(From “Aphrodite”)
CHAPTER I
THE GARDENS OF THE GODDESS
The temple of Aphrodite-Astarte stood outside the gates of the city in an immense domain full of flowers and shadows, where the waters of the Nile flowed through seven aqueducts and maintained at all seasons a state of wonderful fertility.
This forest of flowers on the sea-shore, these deep streams, these lakes and shady meadows had been created in the desert by Ptolemy I. Since that time the sycamores planted by his orders had become giants; through the fertilizing influence of the waters the lawns had grown into meadows; the ponds had become enlarged into lakes; Nature had turned a park into a country.
The gardens were more than a valley, more than a country, more than a land; they were a complete world enclosed within walls of stone, and ruled by a Goddess who was the soul and centre of this universe. All around this domain arose a circular terrace. Its boundary was not a wall, it was a colossal city, consisting of fourteen hundred houses. A like number of courtesans dwelt in this holy city and represented in this spot alone seventy different races.
These sacred houses were uniform in design, and had upon each door the courtesan’s name who dwelt there.
Upon each side of the door were two rooms without walls upon the side next to the gardens. The room to the right was where the courtesan arrayed in all her finery sat to await the arrival of her visitors. The room on the left was at the disposal of those who wished to pass the night in the open air without sleeping on the grass.
On opening the door a passage gave entrance to a vast courtyard paved with marble, the middle of which was adorned by an oval basin. A peristyle provided the shade around this great square of light, and formed a zone of coolness for the entrance to the seven rooms of the house. At the back stood the altar which was of red granite.