Atop Babylon's ziggurat stood the bīt erši—the "House of the Bed"—where Marduk was believed to descend.
With a Subtitle: Herodotus and ancient tablets on pagan fertility rites in Babylon and Canaan.
A brief Excerpt: Herodotus and ancient cuneiform tablets describe "sacred marriage" rituals of ritual sex in Babylon and Canaan—pagan fertility rites meant to win the favor of the gods. Here's what the evidence shows.
The Author is: Zack Duncan
Herodotus, the man now known as the “Father of History,” published his Historiesin the 5th century BC.
He wrote about ancient Babylon over the course of 23 chapters in Book 1 of the nine part work. While he exaggerated some details, it was undoubtedly a unique and massive place.¹
It lies in a great plain, and is in shape a square, each side an hundred and twenty furlongs in length; thus four hundred and eighty furlongs make the complete circuit of the city. Such is the size of the city of Babylon; and it was planned like no other city whereof we know. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 178]
Herodotus on Babylon (AI)
He described the city as split into two divisions, with the Euphrates bisecting the middle.
The royal palace was in the center of one section, while the “sacred enclosure” of the chief Babylonian deity Marduk (Zeus Belus) rose from the center of the other.
In the midmost of one division of the city stands the royal palace, surrounded by a high and strong wall; and in the midmost of the other is still to this day the sacred enclosure of Zeus Belus, a square of two furlongs each way, with gates of bronze. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 181]
He went on to describe this sacred enclosure using details that align with what history knows of Mesopotamian ziggurats.
In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 181]
It’s the top of the ziggurat where things sound especially curious.
the tower in Babylon (AI)
The “House of the Bed”
At the very top of the ziggurat was a temple.
The temple housed a room called the bīt erši, which means the “House of the Bed.”² It was a room that was unfurnished save for a large bed and a table.
According to Herodotus, a Chaldean (Babylonian) woman spent her nights alone there.
On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the chamber occupied of nights by any one but a single native woman, who, as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for himself by the deity out of all the women of the land. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 181]
Herodotus declared his skepticism about what comes next:
He reports that the Babylonians didn’t believe this woman was actually alone. They believed Marduk came down to sleep with the woman in the “House of the Bed”.
They also declare- but I for my part do not credit it- that the god comes down in person into this chamber, and sleeps upon the couch. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 182]
a celestial visitation? (AI)
Herodotus says it’s the same basic story of mystical divine / human intercourse that was told by the Egyptians and the Persians of their own gods.
This is like the story told by the Egyptians of what takes place in their city of Thebes, where a woman always passes the night in the temple of the Theban Jupiter. In each case the woman is said to be debarred all intercourse with men. It is also like the custom of Patara, in Lycia [modern day Turkish coast], where the priestess who delivers the oracles, during the time that she is so employed- for at Patara there is not always an oracle- is shut up in the temple every night. [Herodotus, Histories, Chapter 182]
Many modern scholars profess skepticism about this kind of human participation, but existing cuneiform records like the Esagila tablet confirm other key details Herodotus shares about the bīt erši.³
It was indeed located at the top of a massive ziggurat as a home for the Babylonian gods and was furnished only with a table (throne) and a giant bed.
The bīt erši was related to the annual sacred marriage ritual which took place in the broader Esagila temple complex that contained the ziggurat.
During the ritual Babylonians believed Marduk would meet his divine wife Zarpanitu. This was thought to bring about luck, blessings, and — most especially — agricultural fertility for the year ahead.
“Sacred Marriage” in the Ancient World
Various forms of “sacred marriage” festivals were practiced throughout the Middle East in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan.
It was called hieros gamos in the Greek language.
Modern scholars disagree on what exactly took place, but the following description from Encyclopedia Britannica represents the traditional (but now disputed) view.
hieros gamos: sexual relations of fertility deities in myths and rituals, characteristic of societies based on cereal agriculture, especially in the Middle East. At least once a year, divine persons (e.g., humans representing the deities) engage in sexual intercourse, which guarantees the fertility of the land, the prosperity of the community, and the continuation of the cosmos. [hieros gamos, “sacred marriage” britannica.com]
sacred marriage festivals (AI)
The ancients seemed to have had divergent practices for how this “marriage ceremony” was consummated.
At times, it was thought to be purely spiritual in nature. In such cases, the spiritual god and goddess would be physically represented by statues.⁴
But it was also believed that a human priest or king could assume the role of the god. Likewise, a priestess could assume the role of a goddess.⁵
As Britannica explains, “In some traditions this appears to have been an actual physical act between sacred functionaries who impersonate the deities…”.⁶
The written record affirms this. Evidence for the hieros gamos ritual is documented on cuneiform clay tablets spanning the Neo-Sumerian, Early Old Babylonian, and Old Babylonian periods.
