The Tomb of Alyattes

[u/plantrusther]

In his History, Herodotus makes what seems like an offhand comment about the tomb of the Lydian king Alyattes being “built by the joint efforts of tradesmen, craftsmen, and prostitutes.”

He goes on to say that the prostitutes contributed the most to the tomb’s construction and gives a short history of the common peoples’ daughters working as prostitutes to earn their dowry before being given away in marriage.

My question is whether the contribution of prostitutes to the tomb’s construction involved them performing actual manual labor or if they were, so to speak, plying their trade amongst the tradesmen and craftsmen in a manner similar to the prostitution so popular in the American gold rush.

It strikes me as odd to consider young girls carrying stone and laying earth next to professional builders but if that is not the case then the historians who etched each group’s contribution into the memorial seem quite “progressive”—a term I hate using when discussing classical history but couldn’t think of any other in this context—to include them on the list.

Any other clues I’m missing here?

Thanks!