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Conical stones, which apparently
served as idols, have also been found at Golgi in Cyprus, and in the
Phoenician temples of Malta; and cones of sandstone came to light at
the shrine of the "Mistress of Torquoise" among the barren hills and
frowning precipices of Sinai.
In Cyprus it appears that before marriage all women were formerly
obliged by custom to prostitute themselves to strangers at the
sanctuary of the goddess, whether she went by the name of Aphrodite,
Astarte, or what not. Similar customs prevailed in many parts of
Western Asia. Whatever its motive, the practice was clearly
regarded, not as an orgy of lust, but as a solemn religious duty
performed in the service of that great Mother Goddess of Western
Asia whose name varied, while her type remained constant, from place
to place. Thus at Babylon every woman, whether rich or poor, had
once in her life to submit to the embraces of a stranger at the
temple of Mylitta, that is, of Ishtar or Astarte, and to dedicate to
the goddess the wages earned by this sanctified harlotry.


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