mythological and erotic scenes, and representations of rulers and gods. This plaque depicts a hittyphallic creature with the head and torso of a human but the horns, lower body and legs of a bull. Though similar figures are depicted earlier in Iran, they are first seen in Mesopotamian art around 2500 BC, most commonly on cylinder seals, and are associated with the sun-god Shamash. The bull-man was usually shown in profile, with a single visible horn projecting forward. However, here he is depicted in a less common form; his whole body above the waist, shown in frontal view, shows that he was intended to be double-horned. He may be supporting a divine emblem and thus acting as a protective deity. Shamash (Sumerian: Utu) was an important Mesopotamian god associated with the sun and responsible for justice and truth. Omens attributed to Shamash could be discovered by examining animal entrails. His symbols are a rod and a ring and he is sometimes represented by a winged sun-disc or a Maltese cross. Shamash had major temples at Sippar and Larsa. Although baked clay plaques were produced on a large scale using moulds in southern Mesopotamia from the second millennium BC, and while many show informal scenes and reflect the private face of life, this example clearly has magical or religious significance. ... " barakatgallery Garden of Priapus - 140 Naditu priestess sodomizing a man who drinks from the Naditu's sacred vase. * " ... Babylonian terracotta plaque with erotic scene, Circa 2100 BC to 1500 BC, Terracotta This baked clay plaque shows a man and woman copulating a tergo. Ceramic baked plaques were mass - produced from moulds in Southern Mesopotamia already from the second millennium BC. and represent a form of art available to a wide audience. The casting of plaques was a simple and inexpensive way to produce relief images, since numerous plaques could be made from a single mould. They have been excavated in temples as well as in household shrines of private homes. Though their exact purpose is not clear, they may have had magical or religious significance. Their subject matter varies widely, as they show informal scenes and reflect the private face of life, by including religious images, mythological and erotic scenes and representations of rulers and gods. ... " barakatgallery * Following the Roman system of the penis cage - men under 25 were restricted to anal sex and due to the penis cage and had a soft feminine physique that aged more slowly - an event marked by the first beard. The penis cage reduced the flow of testosterone ... " ... And it is precisely “to the shadow of the city-wall,” that Ishtar, the divine harlot, beckons young men to appease her insatiable desire according to an Old Babylonian song: “Seven for her midriff, seven for her loins (...), Sixty and sixty satisfy themselves in turn upon her vulva (...) The young men have tired, yet Ishtar never tires.” (Foster 2005: 678) The only explicit Mesopotamian evidence for actual payment for sex is in a Sumerian literary text where Inana, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar, advertises that her fee when standing against a wall is one shekel, but bending over it is one and a half shekels - a not inconsiderate sum if we realize that a hired man’s salary in the Old Babylonian period was one shekel per month. However, Inana doesn’t tell us if the wall she leans against is interior or exterior. Lexical texts imagine prostitutes working in fields, prowling the banks of watercourses and haunting ruin hills. The only indoor venue listed is the tavern ..., and it is probably a tavern wall that Inana would lean against when selling her favors. Two Sumerian texts imagine Inana’s appearance as the evening star to be like a prostitute entering a tavern in the evening, and in a third text, Inana identifies herself as a prostitute sitting at the tavern gate. ... " Jerrold S. Cooper, The Job of Sex: The social and economic role of prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia Garden of Priapus - 141 Standing Lamassu with large erection and penis helmet - and a sacred Naditu vase on a rod. - Lamassu in Sumeria was a female deity, so that's a female phallus - a Naditu bull ... * Limestone Wall Plaque of a Bull-Man Holding a Post 1600 B.C. From Ur - Alamy I think there was an African version of this - the Queen of Sheba and her "goat-foot" that King Solomon turned into a human foot. Most Ethiopians speak a southern Semitic language ... Garden of Priapus - 142 Inanna cupping her naked breasts. Naditu priestesses were sexually insatiable and ravished many young men at the same time. Insert the penis cage or fibula and the large female mentule or female phallus and the picture becomes clearer: * "Songs of Ancient Mesopotamia - Ishtar will not tire One comes up to her The city is built on pleasure Come here, give me what I want The city is built on pleasure Then another comes up to her The city is built on pleasure Come here, let me touch your vulva The city is built on pleasure Since I'm ready to give you all that you want The city is built on pleasure Get all the young men of your city together The city is built on pleasure Let's go to the shade of the wall The city is built on pleasure Seven for her midriff, seven for her loins The city is built on pleasure Sixty then sixty satisfy themselves in turn upon her nakedness The city is built on pleasure Young men have tired, Ishtar will not tire The city is built on pleasure Get on with it, fellows, for my lovely vulva The city is built on pleasure As the girl demanded, The city is built on pleasure the young men heeded, gave her what she asked for The city is built on pleasure ... " lyricstranslate. Garden of Priapus - 143 2 clothed and armed Naditu priestesses in penis helmets and a sacred tree - Another version of the Egyptian Djed pillar - the Babylonian version of the resurrection of Osiris. The literal version of this was the Sed festival and the removal of the penis cage after 30 years in lock-up. ...That was part testosterone reduction or forced feminization of men - but also a preservation of eros which was forced up the spinal column and the chakras That's the fire of the garden of Priapus that must be protected from an ever constant threat of theft * A.H. Sayce, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion (1898) “But the cedar was something more than a world-tree. It was employed, as we have seen, in incantations and magic rites which were intended to restore strength and life to the human frame. It was thus essentially “a tree of life,” and the prototype and original of those conventional trees of Iife with which the walls of the Assyrian paiaces were adorned. Those who have visited the Assyrian collection of the British Museum will remember the curious form which it generally assumes, as well as the figures of the two cherubs which kneel or stand before it on either side. At times they are purely human; at other times they have the head of a hawk and hold a cone -the fruit of the cedar -over the tree by whose side they stand. It is possible that, as time went on, another tree became confounded with the original tree of life. The palm was from the earliest period characteristic of Babylonia; and while its fruit seemed to be the stay and support of life, the wine made from it made “glad the heart of man.” Date-wine was largely used, not only in Babylonian medicine, but in the religious and magical ceremonies of Babylonia as well. It is not at all improbable, therefore, that the later Babylonian tree of life, with its strange conventional form, was an amalgamation of two actual trees, the cedar and the palm. It is even possible that while one of them, the cedar, was primarily the sacred tree of Eridu, the other was originally the sacred tree of some other locality of Chaldea. What gives some colour to this last suggestion is, that in later Babylonian belief the tree of life and the tree of knowledge were one and the same. The text which describes the initiation of a soothsayer associates the cedar with “the treasures of Anu, Bel and Ea, the tablets of the gods, the delivering of the oracle of heaven and earth.” It was upon the heart or core of the cedar, too, that the name of Ea, the god of wisdom, was inscribed. And it was wisdom rather than life, the knowledge of the secrets of heaven and the magical arts that benefit or injure, which the priesthood of Babylonia and the gods they worshipped kept jealously guarded. Only the initiated were allowed to taste of its fruit. In this respect, consequently, there was a marked difference between the belief of the Babylonians and the account which we find in the earlier chapters of Genesis.” A.H. Sayce, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as Illustrated by the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, 5th ed., London, 1898, pp. 241-2. From : The Tree of Life = The Tree of Knowledge by Esteban Trujillo de Gutierrez - therealsamizdat Garden of Priapus - 144 Asian amazon sodomizing a man while grabbing his "apples" or caged penis ... Those are the apples on the Warka vase - from the naked and caged King on down. I get the feeling that in Babylon the penis cage did not come off! A rare female phallus only civilization ... The behaviour of the deities in Babylon suggests female domination at all levels including the underworld where Inanna's sister reigned supreme " ... Although she was worshipped as the goddess of love, Inanna was not the goddess of marriage, nor was she ever viewed as a mother goddess. A description of her from one of her hymns declares, "When the servants let the flocks loose, and when cattle and sheep are returned to cow-pen and sheepfold, then, my lady, like the nameless poor, you wear only a single garment. The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you are likely to snatch a man from the tavern." ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 145 A black man being sodomized by boss lady in the pillory. Asian and white match ups are common - but black male and white female contests in BDSM femdom are few and far between... Maybe the problem with black men is literal - in the ancient world black was the color of the chthonic world ... That's the world of the dead as well as the world of the earth and eros - Eros from the black earth is fine, but being hijacked by spirits from the lower world is not fine! Garden of Priapus - 146 A Gali or Eunuch next to a tree of life. The opposite of the bearded phallic Lammasu. For the ruling classes that was probably the norm. But I get the feeling all of Babylon was like this - even foreign soldiers had to switch genders ... Awkward but a high libido Amazon world - the energy stayed within ... Asia Minor - or Troy - inherited this system of Catamites and Pathic women " ... Relief panel ca. 883 - 859 B.C. Assyrian On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 401 The beardless male figure depicted on this panel from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) is almost certainly a eunuch. Many such figures appear in Assyrian art, as eunuchs were central to court life. As they could not have children themselves, eunuchs were generally perceived as less of a threat to the king and his dynasty; however, some eunuchs did become enormously powerful. Those depicted close to the king are often shown with specific functions, in this case that of an arms bearer: the figure carries a mace, bow, quiver of arrows, and sword, all of which were most likely those of the king. It is probable that this role was a privileged one, and that to be depicted in this way reflected a very high rank at court. Like other mortal and supernatural figures shown in the reliefs, he is richly dressed, wearing finely embroidered clothes, earrings, a collar, an armlet with animal-head terminals, and a bracelet with a large rosette. On the left side of the relief can be seen part of a stylized "sacred tree," a symbol that appears repeatedly in the palace. The tree represents no real plant, and the form in which it is depicted varies within Neo-Assyrian art. The tree is generally thought to be a symbol of the agricultural fertility and abundance, and probably the more general prosperity, of Assyria. The "Standard Inscription" listing the achievements of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883 - 859 B.C.) runs across the panel. The inscription is carved in cuneiform script and written in the Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language. After giving his ancestry and royal titles, the Standard Inscription describes Ashurnasirpal’s successful military campaigns to east and west and his building works at Nimrud, most importantly the construction of the palace itself. The inscription is thought to have had a magical function, contributing to the divine protection of the king and the palace. ... " Met Garden of Priapus - 147 Bearded, muscular and armed female winged Genie with a penis helmet in front of the Tree of Life. " ... Relief panel ca. 883 - 859 B.C. Assyrian On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 401 This panel from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) depicts a winged supernatural figure. Such figures appear throughout the palace, sometimes flanking either the figure of the Assyrian king or a stylized "sacred tree." The reliefs were painted, but today almost none of the original pigment survives. However, the reliefs themselves retain incredible detail, including intricate incised designs on many of the figures’ clothing. The protective figure on this panel originally stood back to back with another on one side of a doorway, with parallel figures on the other side, so that one pair of figures faced out toward a courtyard and the other into the room. The Museum collection includes fragments of all four figures. The figure is human-headed and faces left, holding in his left hand a bucket and in his right hand a cone whose exact nature is unclear. One suggestion has been that the gesture, sometimes performed by figures flanking a sacred tree, is symbolic of fertilization: the "cone" resembles the male date spathe used by Mesopotamian farmers, with water, to artificially fertilize female date-palm trees. It does seem likely that the cone was supposed to hold and dispense water from the bucket in this way, but it is described in Akkadian as a "purifier," and the fact that figures performing this gesture are also shown flanking the king suggests that some purifying or protective meaning is present. The figure wears a horned cap, indicating divinity, and jewelry: visible are a large pendant earring, a collar consisting of two bands of beads and spacers, armlets with