Люди города Ура

Chapter IX. The Spouse of the Moon-gоd is devoted to the «Gipar», the temple of the goddess Ningal and also the residence of the

ēntum-priestess; the stress is upon its latter role. Some new evidence on the Sacred Marriage Rite between the Moon-God and the ēntum

-priestess, dating from periods earlier and later than the OB, is adduced. It is stressed that the rituals in the temples, apart from praises and prayers to the gods, consisted mainly of imitations of the deity's everyday life, including awakening, feeding, dressing, guest parties to other deities, and imitation of the deity's sexual life which, as Sacred Marriage Rite, had a tremendous importance for the thriving of grain, animals, and humans. Also the qadištu-priestesses, far from being prostitutes, may have treated their guests as representatives- of an Unknown Deity.