"For at the window of my house, I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, A young man void of understanding, Passing through the streets near her (the strange woman's) corner; And he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night; And, behold, there met him a woman With the attire of a harlot, and subtile of heart. She is loud and stubborn; Her feet abide not in her house: Now she is without, now in the streets, And lieth in wait at every corner. So she caught him, and kissed him, And with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace-offerings with me; This day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, Diligently to seek thy face, And I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, With carved works, with linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, Aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: Let us solace ourselves with loves. * * * With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, With the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks." That prostitution continued to be practiced generally and openly until the destruction of the old Jewish nation, the language of the Biblical prophets does not permit us to doubt. It may be questioned whether it ever assumed more revoltingly public forms in any other country. The Babylonish conquest must have changed the parts, without altering the performance. At Babylon, the Jewish maidens, whose large, expressive eyes, voluptuous mouth, slender and graceful figure, with well-developed bust and limbs, were frequently the theme of ancient poets, peopled the houses of prostitution, and ministered to the lusts of the nobles. Nor even after the return to Jerusalem was the evil extirpated. It was to a prostitute that Christ uttered the memorable sentence, "Her sins are forgiven because she loved much." CHAPTER II. EGYPT, SYRIA, AND ASIA MINOR. Egyptian Courtesans.--Festival of Bubastis.--Morals in Egypt.-- Religious Prostitution in Chaldæa.--Babylonian Banquets.-- Compulsory Prostitution in Phoenicia.--Persian Banquets. Before passing to the subject of prostitution in Greece, a glance at Egypt, and those nations of Asia which seem to have preceded Greece in civilization, may not be out of place.