Prostitution is one of the oldest profession in human history.

Through the semester, we

have discussed the role of the women in the society. The women, in almost all
civilization, had not been recognized as an important key of the society. The women
status in the Silk Road era was not the exception. In this era, women did not any legal
position to participate as active member of the society. A well recognized profession was
prostitution. This activity did not started in this era. According to the historical records,
female prostitutes were protected under the Hummurabi Code in Mesopotamia around
the 18th century. Prostitution is the act of engaging in sex acts to hire, and it is
historically and cultural ubiquitous. Susan Whitfield, author of “Life along the silk road,”
described prostitution with a historical background that allow us to have a better
understanding of the social philosophy. In the Silk Road, prostitution was a very
established and organized profession.
Prostitution in the silk road era was a very well organized profession. Our author uses
the term of courtesan instead of prostitutes becuase there is a light difference.
Courtesan are considered women who were highly educated, trained artisan of dance
and signing. The silk road era marked the human history in many aspects, specially
cultural and social themes. Prostitution had different levels in this time. Sophisticated
and educated prostitutes were called courtesan. They also were considered entertainers
because courtesans had special facets that distiguished them from the other
prostituties. Some of them were musician, artist, poets or had special artistic skills. On
the other hand, the low level prostitutes were in the brothels which were goverment run.
the women in these plances were prisioners of war, convited criminals, or wive and
daughter of criminals.