animal-head terminals, and bracelets, one artificially reversed so that the large central rosette symbols, associated with divinity and perhaps particularly with the goddess Ishtar, are visible on both. Although we cannot know how these elements were originally painted, excavated parallels include elaborate jewelry in gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones. A collar or necklace such as that shown here might have been made up of semi-precious stones separated by gold spacer beads. The figure carries three knives, tucked into a belt with their handles visible at chest level, and one of these is also animal-headed. The figures are supernatural but do not represent any of the great gods. Rather, they are part of the vast supernatural population that for ancient Mesopotamians animated every aspect of the world. They appear as either eagle-headed or human-headed and wear a horned crown to indicate divinity. Both types of figure usually have wings. Because of their resemblance to groups of figurines buried under doorways for protection whose identities are known through ritual texts, it has been suggested that the figures in the palace reliefs represent the apkallu, wise sages from the distant past. This may indeed be one level of their symbolism, but protective figures of this kind are likely to have held multiple meanings and mythological connections. Figures such as these continued to be depicted in later Assyrian palaces, though less frequently. Only in the Northwest Palace do they form such a dominant feature of the relief program. Also unique to the Northwest Palace is the so-called Standard Inscription that ran across the middle of every relief, often cutting across the imagery. The inscription, carved in cuneiform script and written in the Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, lists the achievements of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883 - 859 B.C.), the builder of the palace. After giving his ancestry and royal titles, the Standard Inscription describes Ashurnasirpal’s successful military campaigns to east and west and his building works at Nimrud, most importantly the construction of the palace itself. The inscription is thought to have had a magical function, contributing to the divine protection of the king and the palace. ... " Met Garden of Priapus - 148 Another bearded, muscular and armed female winged Genie with a penis helmet in front of the Tree of Life. - That's a "Jinn" to Muslims - Babylon female Genies had large bull Mentules - of female phalli - Thats the penis helmet motif and the first thing supplicants in the Naditu temples were met with - female on male anal sex! Had a recent dream of a long conversation with an Arab in the Military - as I was leaving he said goodbye my Lady! - That's kind of related to this Babylon stuff - Babylonian men had well developed female sides or "Anima's" " ... Relief panel ca. 883 - 859 B.C. Assyrian On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 401 This panel from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) depicts a winged supernatural figure. Such figures appear throughout the palace, sometimes flanking either the figure of the Assyrian king or a stylized "sacred tree." The reliefs were painted, but today almost none of the original pigment survives. However, the reliefs themselves retain incredible detail, including intricate incised designs on many of the figures’ clothing. The protective figure on this panel originally stood back to back with another on one side of a doorway, with parallel figures on the other side, so that one pair of figures faced out toward a courtyard and the other into the room. The Museum collection includes fragments of all four figures. The figure is human-headed and faces left, holding in his left hand a plant and raising his open right hand in a beneficent gesture. The figure wears a horned cap, indicating divinity, and jewelry: visible are a large pendant earring, a collar consisting of two bands of beads and spacers, armlets with animal-head terminals, and bracelets, one artificially reversed so that the large central rosette symbols, associated with divinity and perhaps particularly with the goddess Ishtar, are visible on both. Although we cannot know how these elements were originally painted, excavated parallels include elaborate jewelry in gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones. A collar or necklace such as that shown here might have been made up of semi-precious stones separated by gold spacer beads. The figure carries three knives, tucked into a belt with their handles visible at chest level. One of these is also animal-headed, as are the tips of two of the sheaths visible below the belt. The heads at the sheath tips are apparently reptilian, possibly representing the Mushhushshu, a composite creature with multiple divine associations. The figures are supernatural but do not represent any of the great gods. Rather, they are part of the vast supernatural population that for ancient Mesopotamians animated every aspect of the world. They appear as either eagle-headed or human-headed and wear a horned crown to indicate divinity. Both types of figure usually have wings. Because of their resemblance to groups of figurines buried under doorways for protection whose identities are known through ritual texts, it has been suggested that the figures in the palace reliefs represent the apkallu, wise sages from the distant past. This may indeed be one level of their symbolism, but protective figures of this kind are likely to have held multiple meanings and mythological connections. Figures such as these continued to be depicted in later Assyrian palaces, though less frequently. Only in the Northwest Palace do they form such a dominant feature of the relief program. Also unique to the Northwest Palace is the so-called Standard Inscription that ran across the middle of every relief, often cutting across the imagery. The inscription, carved in cuneiform script and written in the Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, lists the achievements of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.), the builder of the palace. After giving his ancestry and royal titles, the Standard Inscription describes Ashurnasirpal’s successful military campaigns to east and west and his building works at Nimrud, most importantly the construction of the palace itself. The inscription is thought to have had a magical function, contributing to the divine protection of the king and the palace. ... " Met Garden of Priapus - 149 2 panels of the Babylon tree of life. Top level has 2 kneeling armed and bearded female genies in the penis helmet. Bottom panel has mythological birds ... As with the Egyptian Djed pillar - the birds a probably female Horus figures - or Harpocrates - That was usually the daughter of the king and his "penis cager". The tree itself is the Kundalini of Osiris the King after many years in the penis cage ... " ... Relief panel ca. 883 - 859 B.C. Assyrian On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 401 In most rooms of the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), the reliefs showing magical figures had a single, overlifesize pictorial register, with the inscription in the center cutting across the imagery. The relief shown here, however, in which two registers of imagery are separated by a central band containing the inscription, is a type found only in certain rooms of the palace. It is not clear why the design is different in these rooms, although their position in the palace suggests they had special ritual significance. One theory is that the reliefs were divided in order to multiply the number of magical protective images in these special spaces; another theory is that, because of their importance, these rooms were decorated first and the artistic plan subsequently changed. The stone of the reliefs in these rooms often has a more translucent and mottled appearance than in other parts of the palace, although whether this distinction was the result of deliberate selection or a chance consequence of quarrying and shipments is unclear. Each register of imagery shows a pair of supernatural figures flanking a stylized "sacred tree." Further sacred trees can be seen to the left, and similar imagery continued around the room from which this slab came. The tree is thought to represent the prosperity and agricultural abundance of Assyria, and perhaps on one level the state itself. The supernatural figures are protective, and similar to those shown at larger scale throughout the palace. The gesture performed by the bird-headed figures with bucket and cone has been much discussed. One suggestion is that it symbolizes the fertilization of the land through the imagery of artificial date-palm fertilization, in which male date-spathes are used to fertilize female plants. The Assyrian term for the cone, however, seems to be "purifier," and it is therefore likely that the symbolism has as much or more to do with magical protection. Figures such as these continued to be depicted in later Assyrian palaces, though less frequently. Only in the Northwest Palace do they form such a dominant feature of the relief program. Also unique to the Northwest Palace is the so-called Standard Inscription that ran across the middle of every relief. The inscription, carved in cuneiform script and written in the Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language, lists the achievements of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883 - 859 B.C.), the builder of the palace. After giving his ancestry and royal titles, the Standard Inscription describes Ashurnasirpal’s successful military campaigns to east and west and his building works at Nimrud, most importantly the construction of the palace itself. Like the imagery, the repeating inscription is thought to have had a magical function, contributing to the divine protection of the king and the palace. ... " Met Garden of Priapus - 150 More Asian action - woman with a cigarette and black mentule sodomizing a man in the penis cage ... East asians are like east europeans - there are no negros to project the chthonic or lower world onto! - That changes though, after a generation in the west ... Photo partly altered ... The Babylon stuff has a life of its own - like it can resist the blocking ... My guess is the blocking is also a "jinn" - the same American "jinn" that rigidly maintains racial segregation Garden of Priapus - 151 3 young Americans whipping an older man in the barn ... Energy transfer ... from young to old ! That was Roman sex - but also Babylon sex - The bible calls Rome "the great Babylon" and it was literally true - the secret core of Rome was a femdom Babylon "jinn" - Maybe Ishtar herself - That's the only way to make sense of the large number of upper class Galli in imperial Rome - including many emperors - the other side of the Gallus was Venus with a penis - or page 150 of this website ... Garden of Priapus - 152 Boss lady sodomizing and a trussed up and caged man with a large black mentule - The pigs of Quartilla, Calypso and Circe The lost Roman book of female on male sex by Philaenis is probably full of this... As were the annual rites of the Bacchantes the pathic priestesses and followers of the catamite Greek god of wine Bacchus. Garden of Priapus - 153 Amazon sodomizing a prone man In ancient Babylon Inanna probably sodomized the shepard Dumuzi - Dumuzi being the King and Inanna represented by the Nabitu high priestess. The apples of the apple tree are probably symbolic of female on male anal sex: " ... Inanna placed the shugurra, the crown of the steppe, on her head. She went to the sheepfold, to the shepard. She leaned back against the apple tree. When she leaned against the apple tree, her vulva was wonderous to behold. Rejoicing at her wounderous vulva, the young woman Inanna applauded herself. ... " Wolkstein and Kramer's - "Inanna and the God of Wisdom" Garden of Priapus - 154 Boss lady sodomizing a man who services the vulva of an older Amazon - The vulva plays a large part in Sumerian erotica - but the impression of vanilla sex is wrong - It was an Amazon society and the female phallus is hinted at in many places. Inanna wore the crown and initiated sex with her servant the shepard Dumuzi by exposing her vulva in front of his apple tree. Inanna is the snake in the biblical apple tree - and the Nabitu sacred prostitute is excitedly compared to a phallic snake to birds in a poem above. The cedar rising in the Kings lap may be an erect penis - but since upper class men were Gali or in the penis cage - that's probably a female phallus - In other places, Sumerian men are encouraged to allow their wives to play in their laps - which is read as a sexual act. Sumerian men, like Roman men were in the Fibula - that was probaby a mentule or female phallus playing in the lap " ... Inanna spoke: "What I tell you Let the singer weave into song. What I tell you, Let it flow from ear to mouth, Let it pass from old to young: My vulva, the horn, The Boat of Heaven, Is full of eagerness like the young moon. My untilled land lies fallow. As for me, Inanna, Who will plow my vulva! Who will plow my high field! Who will plow my wet ground! As for me, the young woman, Who will plow my vulva! Who will station the ox there! Who will plow my vulva!" Dumuzi replied: "Great Lady, the king will plow your vulva. I, Dumuzi the King, will plow your vulva." Inanna: "Then plow my vulva, man of my heart! Plow my vulva!" At the king's lap stood the rising cedar. Plants grew high by their side. Grains grew high by their side. Gardens flourished luxuriantly. Inanna sang: "He has sprouted; he has burgeoned; He is lettuce planted by the water. He is the one my womb loves best. My well-stocked garden of the plain, My barley growing high in its furrow, My apple tree which bears fruit up to its crown, He is lettuce planted by the water. My honey-man, my honey-man sweetens me always. My lord, the honey-man of the gods, He is the one my womb loves best. His hand is honey, his foot is honey, He sweetens me always. My eager impetuous caresser of the navel, My caresser of the soft thighs, He is the one my womb loves best, He is lettuce planted by the water." Dumuzi sang: "O Lady, your breast is your field. Inanna, your breast is your field. Your broad field pours out plants. Your broad field pours out grain. Water flows from on high for your servant. Bread flows from on high for your servant. Pour it out for me, Inanna. I will drink all you offer." Inanna sang: "Make your milk sweet and thick, my bridegroom. My shepherd, I will drink your fresh milk. Wild bull, Dumuzi, make