The oldest profession in the world (or the world's oldest profession) is a phrase that, unless another meaning is specified, refers to prostitution. However, it did not start to acquire that meaning until 1889, after a Rudyard Kipling story, and it did not do so universally until after World War I. Formerly, various professions vied for the reputation of being the oldest.
The claim to be the oldest profession was made on behalf of farmers, [1] cattle drovers, [2] horticulturalists, [3] barbers, [4] engineers, [5] landscape gardeners, [6] the military, [7] doctors, [8] nurses, [9] teachers, [10] priests, [11] lay preachers [12] and even lawyers. [13]
Perhaps the earliest recorded claim to be the world's oldest profession was made on behalf of tailors. The Song in Praise of the Merchant-Taylors, attested from 1680, which was routinely performed at pageants at the Lord Mayor's Show, London, if the current mayor happened to belong to the tailors' guild, [14] began:
Of all the professions that ever were nam'd,
The taylor's, though slighted, is much to be fam'd':
For various invention, and antiquity,
No trade with the tayler's comparèd may be:
After pointing out that Adam and Eve made garments for themselves, and were therefore tailors, it continued:
Then judge if a tayler was not the first trade.
The oldest profession, and they are but raylers, [15]
Who scoff and deride men that be merchant-taylers.
In Margaret Cavendish's play The Sociable Companions (1668) soldiers claim "our profession, which is to rob, fight and kill, is the most ancient profession that is". [16]
The Irish poet Henry Brooke (1701–1783) declared that humbugging (i.e. scamming) was the oldest profession: [17]
Of all trades and arts in repute or possession,
Humbugging is held the most ancient profession.
The phrase had also been applied to murderers. In The Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries (1875), [18] Charles William Heckethorn, describing the Thugs of India, said:
The hierophant, on initiating the candidate, says to him: "Thou hast chosen, my son, the most ancient profession, the most acceptable to the deity. Thou hast sworn to put to death every human being fate throws into thy hand..."
The phrase began to be associated with prostitution in the last decade of the nineteenth century following Rudyard Kipling's short story about an Indian prostitute, On the City Wall (January 1889). Kipling, after citing a biblical reference, [19] began:
Lalun is a member of the most ancient profession in the world. Lilith was her very-great-grandmamma, and that was before the days of Eve as every one knows. In the West, people say rude things about Lalun's profession, and write lectures about it, and distribute the lectures to young persons in order that Morality may be preserved. In the East where the profession is hereditary, descending from mother to daughter, nobody writes lectures or takes any notice; and that is a distinct proof of the inability of the East to manage its own affairs. [20]
In a scathing article on the morals of the aristocracy in the mass circulation Reynold's Newspaper , 22 July 1894, [21] the reference was repeated:
In ancient Rome, under the empire, ladies used to go to baths to meet a certain class of men, while men resorted thither to meet a certain class of ladies. The ladies belonged to what has been called “the oldest profession in the world", a profession which is carried on in Piccadilly, Regent street, and other parts of London with great energy every night …
In the same year the Pall Mall Gazette [22] reported a speech in which "Mrs. Ormiston Chant … implored us to stand shoulder to shoulder and destroy what Kipling has called 'the oldest profession in the world'".
The phrase was frequently used as a euphemism [23] when delicacy forbade direct reference to prostitution.
In John Galsworthy's play Escape (1926) a prostitute says
I belong to the oldest profession in the world! That isn't true, either—there's an older ... The cop's. Mine wouldn't ever have been a profession but for them. [24]
There is some evidence that unworldly speakers (e.g. of the older generation) or unsophisticated audiences (e.g. in small towns or rural areas) were not at first aware of the phrase's newly acquired meaning. Thus for some time the following could be said in English newspaper reports without apparent embarrassment: "A certain proportion of the cadets were now leaving to enter the oldest profession in the world" (1895). [25] "This gentleman's name often figures high in local prize lists, and he is considered an enthusiast in 'the oldest profession in the world'" (1902). [26] "Mr Petrie heard the voice of God and observed the working of His hand in ways that are denied to most of us. His speech, and especially his prayers, exhibited a rare consciousness of the beauty of holiness, and were fragrant with phrases of singular charm. As you all know, Mr Petrie followed the oldest profession in the world" (1915). [27] "In conclusion, he [Lord Eustace Percy] reminded the teachers that they were the most ancient profession in the world, having descended from the Academy of Plato, and they must always remember that fact (1924)." [28]
However, those "innocent" uses of the phrase tended to die out as awareness of the newly acquired meaning increased, as did the appreciation that antiquity, of itself, did not make a profession respectable. One sociologist has argued that the phrase did not invariably refer to prostitution until the 1970s. [29]
The phrase "world's second-oldest profession" may refer to any number of trades and professions, playing on perceived similarities to prostitution. One frequent use of the phrase is to refer to spies and spying. [30] [31] An explanation of the phrase's association with espionage is that both spies and prostitutes are mentioned in the same passage in the Book of Joshua.
