Harem, Harem

Contrary to the common belief, a Muslim harem does not necessarily consist solely of women with whom the head of the household has sexual relations (wives and concubines), but also their young offspring, other female relatives, etc.; and it may either be a palatial complex, as in Romantic tales, in which case it includes staff (women and eunuchs), or simply their quarters, in the Ottoman tradition separated from the men's selamlk. The Greek gynaeceum and Persian zenana were comparable institutions.

These women would be educated so that they were ready to appear in public as a royal wife. No forms of sexual activity took place in those harems.

It also housed the Sultan's mother, daughters and other female relatives, as well as eunuchs and slave girls to serve the aforementioned women, and of course dancing girls and pleasure slaves for the Sultan. During the later periods, the sons of the Sultan also lived in the Harem until they were sixteen, when it might be considered appropriate for them to appear in the public and administrative areas of the palace. The Topkap Harem was, in some senses, merely the private living quarters of the Sultan and his family, within the palace complex. It is said that the harem of Abdul Hamid II (18761909) contained about 1000 women, all of whom were of slave origin.

For example, Anglique and the Sultan , part of the bestselling French Anglique series by Sergeanne Golon, in which a 17th Century French noblewoman is captured by pirates, sold as a pleasure slave to the King of Morocco and installed in his harem, she is dressed in exotic clothing and prepared for the king's pleasure. But when the king has her brought into his bedchamber and tries to make love with her she stabs and wounds him with his own dagger and stages a dramatic and successful escape.

Source: Wikipedia > Harem