f women does not seem
to have originated in a society in which this regard for purity is
lacking, for the hierodulic class is rarely if ever found in existing
societies of this sort. The origin of the class is not to be sought in a
low valuation of woman, nor, on the other hand, is it to be found in a
desire to secure fruitfulness; fruitfulness is generally secured by
offerings to the gods, and though the belief has doubtless existed that
it could be secured by commerce with a supernatural being,[1938] there
is no trace of this belief in the accounts of the lives of the
hierodules; the benefit would be restricted also to a small number of
women. Probably the custom was developed gradually and, like other such
customs, had its ground in simple needs. Women were required for the
menial work of shrines.[1939] Once established in service, they would
acquire a certain sanctity and power by their relation to sacred things,
and at the same time would, as unattached, be sought by men. Their
privileges and license would grow with time--they would become an
organized body, and would seek to increase their power. In the course of
time current religious ideas, low or high, would attach to them. They
would be supposed to be in the confidence of the deity, able to
interpret his will, and endowed with the power of cursing or
blessing.[1940] With the growth of refinement they would be thought of
as servants of the deity, belonging to him and to no other, and might
be described, as in fact they are sometimes described, as his wives. The
title "wife" would be compatible with purity in the higher religious
systems, but in the lower systems would be connected with license.

+1066+. _Theories of the origin of religious prostitution._ The license
just referred to is a part of a widespread custom of the prostitution of
sacred persons, of which various explanations have been offered.[1941]
The existence of the custom is attested for the larger part of the
ancient civilized and half-civilized world, and for many more recent
peoples. In old Babylonia, Canaan, Syria, Phoenicia, Asia Minor,
Armenia, Greece, and now in West Africa and India, we find officially
appointed "sacred" women a part of whose religious duty it was or is to
offer themselves to men.[1942] The service in ancient times was not
regarded as degrading; on the contrary, maidens of the noblest families
were sometimes so dedicated, and the role of devotee might be continued
in a fami