your milk sweet and thick. I will drink your fresh milk. Let the milk of the goat flow in my sheepfold. Fill my holy churn with honey cheese. Lord Dumuzi, I will drink your fresh milk. My husband, I will guard my sheepfold for you. I will watch over your house of life, the storehouse, The shining quivering place which delights Sumer - The house which decides the fates of the land, The house which gives the breath of life to the people. I, the queen of the palace, will watch over your house." Dumuzi spoke: "My sister, I would go with you to my garden. Inanna I would go with you to my garden. I would go with you to my orchard. I would go with you to my apple tree. There I would plant the sweet, honey-covered seed." Inanna spoke: "He brought me into his garden. My brother, Dumuzi, brought me into his garden. I strolled with him among the standing trees, I stood with him among the fallen trees, By an apple tree I knelt as is proper. Before my brother coming in song, Who rose to me out of the poplar leaves, Who came to me in the midday heat, Before my lord Dumuzi, I poured out plants from my womb. I placed plants before him, I poured out plants before him. I placed grain before him, I poured out grain before him. I poured out grain from my womb." Inanna sang: "Last night as I, the queen, was shining bright, Last night as I, the Queen of Heaven, was shining bright, As I was shining bright and dancing, Singing praises at the coming of the night-- He met me--he met me! My lord Dumuzi met me. He put his hand into my hand. He pressed his neck close against mine. My high priest is ready for the holy loins. My lord Dumuzi is ready for the holy loins. The plants and herbs in his field are ripe. O Dumuzi! Your fullness is my delight!" She called for it, she called for it, she called for the bed! She called for the bed that rejoices the heart. She called for the bed that sweetens the loins. She called for the bed of kingship. She called for the bed of queenship" - Inanna, queen of heaven and earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. Garden of Priapus - 155 Namio Harukawa: 3 caged men "plowing the vulva" of a young queen: the "holy loins" of the poem above. Plowing the vulva was almost certainly a requirement of all men during the annual spring sacred marriage festival in Sumeria and Babylon. From the Priapea we learn that this was an older man's specialty though: Irumation . Younger men were anally sodomized in the garden of Priapus. * "Tenderly he caresses her, murmuring words of love: ”O my holy jewel! O my wondrous Inanna!” After he enters her holy vulva, causing the queen to rejoice, After he enters her holy vulva, causing Inanna to rejoice, Inanna holds him to her and murmurs: ”O Dumuzi, you are truly my love” Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. - The penis helmet seen on many prints above could also be a vulva helmet - "My vulva, the horn, The Boat of Heaven" - Oral sex on Inanna's vulva gave birth to the female phallus - thats the imagery in the poem above - A dildo was probably strapped on followed by female on male anal sex ... Garden of Priapus - 156 Wall plaque showing libations by devotees and a naked priest, to a seated god and a temple. Ur, 2500 BC - Wikipedia - Naked men and clothed women - seated person is probably a bearded high priestess. The libations were probably poured into the vase that men drank from while being anally sodomized by the bearded high priestess " ... In Sumerian poetic discourse, however, the voice of women dominates. She articulates her desire and demands sexual satisfaction, while the man’s voice is usually presented in response to her desire (Leick: 56). ”You are to place your right hand on my genitals while your left hand rests on my head, bringing your mouth close to my mouth, and taking my lips in your mouth: thus you shall take an oath for me. This is the oath of women, my brother of the beautiful eyes” (ETCSL:4.08.02). ... " Evenisation by Richard Conricus, 2009 King Sargon's daughter Enheduana is credited as the world's first author - as high priestess of Inanna her father the king became her servant the shepard Dumuzi! That was the Egyptian way too - the "penis cager" of the king was usually his wife, but after she died his daughter stepped into that role. - More than penis cager in Sumer - the High priestess sodomized the king ... " ... In the Sumerian world of concepts, the reader enters a social structure that contrasts our Western secularized society. Probably the most significant difference is that humans in Sumerian culture - like its predecessors - lived in close relationship with many gods. People felt completely subject to the gods’ arbitrariness and tried in every way to appease them for the good of themselves and probably their society. Testimonies of this can be found in the High Priestess Enheduana’s candid description of her relationship with the goddess of love, Inana. Enheduana is widely recognized as the first author of world history, and her texts reflect a very close relationship, where Enheduana sometimes almost entirely identifies herself with Inana. Doctor of Philosophy, Roberta Binkley, names her "the most important person of her millennium” as significant as Plato and Shakespeare” (Binkley:ii). Enheduana was born around 2300 BC and was the daughter of Sargon the Great, who united the Sumerian and Akkadian kingdoms. She was appointed by Sargon as the High Priestess in the temple of the (masculine) Nanna many-god in Ur (southern Iraq), but came to pay homage to the goddess of love Inana, as the greatest and most important god. An action that probably led to conflict with other priests/rulers and possibly caused her, for a while, to be forced away from the Nanna temple. The High Priestess of each temple represented the worldly covenant with each god. According to tradition, Enheduana should have performed ritual intercourse in the temple each spring, to appease the gods to give birth to new life, that is, to let the crops grow and bring plentiful harvests. Whether these traditions were followed, to what extent, and for how long, there is disagreement." Evenisation by Richard Conricus, 2009 " ... Enheduanna is the earliest known poet whose name has been recorded. She was the High Priestess of the goddess Inanna and the moon god Nanna (Sin). She lived in the Sumerian city-state of Ur. Enheduanna's contributions to Sumerian literature, definitively ascribed to her, include several personal devotions to Inanna and a collection of hymns known as the "Sumerian Temple Hymns". Further additional texts are ascribed to her. This makes her the first named author in world history. She was the first known woman to hold the title of EN, a role of great political importance that was often held by royal daughters. She was appointed to the role by her father, King Sargon of Akkad. Her mother was probably Queen Tashlultum. Enheduanna was appointed to the role of High Priestess in a shrewd political move by Sargon to help secure power in the south of his kingdom, where the City of Ur was located. She continued to hold office during the reign of Rimush, her brother, when she was involved in some form of political turmoil, expelled, then eventually reinstated as high priestess. Her composition 'The Exaltation of Inanna ... details her expulsion from Ur and eventual reinstatement. This correlates with 'The Curse of Akkade' in which Naram-Sin, under whom Enheduanna may have also served, is cursed and cast out by Enlil. ... " Wikipedia * In this poem - all power is in Innanna and her high priestess. The king as her consort Dumuzi is referred to as a Gala or castrati: "Beloved wife of Ushumgalanna (Dumuzi)" Futhermore the the elder gods have submitted to Inanna : "The Anunna have prostrated themselves before you. Although at birth You were the younger sister, How much greater You have become than the Anunna, the Great Gods! The Anunna kiss the ground before You." The adoration of Inanna of Ur by Enheduana " ...Queen of all the ME, Radiant Light, Life-giving Woman, beloved of An (and) Urash, Hierodule of An, much bejeweled, Who loves the life-giving tiara, fit for High Priestesshood, Who grasps in (her) hand, the seven ME, My Queen, you who are the Guardian of All the Great ME, You have lifted the ME, have tied the ME to Your hands, Have gathered the ME, pressed the ME to Your breast. You have filled the land with venom, like a dragon. Vegetation ceases, when You thunder like Ishkur, You who bring down the Flood from the mountain, Supreme One, who are the Inanna of Heaven (and) Earth, Who rain flaming fire over the land, Who have been given the me by An, Queen Who Rides the Beasts, Who at the holy command of An, utters the (divine) words, Who can fathom Your great rites! Destroyer of the Foreign Lands, You have given wings to the storm, Beloved of Enlil - You made it (the storm) blow over the land, You carried out the instructions of An. My Queen, the foreign lands cower at Your cry, In dread (and) fear of the South Wind, mankind Brought You their anguished clamor, Took before You their anguished outcry Opened before You wailing and weeping, Brought before You the "great" lamentations in the city streets. In the van of battle, everything was struck down before You, My Queen, You are all devouring in Your power, You kept on attacking like an attacking storm, Kept on blowing (louder) than the howling storm, Kept on thundering (louder) than Ishkur, Kept on moaning (louder) than the evil winds, Your feet grew not weary, You caused wailing to be uttered on the "lyre of lament." My Queen, [all] the Anunna, the great gods, Fled before You like fluttering bats, Could not stand before Your awesome face, Could not approach Your awesome forehead. Who can soothe Your angry heart! Your baleful heart is beyond soothing! Queen, Happy of "Liver," Joyful of Heart, (But) whose anger cannot be soothed, daughter of Sin, Queen, Paramount in the Land, Who has (ever) paid You (enough) homage! The mountain who kept from paying homage to You - vegetation became "tabu" for it, You burnt down its great gates, Its rivers ran with blood because of You, its people had nothing to drink, Its troops were led off willingly (into captivity) before You, Its forces disbanded themselves willingly before You, Its strong men paraded willingly before You, The amusement places of its cities were filled with turbulence, Its adult males were driven off as captives before You. Against the city that said not "Yours is the land,' That said not "It belongs to the father who begot you," You promised Your Holy Word, turned away from it, Kept Your distance from its womb, Its woman spoke not of love with her husband, In the deep night she whispered not (tenderly) with him, Revealed not to him the "Holiness" of Her heart. Rampant Wild Cow, elder daughter of Sin, Queen, greater than An, who has (ever) paid You (enough) homage! You who in accordance with the life giving me, Great Queen of Queens, Have become greater than Your mother who gave birth to you, (as soon as) you came forth from the Holy Womb, Knowing, Wise, Queen of All the Lands, Who multiplies (all) living creatures (and) peoples -- I have uttered Your Holy song. Life-Giving Goddess, fit for the ME, whose acclamation is exalted, Merciful, Live-Giving Woman, Radiant of Heart, I have uttered it before You in accordance with the ME. I have entered before You in my holy gipar, I the En, Enheduanna, Carrying the masab-basket, I uttered a joyous chant (But now) I no longer dwell in the goodly place You established. Came the day, the sun scorched me Came the shade (of night), the South Wind overwhelmed me, My honey-sweet voice has become strident, Whatever gave me pleasure has turned into dust. Oh Sin, King of Heaven, my (bitter) fate, To An declare, An will deliver me, Pray declare it to An, he will deliver me. The kingship of heaven has been seized by the woman (Inanna), At whose feet lies the flood-land. That woman (Inanna) so exalted, who has made me tremble together the city (Ur), Stay Her, let Her heart be soothed by me. I, Enheduanna will offer supplications to Her, My tears, like sweet drinks. Will I proffer to the Holy Inanna, I will greet Her in peace, Let not Ashimbabbar (Sin) be troubled. She (Inanna) has changed altogether the rites of Holy An, Has seized the Eanna from An, Feared not the great An, That house (the Eanna) whose charm was irresistible, whose allure was unending, That house She has turned over to destruction, Her . . . that She brought there has . . . My Wild Cow (Inanna) assaults there its men, makes them captive. I, what am I among the living creatures! May An give over (to punishment) the rebellious lands that hate your (Inanna's) Nanna, May An split its cities asunder, May Enlil curse it, May not its tear-destined child be soothed by her mother, Oh, Queen who established lamentations, Your "boat of lamentations," has landed in an inimical land, There will I die, while singing the holy song. As for me, my Nanna watched not over me, I have been attacked most cruelly. Ashimbabbar has not spoken my verdict. But what matter, whether he spoke it or not! I, accustomed to triumph, have been driven forth from (my) house, Was forced to flee like the cote like a swallow, my life is devoured, Was made to walk among the mountain thorns, The life-giving tiara of En-ship was taken from me, Eunuchs were assigned to me - "These are becoming to you," it was told me. Dearest Queen, Beloved of An, Let your Holy heart, the Noble, return to me, Beloved wife of Ushumgalanna (Dumuzi), Great Queen of the Horizon and the Zenith, The Anunna have prostrated themselves before you. Although at birth You were the younger sister, How much greater You have become than the Anunna, the Great Gods! The Anunna kiss the ground before You. It is not my verdict that has been completed, it is a strange verdict that has been turned into my verdict, The fruitful bed has been abolished, (So that) I have not interpreted to man the commands of Ningal. For me, the Radiant En of Nanna, May your heart be soothed, You who are the Queen beloved of An. "You are known, You are known" - it is not of Nanna that I have recited it, it is of You that I have recited it. You are known by Your heaven-like height, You are known by Your earth-like breadth, You are known by Your destruction of rebel-lands, You are known by Your massacring (their people), You are known by Your devouring (their) dead like a dog, You are known by Your fierce countenance. You are known by the raising of Your fierce countenance, You are known by Your flashing eyes. You are known by Your contentiousness (and) disobedience, You are known by Your many triumphs" -- It is not of Nanna that I