Paul Reynolds, a writer with the BBC , noted: "Rahab, of course, was engaged in the oldest profession."
Ronald Reagan nominated politician as the second-oldest profession with the alleged quip, "Someone once said that politics is the second-oldest profession. I'm beginning to think it bears resemblance to the first." [32]
According to the World Almanac website, nominations for the second-oldest profession include: actors, casino gambling, con men, gangsters, counterfeiters, gigolos, glassmakers, interpreters, journalists, moving companies, pharmacists, pickpockets, pimps, pirates, press agents,spies, and quacks. [33] Humorist Erma Bombeck titled one of her books Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession, since presumably many prostitutes (the "oldest profession") got pregnant. [34] [ failed verification ]
Many other professions have been called the second-oldest in the media, including tip sheet-sale, [35] litigation, [36] environmental engineering, [37] professional consultancy, [38] pawnbrokering, [39] hotel-management, [40] and tomb-raiding. [41]
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
This is a bibliography of works by Rudyard Kipling, including books, short stories, poems, and collections of his works.
Kim is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. The novel popularized the phrase and idea of the Great Game.
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are purported rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage. Scholars prefer the terms "sacred sex" or "sacred sexual rites" in cases where payment for services is not involved.
Rahab was, according to the Book of Joshua, a Gentile woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city prior to their attack. In the New Testament, she is lauded both as an example of a saint who lived by faith, and as someone "considered righteous" for her works. According to biblical research, the author intended that she did not actually contribute in conquering the city, but rather saved herself and her family from death by the Israelites' forces.
The Jungle Book (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who is raised in the jungle by wolves. The stories are set in a forest in India; one place mentioned repeatedly is "Seeonee" (Seoni), in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, or by some other description. Sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution.
"If—" is a poem by English poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), written circa 1895 as a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson. It is a literary example of Victorian-era stoicism. The poem, first published in Rewards and Fairies (1910) following the story "Brother Square-Toes", is written in the form of paternal advice to the poet's son, John.
The hooker with a heart of gold is a stock character involving a courtesan or prostitute who possesses virtues such as integrity, generosity and kindness.
"The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country. Originally written to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the jingoistic poem was replaced with the sombre "Recessional" (1897), also a Kipling poem about empire.
"Danny Deever" is an 1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling, one of the first of the Barrack-Room Ballads. It received wide critical and popular acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the most significant pieces of Kipling's early verse. The poem, a ballad, describes the execution of a British soldier in India for murder. His execution is viewed by his regiment, paraded to watch it, and the poem is composed of the comments they exchange as they see him hanged.
Major General Lionel Charles Dunsterville, was a British Army officer, who led Dunsterforce across present-day Iraq and Iran towards the Caucasus and Baku during the First World War.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring diseases. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes.
Prostitution is illegal in Egypt. The Egyptian National Police officially combats prostitution but, like almost all other countries, prostitution exists in Egypt. UNAIDS estimate there to be 23,000 prostitutes in the country, including Egyptians, West African and Eastern Europeans.
Prostitution has been practiced throughout ancient and modern cultures. Prostitution has been described as "the world's oldest profession," although the oldest professions are most likely farmers, hunters, and shepherds.
"To rob Peter to pay Paul", or other versions that have developed over the centuries such as "to borrow from Peter to pay Paul", and "to unclothe Peter to clothe Paul", are phrases meaning to take from one person or thing to give to another, especially when it results in the elimination of one debt by incurring another. There are many other variants and similar phrases in numerous languages. "Maneuvering the Apostles", which has the same meaning, was derived from this expression. In patchwork, "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is an alternative name for the Drunkard's Path patchwork block.
A Choice of Kipling's Verse, made by T. S. Eliot, with an essay on Rudyard Kipling is a book first published in December 1941. It is in two parts. The first part is an essay by American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), in which he discusses the nature and stature of British poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). The second part consists of Eliot's selection from Kipling's poems.
"Their name liveth for evermore" is a phrase from the King James Version of the Bible, forming the second half of a line in Ecclesiasticus or Sirach, chapter 44, verse 14, widely inscribed on war memorials since the First World War.
Known unto God is a phrase used on the gravestones of unknown soldiers in Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) cemeteries. The phrase was selected by British poet Rudyard Kipling who worked for what was then the Imperial War Graves Commission during the First World War. The origin of the phrase is unknown but it has been linked to sections of the King James Bible. The phrase was re-used for those killed during the Second World War and appears on more than 212,000 gravestones across the world. In 2013 there was controversy when it was proposed that the phrase be removed from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Australian War Memorial.
The 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the British writer Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) "in consideration of the power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration which characterize the creations of this world-famous author." He is the first English-language writer to receive the prize, and being aged 41, is its youngest recipient to date.