The Evolution of Culture

Reading Rivkah Harris’ analysis brings to mind just how much society has changed over the range of our existence. Prostitution today is considered a crime in most of the world, and a sin in different religions, cultures, and societies alike. Yet as Harris points out, Shamhat was one of the few women who were named and depicted in a positive light. This can be accounted for in two ways, the first being that prostitution was part of Mesopotamian society and therefore commonplace. The other reason seems to lie in the fact that Shamhat was behaving as a women should by helping supporting Inkidu – a man. Nevertheless, Shamhat low social standing does not infringe her from being portrayed more positively than Ishtar; the goddess who proposes to Gilgamesh “as though she were a man.” One could conclude from this, that feminism and the idea that women were competent enough to work in male affairs was more looked down upon than prostitution – the complete opposite of what American society feels today.

This goes hand in hand with conceptual understanding. Already we see the major differences between our culture and theirs. The issue we are faced with now then, is not just fragmented evidence, but whether or not we can look past our own prejudices and actually see and feel what the Mesopotamians did. In this case, it would require us to look past the negative image society puts on prostitution, before deciphering it’s importance in ancient times – a daunting task simply because our cultures have shifted too far apart.