have recited it, it is of You that I have recited it. My Queen, I have extolled You, who alone are exalted, Queen Beloved of An, I have erected your daises, Have heaped up the coals, have conducted the rites, Have set up the nuptial chamber for You, may Your heart be soothed for me, Enough, more than enough innovations, Great Queen, have I made for You. What I have recited to You in the deep night, The gala-singer will repeat for You in midday. It is because of Your captive spouse, your captive son, That Your wrath is so great, Your heart so unappeased. The foremost Queen, the prop of the assembly, Accepted Her prayer. The heart of Inanna was restored, The day was favorable for Her, She was clothed with beauty, was filled with joyous allure, How she carried (her) beauty -- like the rising moonlight! Nanna who came forth in wonder true, (and) her Ningal, proffered prayers to Her, Greeted her at the doorsill (of the Temple). To the hierodule whose command is noble, The destroyer of foreign lands, presented by An with the me, My Queen garbed in allure, O Inanna, praise ... " Enheduana, The adoration of Inanna of Ur Garden of Priapus - 157 More temple anal sodomy. Probably a strap on dildo penetrating a gala or castrati. " ... Inana is consistently portrayed in Sumerian texts as the goddess of love filled with desire and has striking similarities to the Indian goddess Kali. According to Hindu belief, she is the primal creative universal energy (by the Sumerians called ”me”), which gives power to all divinity. However, unlike Kali, Inana is not portrayed as the generative force of the universe, but as the generating force of arousal and sexuality that produces growth and prosperity of all sort to ensure the continuity of life ... Sexuality became the principal metaphor for the continuity of life, and as such, it was a part of ritual in the temple, myths of the gods, and the daily life of the populace” (Meador:158). Inana urged the definite and excessive sexual desire to allude to the glowing passion that ”me” symbolized. Through Inana, sexuality became the medium of the primordial creative force of this universe. ... " Evenisation by Richard Conricus, 2009 The vase that the supplicant is drinking from may have a connection with Holy Grail iconography - I had this intuition earlier on this website - but in a non-sexual context. There I associated it with Old Persian cuneiform script, silver bowls and Dionysus. But now its seems Dionysus or Bacchus was a catamite! Ritual female on male anal sex seems to have been an ancient standard form of of the Hieros Gamos. Garden of Priapus - 158 Pathic woman in red sodomizing a naked caged man in the penis cage * High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna (2300 BC.): Seven Sumerian Temple Hymns - " the foot-shackling netherworld knot your restored high wall is massive like a trap your inside the place where the sun rises yields widespread abundance ... " reads like the penis cage to me - the catamites were asked to refrain from pleasuring their rectums which belonged to their mistress ... Temple Hymn 15 " ... The Gishbanda Temple Of Ningishzida ancient place set deep in the mountain artfully dark shrine frightening and red place safely placed in a field no one can fathom your mighty hair-raising path Gishbanda the neck-stock the fine-eyed net the foot-shackling netherworld knot your restored high wall is massive like a trap your inside the place where the sun rises yields widespread abundance your prince the pure-handed shita priest of Inanna heaven’s holy one Lord Ningishzida his thick and beautiful hair falls down his back O Gishbanda has built this house on your radiant site and placed his seat upon your dais ... " Enheduanna " ... These seven hymns are among the forty-two “Sumerian Temple Hymns” attributed to the high priestess Enheduanna, 2300 B.C.E. While some literary texts have been found in what was ancient Mesopotamia, dating from 2600 B.C.E., the texts of Enheduanna are the first by a known author. There is strong evidence that the Sumerians invented and developed the first written script in the final third of the fourth millennium B.C.E. The territory of Sumer encompassed the southern half of present-day Iraq. Enheduanna was the daughter of the first king to build an empire, Sargon. He appointed his brilliant daughter, Enheduanna, to the position of high priestess at the temple of the moon god, Nanna, in the ancient city of Ur. There she presided for forty years over the prestigious temple in Ur. Holding the most important religious office in the land, she spread her theological ideas throughout the country, writing hymns to each of forty-two major temples. Each hymn is written to the temple itself, as though it were a living being with power and influence over its divine occupant, in most hymns the patron deity of the city. Enheduana addresses the temple in the second person: “O house you wild cow,” she says in Temple Hymn 22. The temple seems to listen as she describes its resident: “your lady a water bird - sacred woman of the inner chamber,” she says in TH 40 as she describes Inanna to the temple in the intimate conversation that characterizes each hymn. The expression ‘wild cow’ as a description of the goddesses comes up over and over again. Inanna is the principle ‘wild cow’. The image conveys the unpredictability which the goddesses all embody in one way or another. With Nanshe, the hymn describes her paradoxical character. She is carefree playing in the waves, but also a great storm / strong dark water. The Sumerians had great respect for the whims of nature on whom they so depended. The wild cow is unexpected in a docile herd, but there she is! Each hymn ends with an identical two-line colophon, except for the final hymn 42. There, instead of ending with a colophon, Enheduanna signs her name, saying she herself gave birth to this composition, something never before created. ... " Commentary and translation by Betty De Shong Meador Garden of Priapus - 159 Black woman with large mentule about to sodomize a prone man Sumeria at the time High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna may have had black queens - Nimrod the King Herod to Abraham was said to be from Kush - and was a sun-worshipper who was said to have tried to build a tower high enough to prevent another great flood. Nimrod was also said to descend from Ham - the black son of Noah High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna (2300 BC.): Seven Sumerian Temple Hymns Temple Hymn 26 The Zabalam Temple Of Inanna O house wrapped in beams of light wearing shining stone jewels wakening great awe sanctuary of pure Inanna (where) divine powers the true me spread wide Zabalam shrine of the shining mountain shrine that welcomes the morning light she makes resound with desire the Holy Woman grounds your hallowed chamber with desire your queen Inanna of the sheepfold that singular woman the unique one who speaks hateful words to the wicked who moves among the bright shining things who goes against rebel lands and at twilight makes the firmament beautiful all on her own great daughter of Suen pure Inanna O house of Zabalam has built this house on your radiant site and placed her seat upon your dais - Enheduanna Garden of Priapus - 160 Black woman sodomizes a prone man Enheduanna Poem to the Lady of Saba - that's usually east Africa and Yemen - the Sabaeans High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna (2300 BC.): Seven Sumerian Temple Hymns Temple Hymn 42 The Eresh Temple of Nisaba Ezagin this shining house of stars bright with lapis stones has opened itself to all lands a whole mix of people in the shrine every month lift heads for you Eresh all the primeval lords soapwort the very young saba on your platform great Nanibgal Nisaba Lady of Saba brought powers down from heaven added her measure to your powers enlarged the shrine set it up for praising faithful woman exceeding in wisdom opens [her] mouth [to recite] over cooled lined tablets always consults lapis tablets [and] gives strong council to all lands true woman of the pure soapwort born of the sharpened reed who measures the heavens by cubits strikes the coiled measuring rod on the earth praise be to Nisaba the person who bound this tablet together is Enheduanna my king something never before created did not this one give birth to it - Enheduanna Garden of Priapus - 161 Black amazon and asian amazon caning a trussed up man Enheduanna poem to Dumuzi the shepard - Dumuzi - was probably like the sheep he tended - that was a Sumerian archetype - Amazon sex with penis caged stableboys - "queen Inanna of the sheepfold" .... Amazons and stableboys and polyandry - Sumerian women used to take two husbands : "That the early gender constitution of Sumerian society was different is also shown by Kramer in his book ”Sumerians,” where he translates a patriarchally constituted text, that women used to have two married men, but that the law was changed, and that those who defied the law would be stoned. "The women of former days used to take two husbands, (but) the women of today (if they attempted this) were stoned with stones (upon which was inscribed their evil) intent ..." (Kramer:1963:322). Evenisation by Richard Conricus, 2009 - The cause was the universal penis cage. Unlike Rome and Greece where the Fibula was for the ruling class only - In Sumeria the cage seems to have been universal .... Which greatly amped up female sexual desire - or the "Me" High Priestess of Inanna Enheduanna (2300 BC.): Seven Sumerian Temple Hymns Temple Hymn 17 The Badtibira Temple Of Dumuzi Emush O house jeweled lapis herbs fleck the shining bed heart-soothing place of the Lady of the Steppe Emush brickwork glistening and pure its burnished clay placed firmly (on the earth) your sky-rising wall sprawls over the high plain for the one who tends the ewes and over the Arali House for the shepherd your prince radiant one of the Holy Woman a lion pacing the steppe back and forth the wonder-causing pure breasted one the Lord spouse of pure Inanna Dumuzi master of the Emush O Badtibira (fortress of the coppersmith) has built this house on your radiant site and placed his seat upon your dais - Enheduanna Garden of Priapus - 162 General helps a friend sodomize her husband in the penis cage ‘Inanna the mistress, the lady of the great powers who allows sexual intercourse in the open squares of Kulaba’ (Enki and the World Order,363-365) Inanna stole the Me or erotic power from Enki after getting him drunk. She then goes on to boast of familiarity with the penis in the tavern and speaks of changing men in to women and women into men. The Tavern seems to have been where phallic Sumerian women went to sodomize catamite Sumerian men ... Sumeria was an Amazon state - and I think the penis cage or fibula was more or less permanent: " ... Inanna and Enki. In this myth, Inanna famously steals the me (universal and divine powers) from Enki by getting him drunk. The text holds a long list of very different roles, functions and offices that Inanna has new dominion over. ‘Me’ relevant to this discussion are sexual intercourse, kissing, prostitution, cultic prostitution, comforting and the attractiveness of women (Inanna and Enki, Segment I 1-108). "Where are the standard, the quiver, sexual intercourse, kissing, prostitution, [...] running (?)?" "My master has given them to his daughter."’ (Inanna and Enki, Segment F 29-30) As we can see, the ‘me’ are more focused on the sexual rather than the romantic, the physical over the emotional. It is important to note that if a deity is the goddess of prostitution, she cannot just be called the goddess of love, as prostitution does not involve love and so ‘love’ would not be a representative enough term. ... Another Interesting role that may not have an obvious association with sexuality, but is often repeated is Inanna’s apparent control of gender: ‘to turn a man into a woman and a woman into a man, to change one into the other, to make young women dress as men on their right side, to make young men dress as women on their left side, to put spindles into the hands of men [...], and to give weapons to the women;’ (Ishme-Dagan K, 21-24) ... A hymn to Inanna as Ninegala (Inanna D) This hymn describes Inanna’s role as ‘the prostitute’. ‘As a prostitute you go down to the tavern’ (Inanna D, 105), ‘The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you are likely to snatch a man from the tavern’ (Inanna D, 112-113). This idea that Inanna is the patron of prostitutes and would herself be a prostitute (and a successful one too) is repeated frequently. Jacobsen uses this particular hymn to support the statement that Inanna is a ‘harlot’ in Treasures of Darkness (Jacobson, 1976: 140). The idea that a goddess of sex would be connected to prostitution implies that the sex is not acted out in love but for pleasure, leading us away from the romance angle. In his description of her as a divine figure, Jacobsen does not call Inanna a goddess of love. (Jacobson, 1976: 140). ... A shir-namshub to Inanna (Inanna I) In this song, Inanna is describing herself and her characteristics. She discusses her prowess as a warrior, before moving on to her sexually-orientated roles. ‘When I sit by the gate of the tavern, I am a prostitute familiar with the penis’ (Inanna I, Segment A 21). This is how the author believes Inanna would describe herself, and that is important when trying to learn the functions of a deity. Inanna is telling the reader that she is very sexually experienced and believes this to be as important as her role on the battlefield. There is no mention in the song of emotions or indeed, relationships. ... " Let's talk about sex: a study into the sexual nature of the goddess Inanna, By Alexandra Louise Lowe (2014) Garden of Priapus - 163 Boss lady sodomizing a black man with an asian friend. Shot blocked. Used workaround. Stong reaction to these rare inter-racial prints in the dreamspace ... And not positive either - more like a deep seated revulsion ... That's a key to ending the anglo no sex movement though - aka "me-too". Ironic that "me-too" was founded by a black woman ... The black male penis and the black male ass are where America's "inner sun" is trapped ! - America's "Me" - or Mr. Legba to Haitians and Nigerians and Brazilians * Not sure what this Enheduanna poem is about - but it might give up it's images and meaning eventually: Temple Hymn 7 The Kesh Temple Of Ninhursag The Lofty high-lying Kesh in all heaven and earth you are the form-shaping place spreading fear like a great poisonous snake O Lady of the Mountains Ninhursag’s house built on a terrifying site O Kesh like holy Aratta inside