Oldest profession in the world

[y2kroja]

Why is prostitution often referred to as the oldest profession in the world? I don't think it is correct. I think the oldest profession in the world is 'Farming' or 'Environmental Management'. Remember when God put Adam and Eve in Eden's Garden and told them to keep and till it?

[Peter Pedant]

no its prostitution

in envirnmental mgt., money doesnt change hands - well not much anyway even in these days of common market hand-outs.

Definitely prostitution

[Romeo]

If by 'profession' we mean a service provided for payment, then it definitely is prostitution.

[goldenboy]

surely,if money were to change hands then metallurgy and minting of some form would have to predate prostitution as a profession? or is that too pedantic?

[jno]

goldenboy has a point. Perhaps the original ladies weren't paid with money but with, say, some nice wheat - which would mean the agriculture was also a for-profit business. It's a two-way trade, after all.

As to what actually constitutes a profession here's wikipedia

[Hippy]

And just what did Eve do to get at Adam and drag him down to her level after she met Mr. Snake?

[WaldoMcFroog]

It's a bit difficult to accept any answer using Adam and Eve as evidence given that even most believers don't think there was literally one man plus a woman made from his rib!

[jno]

Waldo, if that rib business was renamed 'cloning' would it sound more plausible?

Adam and Eve may be a myth, but that's not the same as a fairytale; it does in essence recall the era when humans became agrarian. The Israelites, who went on the move a lot, may have looked back with nostalgia to an era when people were settled on their own land, and have been creating a myth about how it ended for them. (I'm guessing here; but a lot of the Old Testament is about God punishing people for disobeying him.) 

[WaldoMcFroog]

Jno, the rib bit is not really important!

If your assertation is correct - it is a myth about when the Israelites became agrarian - does it not suppose they did something before? Moreover, the Israelites weren't the only people around, so why does the oldest profession have to come from their culture?

[Octavius]

Prostitution is often described as "the world's oldest profession".

This is dubious, as prostitution (at least in the modern sense) cannot have emerged before the emergence of money, which can only have taken place after the emergence of several trades, and it has been claimed that midwives are really the world's oldest profession.

However, prostitution has been noted in Bonobo chimpanzee behavior based around access to food and gifts of food, and in penguins in regard to access for suitable stones for nest building.

One of the first forms of prostitution was sacred prostitution starting perhaps with Babylon, where each woman had to reach, once in their lives, the sanctuary of Militta (Aphrodites or Nana/Anahita) and there have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price.

[badams]

The Israelites weren't around when Adam and Eve were, because Israel (aka Jacob, who they were named after) hadn't been born!

As for Adam and Eve being a myth, genetic evidence does suggest that all humanity came from one male and female pair.  So why couldn't they have been Adam and Eve?

[firefly]

I don't think the word 'profession' has anything to do with money changing hands, after all it is the same root as 'professor', something which is studied. Calling it an occupation would make it clearer.

[Octavius]

A profession is a specialised work function within society and often refers specifically to fields that require extensive study and mastery of specialised knowledge.

A prostitute can be a master of their art, surely?!

[landie]

Yes, but they thought he said, 'Keep at it'.

[dothawkes]

Sorry to be so light hearted in this intense debate, but when I saw the bit about penguins I had an instant image of Jack Regan shouting 'you're nicked' to a penguin!!!  Sorry I'll slip away now.

[Octavius]

Quite how they determined that penguins were soliciting for sex, taking "nest building stones" as payment we may never ever know....