Sacred prostitution
religious prostitution are purported rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite ...
religious prostitution are purported rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite ...
a “kadesh” or “kedeshah” the root meaning of K-D-Sh is “separation” and that this can mean separation for exaltation or for degradation.
The ḳedeshot were sacred prostitutes attached to the Temple as priestesses of Ashtoreth or Astarte. The worship of Ashtoreth was introduced by Solomon (I ...
In Mesopotamia, the cognates of qedeshah referred to a special status of women who were known to preside over childbirth and wet-nursing, serve ritual functions ...
Qedesha, in ancient societies and religions of the Middle East, a woman of special status. The exact function of the qedesha is unclear from the sources ...
Farvardin 6, 1400 AP — This double meaning has led to the belief that kedeshah were not ordinary prostitutes, but sacred harlots who worked out of fertility temples.
The feminine noun קְדֵשָׁה (qedēshāh) designates a woman consecrated to cultic prostitution within the fertility rites of Canaanite religion.
But the word kedeshah literally means "consecrated female", from the Semitic root q-d-sh (קדש) meaning "holy" or "set apart".