is a womb dark and deep your outside towers over all imposing one great lion of the wildlands stalking the high plains great mountain incantations fixed you in place inside the light is dim even moonlight (Nanna’s light) does not enter only Nintur Lady Birth makes it beautiful O house of Kesh the brick of birthgiving your temple tower adorned with a lapis lazuli crown your princess Princess of Silence unfailing great Lady of Heaven when she speaks heaven shakes open-mouthed she roars Aruru sister of Enlil O house of Kesh has built this house on your radiant site and placed her seat upon your dais Garden of Priapus - 164 Boss lady "rides" and sodomizes a penis caged man in front of his cage ... * In the following Sumerian poem the sexually voracious Ishtar asks a bathing Gilgamesh for his "lusciousness" (female on male anal sex) but her says no listing a long list of lovers that Ishtar has discarded. Enraged Ishtar threatens her father Anu that if he does not release the bull of heaven to destroy Gilgamesh and Uruk she will release the dead into the world of the living ... Anu releases the bull of heaven but Gilgamesh kills it. I suppose that can be read as a transition from male sexual submission to women and polyandry to a form of patriarchy ... The phallic bull in Sumeria was female power - not male - same as Egypt ... Bulls wear the vulva helmet which was a sign of female not male power. - Ishtar did not defer to her father - who she threatens if she does not have her way : "Father, give me the Bull of Heaven, so he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling. If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven, I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld, I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down, and will let the dead go up to eat the living! And the dead will outnumber the living!" Same with Inanna who stole the Me or sexual power (the bull) from her father Enki when he was drunk. Gilgamesh Translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs TABLET VI " ... He washed out his marred hair and cleaned up his equipment(?), shaking out his locks down over his back, throwing off his dirty clothes and putting on clean ones. He wrapped himself in regal garments and fastened the sash. When Gilgamesh placed his crown on his head, a princess Ishtar raised her eyes to the beauty of Gilgamesh. "Come along, Gilgamesh, be you my husband, to me grant your lusciousness.' Be you my husband, and I will be your wife. I will have harnessed for you a chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, with wheels of gold and 'horns' of electrum(?). It will he harnessed with great storming mountain mules! Come into our house, with the fragrance of cedar. And when you come into our house the doorpost(?) and throne dais(?)'will kiss your feet. Bowed down beneath you will be kings, lords, and princes. The Lullubu people' will bring you the produce of the mountains and countryside as tribute. Your she-goats will bear triplets, your ewes twins, your donkey under burden will overtake the mule, your steed at the chariot will be bristling to gallop, your ax at the yoke will have no match." Gilgamesh addressed Princess Ishtar saying: "What would I have to give you if I married you! Do you need oil or garments for your body! Do you lack anything for food or drink! I would gladly feed you food fit for a god, I would gladly give you wine fit for a king, ... may the street(?) be your home(?), may you be clothed in a garment, and may any lusting man (?) marry you! ...an oven who... ice, a half-door that keeps out neither breeze nor blast, a palace that crushes down valiant warriors, an elephant who devours its own covering, pitch that blackens the hands of its bearer, a waterskin that soaks its bearer through, limestone that buckles out the stone wall, a battering ram that attracts the enemy land, a shoe that bites its owner's feet! Where are your bridegrooms that you keep forever' Where is your 'Little Shepherd' bird that went up over you! See here now, I will recite the list of your lovers. Of the shoulder (?) ... his hand, Tammuz, the lover of your earliest youth, for him you have ordained lamentations year upon year! You loved the colorful 'Little Shepherd' bird and then hit him, breaking his wing, so now he stands in the forest crying 'My Wing'! You loved the supremely mighty lion, yet you dug for him seven and again seven pits. You loved the stallion, famed in battle, yet you ordained for him the whip, the goad, and the lash, ordained for him to gallop for seven and seven hours, ordained for him drinking from muddled waters,' you ordained for his mother Silili to wail continually. You loved the Shepherd, the Master Herder, who continually presented you with bread baked in embers, and who daily slaughtered for you a kid. Yet you struck him, and turned him into a wolf, so his own shepherds now chase him and his own dogs snap at his shins. You loved Ishullanu, your father's date gardener, who continually brought you baskets of dates, and brightened your table daily. You raised your eyes to him, and you went to him: 'Oh my Ishullanu, let us taste of your strength, stretch out your hand to me, and touch our vulva. Ishullanu said to you: 'Me! What is it you want from me! Has my mother not baked, and have I not eaten that I should now eat food under contempt and curses and that alfalfa grass should be my only cover against the cold? As you listened to these his words you struck him, turning him into a dwarf(?), and made him live in the middle of his (garden of) labors, where the mihhu do not go up, nor the bucket of dates (?) down. And now me! It is me you love, and you will ordain for me as for them!" When Ishtar heard this, in a fury she went up to the heavens, going to Anu, her father, and crying, going to Anrum, her mother, and weeping: "Father, Gilgamesh has insulted me over and over, Gilgamesh has recounted despicable deeds about me, despicable deeds and curses!" Anu addressed Princess Ishtar, saying: "What is the matter? Was it not you who provoked King Gilgamesh? So Gilgamesh recounted despicable deeds about you, despicable deeds and curses!" Ishtar spoke to her father, Anu, saying: "Father, give me the Bull of Heaven, so he can kill Gilgamesh in his dwelling. If you do not give me the Bull of Heaven, I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld, I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down, and will let the dead go up to eat the living! And the dead will outnumber the living!" Anu addressed princess Ishtar, saying: "If you demand the Bull of Heaven from me, there will be seven years of empty husks for the land of Uruk. Have you collected grain for the people! Have you made grasses grow for the animals?" Ishtar addressed Anu, her father, saying: "I have heaped grain in the granaries for the people, I made grasses grow for the animals, in order that they might eat in the seven years of empty husks. I have collected grain for the people, I have made grasses grow for the animals." When Anu heard her words, he placed the noserope of the Bull of Heaven in her hand. Ishtar led the Bull of Heaven down to the earth. ... " Gilgamesh, Translated by Maureen Gallery Kovacs Garden of Priapus - 165 Gilgamesh Kills The Bull of Heaven - That was a code for a female sexual domme who tried to rape him. Gilgamesh was probably gay - he was in love with the wild man from the steppe Enkidu. After Gilgamesh kills the bull, Ishtar killed Enkidu. - The male phallus is always very small in Sumerian art - Probably in the bronze Fibula for life! In contrast to the large erect phalli of the Sumerian bulls in vulva helmets. The only time the male penis is large is when attached to a male demon ... * "Gilgamesh Kills The Bull of Heaven This is a Neo-Sumerian terracotta votive relief (c. 2250-1900 BC) showing Gilgamesh, the legendary King of the city of Uruk (map) fighting against Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven. In Sumerian mythology, the gods sent the Bull of Heaven to kill Gilgamesh as a reprisal for rejecting Inanna’s (Ishtar’s) affections. However, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu manage to kill the Bull instead. Inanna demands that the pair pay for the Bull’s destruction. Utu (Shamash) argues to the other gods to spare both of them, but he could save only Gilgamesh and Enkidu succumbs to a wasting illness. The tragic loss of Enkidu profoundly inspires Gilgamesh on a quest to escape death by obtaining godly immortality. The story is told in both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Sumerian poem Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven. Such votives were placed in temples as offerings or carried in saddlebags to gain the protection and favor of the gods. ... " archaicwonder. Garden of Priapus - 166 More Korean action. Reminds me of Enkidu and the Harlot in Gilgamesh. The unspoken truth of this episode is male rape - Sumerian sex was female on male sodomy. Enkidu was either castrated or foricibly penis caged before 2 weeks of rough sex with Shamhat the temple prostitute who drained him of his energy but also gave hime a human mind ... - The Me was in mens bodies and taken from them by women - that was the mythical model at the level of the gods and down to human sex. - Inanna stole the Me from her father and Temple prostitutes sodomized Sumerian men in the temple, but also in the tavern but also in their private homes in front of their wives ... and also in front of their children! In Sumeria Inanna permitted public sex! So little girls watched as their fathers and brothers were sodomized in front of them! - Reminds me of the 7 year old Giton and the little girl in the Satyricon. But why? - The phallus is attached to men not women - the phallus is the source of the Me! - Kikuyu mythology says the same thing used to happen in east Africa a long time ago ... " ... Shamhat plays the integral role in Tablet I, of taming the wild man Enkidu, who was created by the gods as the rival to the mighty Gilgamesh. Shamhat was a sacred temple prostitute or harimtu. She was asked to use her attractiveness to tempt Enkidu from the wild, and his 'wildness', civilizing him through continued sacred love-making. She was brought to a water source where Enkidu had been spotted and exposed herself to Enkidu. He enjoyed Shamhat for "six days and seven nights" (a fragment found in 2015 and read in 2018, disclosed that they had two weeks of sexual intercourse, with a break spent in discussion about Enkidu's future life in Uruk). Unfortunately for Enkidu, after this long sexual workshop in civility, his former companions, the wild animals, turned away from him in fright, at the watering hole where they congregated. Shamhat persuades him to follow her and join the civilized world in the city of Uruk, where Gilgamesh is king, rejecting his former life in the wild with the wild animals of the hills. Henceforth, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become the best of friends and undergo many adventures ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 167 Another whipping session with the Korean. Sumerian men were regents to their daughters. Upper class Rome had a similar system - and Roman mythology reflected that - for example in the Jupiter/Apollo relationship. Apollo is a phallic female as can be seen on page 150 of this website. And Egyptians too - In ancient Egypt Horus or Harpocrates was a phallic female. Power flowed from the bull-wife of Amon who was usually married to Pharoah down to one or two daughters who aided the king in his Sed festival activities - or penis cage activities. - From the male side is the alteration of consciousness called the "hieros-gamos" - they became the djed pillars of the community - the central pole around which the Egyptian world revolved * In Sumeria the legal definition of a harimtu (sacred prostitute) was a woman who was not under male authority - and did not have to wear a veil ... Harimtu were under the authority of Ishtar and therefore a Sumerian ruling class. - Although the technical description paints them as lower class. But that's not true - they owned their own property and ran the temples and sodomized men and wrote the books - that's not lower class! And I am sure that veiled unmarried women living in their fathers house were in the same father/daughter relationship as ancient Egypt ! - Although the present consensus does not see things that way - But whenever men are in the penis cage - they defer to women! See: "The kar.kid/harimtu. Prostitute or Single woman?" by J. Assante (1998) Garden of Priapus - 168 More Namio - - Sumerian harimtu had an expectation of vulva service as in this Namio Harukawa erotic cartoon: A vulva helmeted female bull having her vulva serviced by a naked man * " ...What is clear is that the harimtu's presence at the tavern spreads enchantment ... The divine harimtu becomes the embodiment of pure desire who seizes men in one hymn, yet in another is a net that catches both men and women. ... In one old Babylonian incantation, sex and drinking are combined again with the incantation terminology of seizure. Significantly , the chief tools of magic making in this text are the females aroused body orifices. A woman recites a spell in order to bend her straying lover to her will: With the slaver of the dog, thirst, hunger With the slap of the face, with the rolling of the eye I have hit you in the head, I have deranged your reason Set your will to my will Set your decision to my decision I hold you fast as Ishtar held Dumuzi As beer binds her drinker I have bound you with my hairy mouth With my vagina full of wetness With my mouth full of saliva With my vagina full of wetness No female rival shall go near you ... " “Sex, Magic and the Liminal Body in the Erotic Art and Texts of the Old Babylonian Period,” Julia A Assante "With the slaver of the dog" - that's the penis cage - the amazon/harimtu/wife/daughter controlled access to that ... - That poem proves women sexually mounted men in Babylon. - All that can be traced to the Fibula or caged penis which was almost certainly put in very young and maintained in a locked position for life! - And the mentule or female phallus * The male penis did enter the female vagina in Babylon - but even then it was in the female's control: in the following verse the Harimtu compares her vagina to the vagina of a bitch that grasps the male dog's penis and does not let go until the bitch wants to let it go: " The binding vulva appears on other incantations as well, for example: "My vagina is the vagina of a bitch! His penis is the penis of a dog! As the vagina of a bitch holds fast the penis of