2 chapters across the catalog
Ancient Babylonian religious practices included widespread temple prostitution and the sacrifice of infants to deities like Molech. Historian Herodotus recorded that women were required to participate in ritual intercourse at the temple of Aphrodite at least once in their lives. These religious systems operated as economic rackets, where priests collected massive tributes and taxes from a populace kept in a state of superstitious fear.
The Ishtar Gate of Babylon is currently housed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, a location the Bible refers to as the "seat of Satan." Modern pop culture, such as Katy Perry's Super Bowl performance, frequently utilizes the iconography of Ishtar riding a lion. The discussion reiterates Herodotus' accounts of ritual prostitution, where strangers would cast silver coins to initiate sexual rites in the name of the goddess.
