herodotus

since the time when being conquered they were oppressed and ruined,each one of the common people when he is in want of livelihoodprostitutes his female children.197. Next in wisdom to that, is this other custom which wasestablished[206] among them:--they bear out the sick into the marketplace;for of physicians they make no use. So people come up to thesick man and give advice about his disease, if any one himself hasever suffered anything like that which the sick man has, or saw anyother who had suffered it; and coming near they advise and recommendthose means by which they themselves got rid of a like disease or seensome other get rid of it: and to pass by the sick man in silence isnot permitted to them, nor until one has asked what disease he has.198. They bury their dead in honey, and their modes of lamentation aresimilar to those used in Egypt. And whenever a Babylonian man hasintercourse with his wife, he sits by incense offered, and his wifedoes the same on the other side, and when it is morning they washthemselves, both of them, for they will touch no vessel until theyhave washed themselves: and the Arabians do likewise in this matter.199. Now the most shameful of the customs of the Babylonians is asfollows: every woman of the country must sit down in theprecincts[207] of Aphrodite once in her life and have commerce with aman who is a stranger: and many women who do not deign to mingle withthe rest, because they are made arrogant by wealth, drive to thetemple with pairs of horses in covered carriages, and so take theirplace, and a large number of attendants follow after them; but thegreater number do thus,--in the sacred enclosure of Aphrodite sitgreat numbers of women with a wreath of cord about their heads; somecome and others go; and there are passages in straight lines goingbetween the women in every direction,[208] through which the strangerspass by and make their choice. Here when a woman takes her seat shedoes not depart again to her house until one of the strangers hasthrown a silver coin into her lap and has had commerce with heroutside the temple, and after throwing it he must say these wordsonly: "I demand thee in the name of the goddess Mylitta":[209] nowMylitta is the name given by the Assyrians to Aphrodite: and thesilver coin may be of any value; whatever it is she will not refuseit, for that is not lawful for her, seeing that this coin is madesacred by the act: and she follows the man who has first thrown anddoes not reject any: and after that she departs to her house, havingacquitted herself of her duty to the goddess[210], nor will you beable thenceforth to give any gift so great as to win her. So then asmany as have attained to beauty and stature[211] are speedilyreleased, but those of them who are unshapely remain there much time,