a dog, (so may my vagina hold fast his penis)" Biggs 1967:33 “Sex, Magic and the Liminal Body in the Erotic Art and Texts of the Old Babylonian Period,” Julia A Assante * - But my guess is most Harimtu sex was mentule sex in the male anus. The Sumerian tavern was where Harimtu snatched men for sex. They were run by women and the Harimtu called themselves noblemen when in them: "Turning to the central figure in drinking scene, Inanna/Ishtar as the tavern harimtu likewise belongs to the magico-liminal realms. ... In the Old Babylonian hymn to Inanna-Ninegalla the temporal settings sets a paricular tone of transition, of dusk when the two clear divides of day and night blur. The moment is cast by the rise of the evening star, Inanna's celestial body. As the star rises, so does Inanna the harimtu. ... The text specifically mentions that Inanna sits at the door of the alehouse to work her magic, signalling a liminal zone. ... In the text from the first millenium, the goddess is somehow both male and female inside the tavern: "When I sit in the beerhouse, Though I am a woman, I am also a noble young man." “Sex, Magic and the Liminal Body in the Erotic Art and Texts of the Old Babylonian Period,” Julia A Assante The Harimtu were literally noblemen - they were the ruling class of Sumeria ... *** Sumerian women also used a special beer that may have been laced with aphrodisiacs to forcibly bind men to them - I am sure that's what is in those drinking vessels in the anal sex scenes above - The Harimtu/Ishtar mounted and possessed the male and his maleness or the Me - That's the hieros gamos - the male vagina or anus and the female phallus or mentule: "... Ishtar, beer, vagina and mouth all have the power to bind. Here, as elsewhere, the vagina hand mouth are interchangeable. The magical body of the divine harimtu binds at both ends. Beer sometimes contained a plant additive called kasu (Sumerian gazi) which here plays on the verb to bind; kasu was probably used as an aphrodisiac. In coitus a tergo [sodomy and vase] drinking scenes binding is intrinsic to the general theme of sex and drinking. ... Texts or pictures that combine all these notions of binding and seizure must have been regarded as extremly powerful forms of magic. “Sex, Magic and the Liminal Body in the Erotic Art and Texts of the Old Babylonian Period,” Julia A Assante Garden of Priapus - 169 Boss lady sodomizing her husband on the cross - " coitus a tergo" That's very ancient Sumerian sex! That's what roman Empress Messalina - the "she wolf" - spent whole nights doing in the Roman "stews" or brothels ... Harimtu had strong libidos and worked through many men and women and boys and girls at the same time ... and many times in open view of the public ... Especially at the annual spring Inanna festival which was a group event when men arrived naked laden with fruit baskets for the goddess - who then took their "apples" anally Garden of Priapus - 170 Boss lady sodomizing another black ass. * Another Enheduanna (2300 BC) poem from: Seven Sumerian Temple Hymns Temple Hymn 20 The Lagash Temple Of Ningirsu Eninnu Eninnu right arm of thick-necked Lagash in Sumer with heavy-cloud bird Anzu’s eyes that scan insurgent mountains Ningirsu’s crowd-flattener blade a menace to all lands battle arm blasting storm drenching everyone battle arm all the great gods the Annuna grant again and again so from your skin of bricks on the rim of the holy hill green as mountains you determine fates a holy whirlpool spins in your river blowing whirlwinds spawn from your glance at the gate facing the Holy City they pour wine into fine stone vessels of An out under the sky what comes in cannot be equaled what goes out never ceases at the fiery face of the Shugalam gate its radiant brilliance the fate-cutting site Lord Ningirsu besieges with hair-raising fear all the Annuna appear at your great wine festival your prince furious storm-wind destroyer of rebel cities your king angry bull flaunting his brawn savage lion that makes heads shake warrior the lord of lords who plots schemes king of kings who mounts victories mighty one great hero in battle has no rival son of Enlil lord Ningirsu O Eninnu has built this house on your radiant site and established his seat upon your throne Garden of Priapus - 171 Multiple ass orgasms from a session with boss lady and friends in the "birth" chair ... Reminds me of bes erotica in ancient Egypt - a form of male birth caused by the female phallus - In Sumeria it was exclusively female phallus - male birth! * Gilgamesh and the Great Goddess of Uruk " ... Ishtar of Uruk = Inanna The temple complex in Uruk known as Eanna was the center of city life from the 5th millennium BCE into the first century of the Common Era. The compound of some 3000 square feet contained many buildings and courtyards. At its peak in the 4th millennium BCE Uruk grew into the largest city in antiquity, equaled only by Rome at the height of its power. It has been called the First City (though Mesopotamians would not have called it this) because it saw the almost unimaginable development of a social system with a complex bureaucracy, maintained by records kept in the world’s earliest development of true writing; the invention of the cylinder seal and the plowshare; the expansion of a system of irrigation to water long rows of, mainly barley, the world’s earliest known money (distributed as rations) Virtually all aspects of “civilization” are evident at this early stage of Uruk’s development. Sumerians there celebrated their achievements in the visual arts and, later, in literature. Uruk’s Eanna temple was one of three devoted to the worship of Inanna in the collection of Temple Hymns attributed to the poet/princess/priestess Enheduanna, who lived in the Akkadian Period late in the 3rd millennium BCE. Here is Enheduanna’s portrait of Eanna, the “home” of its “princess,” Inanna. (Kullab, mentioned in the first line, was once a separate settlement but later was assimilated to the city of Uruk.) Temple Hymn #16 House of the great me in Kullab its platform flourishing with fresh green fruit, amazing, descending from the very heart of Heaven temple built for the Bull House of Heaven House with seven corners with seven fires fired at midnight surveying with seven pleasures its princess on the pure horizon Your Lady Inanna throws the ever-rolling dice made of stone adorning the woman and covering the man's head with a cap the one with a suh-crown of lapis dragon of the Nigin-gar Queen of Heaven and Earth, Inanna, has built a house in your precinct, Eanna, and taken her seat upon your dais. The poet addresses the temple directly and provides a brief description of the features that fit the goddess who dwelt there. The poet then goes on to speak to the temple about Inanna in a more direct way. The “house” itself is radiant, and it contains (under the control of Inanna) the divine me, something like the software that operates the universe. If it is a house of power, it is also a place of desire: the fresh fruit, with its “irresistible ripeness,” is a metaphor for libido. As we shall see in Gilgamesh, desire, kuzbu (Sumerian hili), is itself a cosmic power invested in Inanna especially among the gods, and infused by the gods into humans (and animals). ... " Gilgamesh and the Great Goddess of Uruk Garden of Priapus - 172 Labelled "Enkidu" - but I think that is the bull of the temple of Inanna - That's a vulva helmet on a woman or harimtu wearing a beard with a large erect phallus ... " ... House of the great me in Kullab its platform flourishing with fresh green fruit, amazing, descending from the very heart of Heaven temple built for the Bull House of Heaven House with seven corners with seven fires fired at midnight surveying with seven pleasures its princess on the pure horizon ... " Enheduanna’s Temple Hymn #16 Garden of Priapus - 173 Nude Harimtu standing over a large erect fascinum - Isin The mature Harimtu was expected to have sex in public with multiple partners. But I am sure it was female on male strap on anal sex for the most part. As in Rome and Egypt all young men were in the penis cage to protect and conserve their me which the Harimtu harvested the way a bee harvests nectar to make honey ... " ... In other literary genres, the street is represented as the bawdy domain of the sexually mature divine harimtu, Inanna/Ishtar. Furthermore, copulating in the street was popularly perceived as a right, normal and joyful event, indeed even the hallmark of the ideal urban city. Thus, when Ishtar descended to the Netherworld, the normal day-to-day habits of intercourse between beasts or humans abruptly and disastrously ceased and "No young man impregnated a girl in the street (Dalley 1991:158). Moreover, the goddess is described in one hymn as Inanna (who) in the streets of Kullub makes (people) copulate" (Benito 1969 1.369). She, herself, indulges in herculean street sex, taking as many as "sixty times sixty" men, in one Nippur manuscript that calls street sex a foundational component of urban pleasure. Meeting a future wife or husband in the streets (eg. Enlil and Sud) and copulating in the streets seem to be poetic images deliberately set against the more staid normal course of events of the arranged marriage. ... " “Sex, Magic and the Liminal Body in the Erotic Art and Texts of the Old Babylonian Period,” Julia A Assante Garden of Priapus - 174 Buff and tattooed boss lady and friend harvesting the me from a naked slave ... That's the world of the Orisha's ! Yemonja and Oya and other female Orisha's have a phallus - All women have a phallus hidden away in their "animus" - Just as all men have a vagina hidden away in their "anima" and anus ... - That kind of thing is ongoing in the dreamworld ... Garden of Priapus - 175 Boss lady and friends sodomizing a penis caged man - he had a rare anal orgasm ... Baal of the bible was sexually yielding to his sister - and ceded power to his daughter - I think that was a mirror of Egyptian sexual practices : " ... Now returning to a discussion of religious incest in Canaanite religion, the Baal Epic describes the relationship of Anat and Baal to be siblings: As with the heart of a cow toward her calf, As with the heart of an ewe toward her lamb, So is the heart of Anath toward Baal. She seizes Mavet, in ripping His garment. She closes in on Him, in tearing His clothes. She lifts Her voice And shouts: “Come, Mavet, yield My brother!” ... " behindthabrand. * In Egyptian images Anat is paired with the phallic Min who has a full erection. In other images she is poised like Min and appears to have a large erection. In all her interactions with Baal she is the dominant partner and does all the fighting. She also threatens to bloody El her father, if he does not grant Baal a royal house: " ... Anat ... is a major northwest Semitic goddess. Her attributes vary widely among different cultures and over time, and even within particular myths. She likely heavily influenced the character of the Greek goddess Athena. In Ugaritic texts, Anat is depicted as violent, delighting in war, but also as the establisher of peace; she is depicted as sexual and fertile, bringing forth offspring, while still continuing to be called a virgin and a maiden. In the Baal Cycle texts, Anat appears as a war-goddess, initially called upon by her father El to set the stage for the coronation of Yam; Anat, however, agitates for her younger brother (and possibly lover) Baal. Text fragments describe her appearance in battle; in a fragmentary passage from Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria) ‘Anat appears as a fierce, wild and furious warrior in a battle, wading knee-deep in blood, striking off heads, cutting off hands, binding the heads to her torso and the hands in her sash, driving out the old men and townsfolk with her arrows, her heart filled with joy. "Her character in this passage anticipates her subsequent warlike role against the enemies of Baal". She is later described ritually re-enacting battle, and then purifying herself, in her temple, where she receives a message from Baal asking her to establish peace on terms favorable to him. She is initially concerned that new enemies of him have arisen, and notes that she put an end to Yam, "the beloved of El", and to other enemies of Baal including a seven-headed serpent; Arsh the darling of the gods; Atik ("Quarrelsome"), the calf of El; Ishat ("Fire"), the bitch of the gods; and Zabib, the daughter of El. Anat goes to Baal and washes herself and makes herself beautiful before a feast with him; text fragments then describe Baal and Anat grasping each other's genitals, aroused, and later Anat giving birth to her younger brother's child, though Anat continues to be referred to as a maiden and the "virgin Anat".