Many societies, ancient and modern, have made provision for high-ranking prostitutes (we have already met Kitty and Laura Bell). The Greek hetairai were a class of high-status prostitutes as were the English and French courtesans. The temple-harlots of ancient Babylon (mentioned in Herodotus) had their own high status in society, as did the Japanese geishas. In ancient China high-class prostitutes were classified as ch'ing-kuan-jen and hung-kuang-jen (pure official attendants and popular official attendants respectively) since in the Manchu Dynasty their important customers were mainly high officials. It is a sobering thought that the derogatory connotation of the word prostitute springs mainly from the influence of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many societies in history have viewed things differently.