de la hetaera a la ramera - Stanford University

Diversos autores coinciden en señalar que Shamhat representa a un tipo de
sacerdotisa de los templos babilónicos de Ishtar o Innana, deidad del amor y de la
guerra, lasciva, apasionada y peligrosa, y a quien las jóvenes veneraban mediante
cantos, danzas, poemas y ritos sexuales de fertilidad:
[Ishtar] es la hija del dios luna,. . . considerada Reina
del Cielo. Su principal símbolo es el planeta Venus. Ella fue
venerada como estrella de la madrugada y de la noche; ella
nacía nuevamente como doncella cada mañana pero se volvía
una prostituta cada noche. . . Ishtar se llama a sí misma
protectora de todas las prostitutas. (Ringdal 10-11) 4
En algunas traducciones Shamhat es reconocida como una harimtu —término
que en la Babilonia antigua el legislador y rey Hammurabi [1730-1685 a.C.] usaba
para referirse a una prostituta de clase baja de uno de los templos de Ishtar (Ringdal
10) — y/o como una hierodule o “sirviente sagrada”, entre cuyas funciones también
se encontraban los ritos de carácter sexual (Kramer 83):
man the work of a woman, / his passion caressed and embraced her. / For six days and seven nights /
Enkidu was erect, as he coupled with Shamhat. / Shamhat unfastened the cloth of her loins, / she bared
her sex and he took in her charms. / She did not recoil, she took in his scent: / she spread her clothing
and he lay upon her. / Enkidu has defiled his body so pure, / his legs stood still, though his herd was in
motion. / Enkidu was weakened, could not run as before, / but now he had reason, and wide
understanding” (I: 188-202).
4 “[Ishtar] is the daughter of the moon god, . . .considered Queen of Heaven. Her main symbol
is the planet Venus. She was venerated as both the morning and the evening star; she was born anew as
a maiden every morning but became a whore every evening. . . Isthar calls herself protector of all
prostitutes.”
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