A collection of 26 cuneiform tablets collectively called The Praise Poems of Shulgi were discovered in the mid 19th century and translated in the mid to late 20th century.
Written by Shulgi, they are focused on different avenues of self-worship.⁸
The Praise Poems of Shulgi (AI)
The tablet known as Shulgi X details his participation in hieros gamos.
In it, King Shulgi travels to Uruk to sleep in the sacred residence of the priestess to consummate his marriage to the goddess Inanna.
[Note: Inanna (later known as the Babylonian goddess Ishtar⁹) was later replaced by Zarpanitu in the sacred marriage ritual.]
In the text we see Shulgi ritually preparing himself for something that seems real.
Culgi [Shulgi], the good shepherd, a heart in love, dressed himself in the ma garment and put a hili wig on his head as a crown. Inana looked at him with admiration and spontaneously struck up a song, singing the words… [Sumerian Praise Poems, Shulgi X]
The singing rejoinder from Inanna / the priestess of Inanna suggests the Babylonians viewed the flesh and blood human participants as acting as their gods themselves.
She describes her preparation for the ritual.
the priestess as Inanna / Ishtar (AI)
…When I have bathed for the king, for the lord, when I have bathed for the shepherd Dumuzid, when I have adorned my flanks (?) with ointment (?), when I have anointed my mouth with balsamic oil, when I have painted my eyes with kohl… [Sumerian Praise Poems, Shulgi X]
The poem describes the priestess responding as Inanna / Ishtar and performing physical actions like bathing, perfuming herself, and applying cosmetics.
Perhaps most tellingly, she calls Shulgi “Dumuzid.”
Dumuzid (later known as Tammuz) was the consort of Inanna in the Sumerian pantheon. Just as Inanna would later be replaced by Zarpanitu, Dumuzid is eventually replaced by Marduk.
Removing any remaining ambiguity, Inanna / the priestess of Inanna goes on to describe having intercourse with King Shulgi / Dumuzid.
And it all ends with a blessing for King Shulgi that he receives from Inanna.
when he treats me tenderly on the bed, then I will too treat my lord tenderly. I will decree a good fate for him! I will treat Culgi, the good shepherd, tenderly! I will decree a good fate for him!’ [Sumerian Praise Poems, Shulgi X]
the sacred marriage of Shulgi and Inanna (AI)
King Shulgi is Not the Only One
Iddin-Dagan reigned in Sumer and Akkad just as King Shulgi did.
He ruled for 26 years according to the Sumerian King List and died ~1954 BC.¹⁰
In both, the mortal king’s participation is simultaneously one as a human and as the god Dumuzid.
There is a heavy emphasis on the physical ritual preparation for Inanna / the priestess of Inanna before she meets with the king.
The “sacred marriage” is physically consummated. The Iddin-Dagan hymn is even more clear than Shulgi X, saying, “… She makes love with him on her bed.”
The blessing for the king and fertility of the land is believed to spring from the sexual union.
This sounds odd to us today but was an important part of the religious and cultural life for these ancient people.
Nephilim Connections?
History records kings who believed they were a product of human and divine parentage.
According to some theories, this includes Gilgamesh. Who, while a mythologized figure, was also a real historical figure according to the Sumerian King List.
The Epic of Gilgamesh describes him as 2/3 divine and 1/3 human. His mother was thought to be a goddess named Nimsun. While he had a human father named Lugalbanda, who was the representative of the Sumerian sun god Utu.¹²
Other examples include:
Temple inscriptions in ancient Egypt describe divine births resulting from the god Amun-Ra taking on the form of the human king to sleep with the queen. This is why pharaohs were addressed with the title of “Son of Ra.”
Alexander the Great’s mother Olympias was heavily involved in mystery cults. She alleged she was impregnated by Zeus, and Alexander spent his adult life believing he was a god himself as a result.
Egyptians believed the gods came to earth (AI)
It seems incredibly odd, but ancient people seemed comfortable with this idea:
Ritually prepared humans could physically embody the gods and goddesses of their lands and could produce offspring with divine ancestry.
“Sacred” Marriage in Canaan
Ritual sex involving the gods seems to have played a role in Canaanite religion as well.
Unlike in Babylon, some scholars have argued that participation in Canaanite fertility rituals was not only for the king and high priestess.
The traditional view of many historians was that everyday men and women could visit “high places” and local temples for ritual sex with temple prostitutes and seek the favor of the gods.¹³
In Babylon those gods were Inanna / Dumizi (later Marduk / Zarpanitu) who were at the top of the pantheon. In Canaan it was Baal and Asherah.
Canaanite fertility cults (AI)
They are the gods mentioned most often in the Old Testament.
And they are deities that Moses specifically warns against when giving Yahweh’s instructions to the Israelites when they are preparing to enter Canaan.
