I get a question once in a while about the place of homosexuality in the ancient middle east. A legitimate question.

The prohibition was this: ‘entering’ was a very big issue. This was directed mainly at men because supposedly two women ‘rubbing’ didn’t constitute sex. ‘Entering’ was sex. To ‘enter’ someone of equal social caste was a no-no. One could get into a hell of a lot of trouble for it. It made them ‘unclean.’ Entering someone of a lower caste wasn’t as bad.

Being attracted to someone of the same gender wasn’t an issue. You saw that really bad version of Alexander? You noticed the gay men? That was good research. The temples and the royal courts had male prostitutes. The temples even had gay priests, called kallu/gallu. The G and K are both hard so you’ll see the work spelled with one or the other. They were mainly the musicians and dancers, which was important because not a ritual went by in which music and dance wasn’t used, and if the drummer wasn’t there for the temple drum, the ritual didn’t happen at all!

Even Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon (Semitic Babylonian who invaded non-semitic Sumer and created the Babylonian empire) and the high priestess of Nanna’s temple in Ur, was known to go about town dressed as a man. There is a famous bust of her in which she is wearing a fake lapis beard and men’s robes.

One of the kings, Ashurbanipal (I forgot which one), was also known to have a male consort. And shall we discuss Gilgamesh and Enkidu? The original David and Jonathan.

Thankfully, this was a living religion, which means that the rules changed depending upon the needs of the society. Don't stress the small stuff; we are in 2006 CE, not 2006 BC.