uty with the maid, who had reached puberty, to appear
once in the temple of Mylitta in order to offer her maidenhood as a
sacrifice, by surrendering herself to some man. Similarly happened in
the Serapeum of Memphis; in Armenia, in honor of the goddess Anaitis; in
Cyprus; in Tyrus and Sidon, in honor of Astarte or Aphrodite. The
festivals of Isis among the Egyptians served similar customs. This
sacrifice of virginity was demanded in order to atone with the goddess
for the exclusive surrender of woman to one man in marriage:--"Not that
she may wilt in the arms of a single man is woman arrayed by nature with
all the charms at its command."[14] The continued favor of the goddess
had to be purchased by the sacrifice of virginity to a stranger. It was
likewise in line with the old idea that the Lybian maids earned their
dower by prostituting their bodies. In accord with the mother-right,
these women were sexually free during their unmarried status; and the
men saw so little objection in these pickings, that those were taken by
them for wives who had been most in demand. It was thus also among the
Thracians, in the days of Herodotus: "They do not watch the maidens, but
leave them full freedom to associate with whom they please. The women,
however, they watch strictly. They buy them from their parents for large
sums." Celebrated were the Hierodulae of the temple of Aphrodite at
Corinth, where always more than one thousand maidens were gathered, and
constituted a chief point of attraction for the men of Greece. Of the
daughter of King Cheops of Egypt, the legend relates that she had a
pyramid built out of the proceeds of prostitution of her charms.

Conditions, similar to these, prevail down to now, on the Mariana, the
Philippine and the Polynesian islands; according to Waitz, also among
several African tribes. Another custom, prevalent till late on the
Balearic islands, and indicative of the right of all men to a woman, was
that, on the wedding night, the male kin had access to the bride in
order of seniority. The bridegroom came last; he then took her as wife
into his own possession. This custom has been changed among other people
so that the priest or the tribal chiefs (kings) exercise the privilege
over the bride, as representatives of the men of the tribe. On Malabar,
the Caimars hire patamars (priests) to deflower their wives.... The
chief priest (Namburi) is in duty bound to render this service to the
king (Zamorin) at hi