(Another title used repeatedly for Anat is "sister-in-law of the peoples" (or "progenitress of the peoples" or "sister-in-law, widow of the Li’mites").) When Baal complains he has no (royal) house, Anat vows to intercede with her father El, and threatens to bloody him if he does not grant Baal a house; she also asks Athirat to intercede with El, after which he grants Baal a house. ... " Wikipedia * I think that was the major god of the Hyskos - who were a Hebraic dynasty of ancient Egypt Garden of Priapus - 176 More boss lady, the penis cage and the ass orgasm Not sure we have the true image of the religion of Baal - the bible has completely demonized it. My guess is the Exodus was primarily a sexual event - at the root the role of the penis cage and the female phallus and not about slavery. Also Yahweh may have once had a wife: as the Semitic El he was once married to the phallic goddess Asherah. The female phallus: "Ashtar/Ashtart/Astarte in the Baal Epic appears to be male but in other myths is a woman." - The same pattern was repeated throughout the ancient world " ... The Egyptians - The ancient Egyptians existed from before 3100 BC to 332 BC. Their religion was distinct from Sumerian although many of the gods were seen as analogous to those of Sumer. The Egyptians are mentioned in the Bible throughout. Within the Canaanite religion, there are also five god-character’s relevant to this discussion: El, Asherah, Baal, Anat, and Ashtar. El is the father of all the Canaanite gods figuratively in some instances, and literal in others. In the Baal Epic, with regard to Baal, El is noted as “The Bull, my Father, El.” Most scholars to believe this parentage to be figurative as in this and other myths, Baal is noted as “Dagon’s son.” The various semitic cultures all ascribed to the father God El, including the Israelites. Yahweh, referred to as El, appears as “El Elyown” God Most High (Gen 14:18-22, etc.), “El Olam” God Everlasting (Gen 21:33) “El Shaddai” God Almighty (Gen 17:1, 28:33, 35:11,43:14, etc), and most generally simply “El” God (Gen 16:13, 31:13, 35:1-7). In the early Canaanite religion, El’s consort is Asherah (also referred to as Ashoreth, Ashertu, Athirat among other variations). In the Baal Epic she is said to have “seventy sons” and some scholars assume Baal is one of them since he is a son of El whose consort is Asherah. Asherah is one of the more widely known Canaanite goddesses since she appears in the Bible as well. She is often paired with Baal in the Bible (Judges 3:7, 6:28, 2 Kings 21:3, 2 Kings 23:4, 2 Chronicles 33:3, etc.) and as the semitic consort of El, is believed to be the goddess referred to as the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah 44 and 7:13. Baal, also known more specifically as Baal Hadad or just Hadad, is the main character of the Baal epic, and the most heavily despised Biblical Canaanite diety. In the Bible is he often paired with Asherah and also Ashtar (Judges 2:13, 10:6, 1 Samuel 7:3-4, 12:10). Anat in the Baal Epic is said to be his sister. Ashtar/Ashtart/Astarte in the Baal Epic appears to be male but in other myths is a woman. He/She is a minor figure, in the Baal Epic but becomes an important diety to discuss when it comes to man-male sex prostitution, discussed later. Ashtar appears in the Bible as Ashtoreth/Ashtaroth (in addition to above, 1 Kings 11:5, 11:33, 2 Kings 23:13, 1 Samuel 31:10). ... " behindthabrand. Garden of Priapus - 177 Boss lady finishing up - the penis cage and the rare ass orgasm El - the Semitic god and in many cases identical to Yahweh was married to a super fecund Asherah - up to 70 sons. Asherah is usually depicted cupping her breasts - but there are also images of her with her hands cupping a hole on her crotch. - Marble Roman images from Syria on page 150 of this site have a Roman matron lifting her dress to reveal a hole at her crotch - my subjective image is is a removable mentule or female phallus. Asherah was clearly sodomizing El who later on submitted to his daughter Anat in the Amazon style of father/daughter pairing. In Rome the children were under the care of the father and daughters revered their fathers but were expected to act like their mothers - Sexually virile and promiscuous. - All this traceable to the fibula of penis cage ... * Another icon of Asherah was the Asherah pole - a pair of these can be seen in the Warka vase from Sumeria. They were phallic posts that naked penis caged men and boys bearing baskets of fruit walked through prior to the female on male sodomy spring ritual of the "hieros gamos" * The Queen of Heaven: Depictions of Asherah in Ancient Israel by Francesca Tronetti Ph.D. Asherah and YHWH: Current theological and historical teaching holds that the Israelites were one of the first monotheist groups. Their rejection of other gods caused much of the conflict between them and their neighbors. In Exodus, YHWH becomes angry when Aaron created a golden calf for the people to worship. An action for which the people were banished to wander the desert for forty years. Based upon these stories, scholars have, for centuries, maintained that the ancient Israelites worshipped only YHWH. However, archaeological and textual evidence had forced us the reexamine the religion of the Israelites and have led to some interesting revelations. One such conclusion is that the worship of Asherah was not considered heretical to the ancient Israelites. In the book of Hosea, we see many virulent attacks against the worship of outside gods or traditions that were not part of the Yahwihistic cult. However, neither the worship of Asherah nor the asherah pole’s placing is mentioned in the text. This has led Olyan and other scholars to argue that the worship of Asherah was, in fact, part of the state cult religion. Evidence suggests that Asherah was worshipped alongside YHWH in the official Judahite religion. A substantial piece of evidence was that the ‘asera or asherah pole was placed in or near the temples of YHWH. Olyan concludes that “Based only on an examination of biblical sources, we argue that the asherah was a legitimate part of the cult of YHWH ... in the north ... in state religion and popular religions.” Asherah’s worship was so much a part of the normative religion that when Jehu purged Samaria of all non-Yahwistic elements of the YHWH cult, the ‘asera which Ahab had erected remained standing until after Jehu’s death. That this ‘asera remained standing suggests that the ‘asera was perceived to be an appropriate religious symbol within the cult of YHWH. There is archaeological evidence that in the southern province, worship of Asherah was part of YHWH’s worship. Scholarly interest in Asherah was bolstered after several inscriptions were found at the archaeological site of Kuntillet’ Arjud. On a pithos, an inscription was found reading brkt. ‘thm. Lyhwh. Smrn. wl’ srth., which has been translated as “I have blessed you by YHWH smrn and his Asherah.” This inscription is very similar to much of the Khirbet el’ Qom material. It suggests that among some religious circles in Samaria, worship of Asherah and YHWH was paired. When analyzing the inscriptions from Kuntillet’ Arjud (8-9th century) and Khirbet el-Qom (9th century), it is interesting to note that the inscriptions reference Asherah positively in context with YHWH. Several Biblical texts refer to Asherah, or the asherah pole, as a foreign element and “evil in the eyes of the Lord.” However, non-biblical sources indicate that she was a legitimate part of the worship of YHWH. Based on graffiti and figurines found at archaeological sites, we can conclude that worship of Asherah was prevalent among Judah’s people before the Babylonian exile and that those who remained in Yehud continued to worship her during the exile. It is not until the Persian era that we cease to find evidence of Asherah worship in Jerusalem and that the people cease producing her figurines. There is a belief among some scholars that Asherah was worshipped as the consort YHWH by the ancient Israelites. In Ugarit, Asherah was the mother of the gods, and there is evidence that this veneration continued when she was adopted into the cult of YHWH. According to the Deuteronomistic school, Asherah was the consort of Baal during the time of Judges. Later during the Israelite monarchy, an association was made between Asherah and YHWH. The most compelling evidence to support this argument is the presence of the ‘asera, the symbol of the goddess, next to YHWH’s altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This placement of her sacred post in proximity to the altar has led some to conclude that Asherah was the consort/wife of YHWH. Deut 16:21-22 prohibits the setting up of a pole near an altar to YHWH. The fact that such a prohibition was necessary indicates that Asherah’s worship was closely associated with YHWH. Day writes that Asherah appears to be regarded as YHWH’s consort in syncretistic circles ... and the sons of God ... are clearly the sons of YHWH in the OT, it follows that the sons of God were regarded as Asherah’s offspring in syncretistic circles. Since the sons of God clearly correspond with the host of heaven, it appears that we may hold that the host of heaven were probably regarded as the offspring of Asherah. Given the evidence for Asherah’s worship in Israel and her position as consort to YHWH, Smith suggests that the heroine in the Song of Songs is partially based on Asherah. The Song of Songs tells the story of a pair of human lovers. Smith, viewing the story as an allegory, argues that the human lovers are, in fact mirroring a pair of divine lovers. This holy pair is not YHWH and Israel but is instead YHWH and Asherah. This mirroring of a divine couple was a common practice in the ancient world. In Egypt, the Pharaoh and his bride were supposed to represent the gods on earth. There is evidence that the priests, priestesses, and leaders would reenact or enter a divine marriage as part of worship in Mesopotamia and ancient Greece. A pair of human lovers standing in for divine lovers is not without precedent in the ancient world. ... " Francesca Tronetti Garden of Priapus - 178 Asherah grasping a hole in her crotch - Israel Museum - That could also be the classic scene when Inanna displays her fallow vulva to Dumuzi asking him who will "plow it" Figurine of a fertility goddess Revadim Late Bronze Age, 13th century BCE Clay Israel Antiquities Authority " ... This exceptional figurine of a Canaanite fertility goddess depicts the goddess from both the interior and exterior perspectives, as she prepares herself for the delivery of twins. The twins, seen within her womb, clutch at her breasts. The figurine may represent Asherah, called the “sacred prostitute” or the “one of the womb.” According to myth, Asherah gave birth to the twin gods Shahar and Shalem. Symbols of Asherah, the sacred tree and ibex, appear on the goddess’ thigh. The figurine was probably an amulet for women in childbirth. ... " The Israel Museum * Temple sex was being practiced in ancient Israel - Asherah - the Queen of heaven was also the archetype of the sacred prostitute - or Harimtu. We can catch a glimpse of this from the ancient condemnations of the practice. But the main condemnation of the Canaanites was not temple sex but child sacrifice in the fire ... Not sure what to make of this but it was also an accusation made of the phoenicians of Carthage - a sacrifice demanded by Saturn * Ritual child sacrifice in the fire could be symbolic of rough female on male anal sex - that's the icon of the "inner sun" - The goddess through the mentule of the Harimtu or sacred prostitute lights the flames of the inner sun of her "child" - the man being sodomized in the "hieros gamos" ritual * " ... Within the Bible, more details are given about the nature of some of these detestable practices after the Jews came into the promised land of Canaan as they engaged in some of them and went against the commands of God. In the books of Deuteronomy, Kings, and Chronicles these detestable practices of the Canaanites are mentioned in multiple places: Deuteronomy 18:9-12 “9When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you” Deuteronomy 23:17-18 - 17No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. 18You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the Lord your God to pay any vow, because the Lord your God detests them both. 1 Kings 14:24 - “24There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” 2 Kings 16:3 - “3He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificed his son in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” 2 Kings 21:2 - “2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” 5In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger. 2 Kings 21:11 - “11Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols.” 2 Kings 23:13 - “13The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption - the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 2Chronicles 28:2-3 - “2He followed the ways of the kings of Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. 3He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and sacrificed his children in the fire, engaging in the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ... " behindthabrand * (May 28, 2021) Powerful dreams attached to this post. The ibex icon on Asherah' thigh is probably related to page 43 of this website. The twins may be related to a pre-flood world - during the reign of the constellation Gemini. One of the images featured an armada of spaceships taking off from east Africa - something out of "Star Wars"! - Thunderous power ... When I first saw "Star Wars" in 1977 in Nairobi, Kenya it felt strangely familiar, almost deja vu - a long time ago in a galaxy far , far away... They were not just taking off - they were flying one after the other through some sort of wormhole - inter-stellar space travel. It was a mighty, mighty scene to behold! So smooth, so powerful but also so serene and so sure of itself ...And so big! A wow! experience at all levels ... Garden of Priapus - 179 Bonus boss lady and the rare ass orgasm. From the excerpt above the ruling class of ancient Israel was in the penis cage - like most other ruling classes of their era. Another image that emerged from this series is a conflict between Anat and her father El as to who should be king - I think El's prefered choice Yam may have been black African. The lady Yamu is described as east African on an earlier page of this website. The younger Baal won that struggle: that's the conflict between the black African Thebes and the Hebraic Hyksos dynasties of the 15th and 16th dynasties of ancient Egypt. "In Ugaritic texts, Anat is depicted as violent, delighting in war, but also as the establisher of peace; she is depicted as sexual and fertile, bringing forth offspring, while still continuing to be called a virgin and a maiden. In the Baal Cycle texts, Anat appears as a war-goddess, initially called upon by her father El to set the stage for the coronation of Yam; Anat, however, agitates for her younger brother (and possibly lover) Baal. ... " Wikipedia * The twins in the womb of El's wife Asherah - Shahar and Shalem may also be African: And they may also be female - or phallic female - they are associated with Venus - like the phallic Ishtar ... " ... Shalim is a god in the Canaanite religion pantheon, mentioned in inscriptions found in Ugarit (Ras Shamra) in Syria. William F. Albright identified Shalim as the god of dusk and Shahar as god of the dawn. In the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Shalim is also identified as the deity representing Venus or the "Evening Star" and Shahar the "Morning Star". His name derives from the triconsonantal Semitic root S-L-M. The city of Jerusalem was named after him. A Ugaritic myth known as The Gracious and Most Beautiful Gods, describes Shalim and his brother Shahar as offspring of El through two women he meets at the seashore. They are both nursed by "The Lady", likely Anat (Athirat or Asherah), and have appetites as large as "(one) lip to the earth and (one) lip to the heaven." In other Ugaritic texts, the two are associated with the sun goddess. Another inscription is a sentence repeated three times in a para-mythological text, "Let me invoke the gracious gods, the voracious gods of ym." Ym in most Semitic languages means "day," and Shalim and Shahar, twin deities of the dusk and dawn, were conceived of as its beginning and end. Shalim is also mentioned separately in the Ugaritic god lists and forms of his name also appear in personal names, perhaps as a divine name or epithet. Many scholars believe that the name of Shalim is preserved in the name of the city Jerusalem. The god Shalim may have been associated with dusk and the evening star in the etymological senses of a "completion" of the day, "sunset" and "peace" ... " Wikipedia Garden of Priapus - 180 More boss lady and the rare ass orgasm - The orgasm scene. That was the desired end point of the annual "hieros gamos" between the Harimtu and the young penis caged shepard Dumuzi Same everywhere - Sumeria, Egypt and the ruling class of ancient Israel. Garden of Priapus - 181 The General in action Harimtu carnal invocation - bucks are tied up at the foot of her bed like the "slaver of the dog" or caged penis in another poem. In Sumeria Inanna switched the genders: " ... Let the wind blow; let the mountains [quake] Let the clouds gather; let the raindrops fall Let the donkey stiffen up so that he can mount the jenny Let the gazelle buck repeatedly mount the she-goat of the plain May a goat buck be tied at the head of my bed; may a ram be tied at the foot of my bed The one at the head of my bed Get it up! Love me! The one at the foot of my bed get it up! Adore me! My genitals are the genitals of a bitch; his penis is the penis of a dog. [May my genitals hold his penis fast) as the genitals of a bitch hold fast the penis of a dog. ... " Assyrian Tablet KAR 236 - 7th century BC Garden of Priapus - 182 More General and the penis cage: El's wife Asherah was very promiscuous. In this poem she is harassing Baal - who may be her son to have sex with her. I am certain the cause of the ancient female sexual aggression was the penis cage or fibula. El - who may be the biblical Yahweh was submissive to Asherah who was the phallic one: " ... Incest additionally appears between Baal and Asherah according to a myth recorded by the Hittites entitled El, Ashertu, and the storm-god. ... " behindthabrand The myth reads: " ... [He] came to El-kunirsha, the husband of Ashertu, and entered El-kunirsha’s tent El-kunirsha beheld the Storm-god and asked him: “Why didst thou come?” Thus said the Storm-god: “When I entered thy house, Ashertu sent out (her) maidens to me (saying), ‘Come, sleep with me!’ [When] I refused, she became aggressive and said to me as follows: ‘Give thyself to me, [then] I shall give myself to thee; I shall harass thee with my word with my spindle I shall prick thee.’ This is why I have come, my father. For, [with a message] I did not come, I have come to thee on my own Although she is thy wife she keeps on sending to me: ‘ Come, sleep with me.’” El-kunirsha began to reply to the Storm-god: “Go, sleep with her! Lie with my wife and humble her!” The Storm-god hearkened to the word of El-kunirsha. With Ashertu he slept. ... " El, Ashertu, and the storm-god. * (May 30, 2021) - In the dream space I saw her as a very "kali" (strict) aunty who took charge of me in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - That's the dream image - I think she's more African than Canaanite - There's an image of Bes above a naked negro woman in a Canaanite temple above that backs this up ... * " ... Asherah, ancient West Semitic goddess, consort of the supreme god. Her principal epithet was probably “She Who Walks on the Sea.” She was occasionally called Elath (Elat), “the Goddess,” and may have also been called Qudshu, “Holiness.” According to texts from Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra, Syria), Asherah’s consort was El, and by him she was the mother of 70 gods. As mother goddess she was widely worshiped throughout Syria and Palestine, although she was frequently paired with Baal, who often took the place of El; as Baal’s consort, Asherah was usually given the name Baalat. Inscriptions from two locations in southern Palestine seem to indicate that she was also worshiped as the consort of Yahweh. ... " Britannica Garden of Priapus - 183 Amazon and her mount Shot blocked, used workaround * - Roman female only cults like the Bona Dea regularly held orgies run by Vestal virgins. - But men were also invited as women - That was probably a Babylonian institution ... - I could not understand that at first on page 150 - how you have an orgy with the penis in the fibula or cut off completely. But I was overlooking the other male sex organ - the anus ... * " ... The god/goddess Ashtar, discussed above, was known to the Akkadians, Babylonians, and the Assyrians as Ishtar .... In the Akkadian Erra poem, dated to during the eighth century BC, that narrator speaking to Erra says: “As for Uruk, dwelling of Anu and Ishtar, city of kezretu-women, harlots and prostitute[s], from whom Ishtar took away the husband and whom she delivered into the[ir]/yo[ur] hands; Male Suteans (and) female Suteans, (who) shout “yarurut[u]!”, rose up (in/against) the Eanna; kurgarru’s; assin[nu’s], who for making the people reverent, Ishtar turned their masculinity to fem[ininity;] The carriers of dagger, carriers of razor, scalpel and ﬂin[t(-blade)]; (Those) who, for delighting the mind of Ishtar, do regularly f[orbidden things:]” In this excerpt, it is noted that the ‘assinu’ and ‘kurgarru’ had their manhood/masculinity changed to womanhood/femininity by Ishtar. The term ‘assinu’ (or ‘kulu’u’ is some versions) also appear in the Akkadian story “Descent of Ishtar” (second millennium BC) describing the Asushunamir, a genderless being created by Ea to save Ishtar from the underworld. The word assinu was additionally written in Sumerian cuneiform in two symbols which literally translate “dog-woman.” More than just characters from Akkadian stories, these figures became groups of the Ishtar cult personnel and were mentioned on many tablets performing various rituals and functions. However, the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, a 90 year project publishing 21 volumes on the Assyrian language and dialects, states that there is no incontrovertible evidence that these personnel were specifically eunuchs or male prostitutes. ... " behindthabrand Garden of Priapus - 184 More Amazon and mount. Shot blocked. Used workaround. * This article also traces the Roman Amazon sex cults to Babylon: " ... Post Scriptum This was fascinating but I couldn’t quite find a good place to place it in the above essay. In Ancient Greek and Roman times, there existed very similar cults to that of Ishtar/Inanna. The most widely known on was the cult of Cybele. It is regarded by more than a few scholars that the homosexual behavior discussed in Corinthians and Timothy was directed toward these cults. I wondered if there was a link between Ashtar/Ishtar/Inanna and Cybele, and it turns out there is very strong evidence to think so. From the outset they share a few strong similarities: female goddess, castrated male priests (called gala under Inanna and galli under Cybele, similar names), and the presence of a lion associated with the goddess in artwork. Connecting the dots was a little bit harder but here it goes: The oldest goddess with the lion association is the Sumerian mountain mother goddess Ninhursag who went by many names including Nintu. As the Sumerian religion grew and expanded, some of her attributes were subsumed in the goddess Inanna including the lion, but not the mother goddess aspect. As demonstrated in the piece above, Inanna was the archetype for Akkadian Isthar who was known to the Canaanites as Ashtar. It should also be noted here that Ashtar (Astarte) was noted as male in the Baal epic, but from the Bible and other archaeological sources was morphed into a goddess. The male version of Ashtar was also known as Attar (this will be useful later). But back to the topic: Nintu, one of the names for Ninhursag, was also applied to a goddess named Hannahannah by the Babylonians. Stories about Inanna, Ishtar, and Hannahannah all include the search into the underworld for a missing god, and a messenger sent to retrieve the god. There are differences in the stories: Isthar/Inanna are the goddesses to be retrieved, while Hannahannah sends the messenger, a bee, to retrieve male god, Telepinu (the name of whom was later given to the boy who would become the last Hittite King of the Old Kingdom). Hannahanna has not been noted to have had male priests. Over time the Hittites merged Hannahanna with the deceased Sumerian Queen, Kubaba into a goddess known as Kuvav which was transliterated by the Ionian Greeks as Kybebe. The Hittites resided northwest of Mesopotamia in Anatolia and this would explain how Mesopotamian Hannahanna/Kubaba could become what was known as the mater kubileya, or Phrygian Cybele (Phrygia was a part of Anatolia). The similarities are stark: Cybele was a mountain mother goddess associated with lions, all attributes similar to Ninhursag. Cybele had the galli eunuch priests that were used for sexual purposes similar to Inanna’s gala. And similar to Ashtar’s male counterpart Attar, Cybele’s first eunuch follower and consort was named Attis. While the Attar and Attis are very different in storyline and function, the similarity of their names is something to note. How each attribute faded in and out of the connections between the goddesses is mysterious but the similarities are astounding. In conclusion, it’s very likely that the comments directed at homosexuality in both the New and Old Testaments are directed at similar cult prostitutes of goddess derived from a evident common root. ... " behindthabrand Garden of Priapus - 185 A Harimtu cupping her breasts. Shot blocked. Used workaround. "The prostitute who goes out to the inn, who makes the bedchamber delightful, who is food to the poor man. " Lugalbanda in the mountain cave: c.1.8.2.1, lines 173 - 182 The phyringian goddess Cybele is said to be derived from the ancient Sumerian Queen Kubaba who was a tavern owner before becoming the ruler of Sumeria. Kubaba was deified after her death. The Cybele cult was an Amazon cult with castrated male priests - which suggests the ancient Sumerian tavern run by Kubaba was an Amazon brothel ... " ... Kubaba is the only queen on the Sumerian King List, which states she reigned for 100 years - roughly in the Early Dynastic III period (ca. 2500-2330 BC) of Sumerian history. In the early Hittite period, she was worshipped as a goddess. Kubaba is one of very few women to have ever ruled in their own right in Mesopotamian history. Most versions of the king list place her alone in her own dynasty, the 3rd Dynasty of Kish, following the defeat of Sharrumiter of Mari, but other versions combine her with the 4th dynasty, that followed the primacy of the king of Akshak. Before becoming monarch, the king list says she was an alewife. ... Shrines in honour of Kubaba spread throughout Mesopotamia. In the Hurrian area, she may be identified with Kebat, or Hepat, one title of the Hurrian Mother goddess Hannahannah (from Hurrian hannah, "mother"). Abdi-Heba was the palace mayor, ruling Jerusalem at the time of the Amarna letters (1350 BC). Kubaba became the tutelary goddess who protected the ancient city of Carchemish on the upper Euphrates, in the late Hurrian/early Hittite period. Relief carvings, now at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Anadolu Medeniyetleri Muzesi), Ankara, show her seated, wearing a cylindrical headdress like the polos and holding probably a tympanum (hand drum) or possibly a mirror in one hand and a poppy capsule (or perhaps pomegranate) in the other. She plays a role in Luwian texts and a minor role in Hittite texts, mainly in Hurrian rituals. According to Emanuel Laroche, Maarten J. Vermaseren, and Mark Munn, her cult later spread and her name was adapted for the main goddess of the Hittite successor kingdoms in Anatolia. This deity later developed into the Phrygian matar kubileya ("mother Cybele"), who was depicted in petroglyphs and mentioned in accompanying inscriptions. The Phrygian goddess otherwise bears little resemblance to Kubaba, who - according to Herodotus - was a sovereign deity at Sardis. Her Lydian name was Kuvav or Kufav which Ionian Greeks initially transcribed Kybebe, rather than Kybele; Jan Bremmer notes in this context the 7th century Semonides of Amorgos, who calls one of her Hellene followers a kybebos. Bremmer observes that in the following century she was further Hellenized by Hipponax, as "Kybebe daughter of Zeus". ... "Wikipedia * "Kybebe daughter of Zeus" in the Amazon context means the penis cager of Zeus - Kybebe was a phallic goddess ... Garden of Priapus - 186 Dmitrys: A muscular and phallic Harimtu serving aphrodisiac beer in a tavern - beer mixed with her own phallic or mentule nectar. Shot blocked. Used workaround. - I am close to certain that archetypal scene from Sumeria of anal sex while sipping beer is amazon on male sex ... Inanna switched the genders of Sumeria - probably by a hard or life long penis cage for all men ... Something similar continued in ancient Rome as is vividly described in the Priapea. Garden of Priapus - 187 Sumerian anal sex scene. Described as a woman over a phallus but since this was Sumeria this could also be a castrated man having anal sex ... " ... Babylonian Terracotta Plaque with a Symplegma Scene Culture: Sumerian Period: 1st half of 2nd millennium B.C. Material: Terracotta Provenance: From the estate of the New York collection Daryl P. Gruber-Kulok (1960-2019). Thence in a New York gallery. Description: Explicit depiction of a crouching woman in frontal view with legs apart, who sits on a phallus. Her face with prominent features, her shoulder-length hair is braided. Apart from an opulent necklace, she is bare. Symplegma scenes like this probably served as votive offerings for a fertility cult. Similar plaques were found in Sippar-Amnanum. ... " cb-gallery * " ... When the black-headed people have assembled in the palace, the house that advises the Land, the neck-stock of all the foreign countries, the house of the river of ordeal, a dais is set up for Ninegala. The divine king stays there with her. At the New Year, on the day of the rites, in order for her to determine the fate of all the countries, so that during the day (?) the faithful servants can be inspected, so that on the day of the disappearance of the moon the divine powers can be perfected, a bed is set up for my lady. Esparto grass is purified with cedar perfume and arranged on that bed for my lady, and a coverlet is smoothed out on the top (?) of it.


	Marble statue of Pan teaching Daphnis to play the pipes. Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek original. Archeological Museum, Naples More Pan teaching a pathic or phallic woman. Page 154 has frozen up - but I have not finished with the Priapea. I call this photo: "Pan and Pathic Matron - 3"		Full screen version