Sacred prostitution

In India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women also learn and practice classical Indian dances such as Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Their status as dancers, musicians, and consorts was an essential part of temple worship.

sexual rite performed in the context of religious worship

Anahit () was the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water in Armenian mythology. In the early periods, she was the goddess of war. By the 5th century BCE, she was the main deity in Armenia along with Aramazd. The Armenian goddess Anahit is related to the similar Iranian goddess Anahita. Artaxias I erected statues of Anahit, and promulgated orders to worship them.

Shamhat (; also called Shamkat in the old Babylonian version of Gilgamesh") is a character who appears in Tablets I and II of the Epic of Gilgamesh and is mentioned in Tablet VII. She is often characterized as a sacred prostitute, though this identification has been contested, and she plays a significant role in bringing the wild man Enkidu into contact with civilization.

ancient city of Pontus, in modern-day Turkey, in modern-day Turkey

Archaeological site in Zalamea de la Serena, Spain

Godess in Jewish mythology

ancient Greek temple in Corinth Municipality, Greece

thumb|Engraving from 1651 with Pygmalion in the foreground and the Propoetides in the background

law code set out in Deuteronomy 12–26