The Forum

A Rose by any Other Name...

In a letter in the May/June 2005 issue, Lynne Norris asks, “Can’t we find a term other than ‘prostitution’ to refer to a sexual activity that is part of a religious practice?” She suggests that the young women who performed sex at a temple at Pompeii (see “The First Days of Pompeii,” 08:01) may have been serving as priestesses.

Many years ago Morton Smith of Columbia University suggested that the women who engage in these temple rites be called “lay sisters.”

Merytamun the Fair

The cover of the March/April 2005 issue, showing a bust of Ramesses II’s daughter-wife Merytamun, is a triumph. I find myself looking at it again and again.