Of their customs, whereof I shall now proceed to give an account,
the following (which I understand belongs to them in common with the
Illyrian tribe of the Eneti) is the wisest in my judgment. Once a
year in each village the maidens of age to marry were collected all
together into one place; while the men stood round them in a circle.
Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and offered them for
sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was sold for no small
sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came next to her in
beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest of the Babylonians
who wished to wed bid against each other for the loveliest maidens,
while the humbler wife-seekers, who were indifferent about beauty,
took the more homely damsels with marriage-portions. For the custom
was that when the herald had gone through the whole number of the
beautiful damsels, he should then call up the ugliest- a cripple,
if there chanced to be one- and offer her to the men, asking who would
agree to take her with the smallest marriage-portion. And the man
who offered to take the smallest sum had her assigned to him. The
marriage-portions were furnished by the money paid for the beautiful
damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned out the uglier. No
one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to the man of his
choice, nor might any one carry away the damsel whom he had purchased
without finding bail really and truly to make her his wife; if, however,
it turned out that they did not agree, the money might be paid back.
All who liked might come even from distant villages and bid for the
women. This was the best of all their customs, but it has now fallen
into disuse. They have lately hit upon a very different plan to save
their maidens from violence, and prevent their being torn from them
and carried to distant cities, which is to bring up their daughters
to be courtesans. This is now done by all the poorer of the common
people, who since the conquest have been maltreated by their lords,
and have had ruin brought upon their families.
The following custom seems to me the wisest of their institutions
next to the one lately praised. They have no physicians, but when
a man is ill, they lay him in the public square, and the passers-by
come up to him, and if they have ever had his disease themselves or
have known any one who has suffered from it, they give him advice,
recommending him to do whatever they found good in their own case,
or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed to pass the sick
man in silence without asking him what his ailment is.
They bury their dead in honey, and have funeral lamentations like
the Egyptians. When a Babylonian has consorted with his wife, he sits
down before a censer of burning incense, and the woman sits opposite
to him. At dawn of day they wash; for till they are washed they will
not touch any of their common vessels. This practice is observed also
by the Arabians.
The Babylonians have one most shameful custom. Every woman born in
the country must once in her life go and sit down in the precinct
of Venus, and there consort with a stranger. Many of the wealthier
sort, who are too proud to mix with the others, drive in covered carriages
to the precinct, followed by a goodly train of attendants, and there
take their station. But the larger number seat themselves within the
holy enclosure with wreaths of string about their heads- and here
there is always a great crowd, some coming and others going; lines
of cord mark out paths in all directions the women, and the strangers
pass along them to make their choice. A woman who has once taken her
seat is not allowed to return home till one of the strangers throws
a silver coin into her lap, and takes her with him beyond the holy
ground. When he throws the coin he says these words- "The goddess
Mylitta prosper thee." (Venus is called Mylitta by the Assyrians.)
The silver coin may be of any size; it cannot be refused, for that
is forbidden by the law, since once thrown it is sacred. The woman
goes with the first man who throws her money, and rejects no one.
When she has gone with him, and so satisfied the goddess, she returns
home, and from that time forth no gift however great will prevail
with her. Such of the women as are tall and beautiful are soon released,
but others who are ugly have to stay a long time before they can fulfil
the law. Some have waited three or four years in the precinct. A custom
very much like this is found also in certain parts of the island of
Cyprus.
Such are the customs of the Babylonians generally. There are likewise
three tribes among them who eat nothing but fish. These are caught
and dried in the sun, after which they are brayed in a mortar, and
strained through a linen sieve. Some prefer to make cakes of this
material, while others bake it into a kind of bread.