Harlot or Holy Woman?

Harlot or Holy Woman? presents an exhaustive study of qedeah, a Hebrew word meaning consecrated woman but rendered prostitute or sacred prostitute in Bible translations. Reexamining biblical and extrabiblical texts, Phyllis A. Bird questions how qedeah came to be associated with prostitution and offers an alternative explanation of the term, one that suggests a wider participation for women as religious specialists in Israels early cultic practice. Birds study reviews all the texts from classical antiquity cited as sources for an institution of sacred prostitution, alongside a comprehensive analysis of the cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia containing the cognate qaditu and Ugaritic texts containing the masculine cognate qd. Through these texts, Bird presents a portrait of women dedicated to a deity, engaged in a variety of activities from cultic ritual to wet-nursing, and sharing a common generic name with the qedeah of ancient Israel. In the final chapter she returns to biblical texts, reexamining them in light of the new evidence from the ancient Near East. Considering alternative models for constructing womens religious roles in ancient Israel, this wholly original study offers new interpretations of key texts and raises questions about the nature of Israelite religion as practiced outside the royal cult and central sanctuary.