Shamhat

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Fertile Crescent myth series

'''Mesopotamian
Levantine
Arabian
Mesopotamia
Primordial beings
7 gods who command
The great gods
Spirits and monsters
Tales from Babylon
Demigods and Heroes
Adapa, Enkidu Enmerkar, Geshtinanna Gilgamesh, Lugalbanda Shamhat, Siduri Tammuz, Utnapishtim

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All reputable sources have interpreted Shamhat as a temple prostitute, priestess of the Goddess Ishtar in the Epic of Gilgamesh responsible for the civilizing of Enkidu by initiating him into the sexual rites of the goddess as she possesses much kuzbu, or sexual allure.

In some translations, and possibly some ancient written versions of the epic, she is referred to as a harlot, carrying a very different connotation than that of a priestess, perhaps suggesting that Enkidu's initiation is not wholly beneficial to him. Her name is closely related to Shamash, the Sumerian/Babylonian sun god, whose name means "sun" or "one that lights" in Semitic languages. Perhaps this is because, the same way as the sun gives man life, the priestess gives Enkidu life as a human, a hero recognized, defining a life worth living in the ancient culture. However, translation errors do occur; words that appear on the surface to be alike (such as "hat" and "hate") are not remotely alike.

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