Sorry for the title, but I have so many questions.

In Herodotus: Histories, there is a passage about Babylonian customs, and here is the relevant part:

The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite and have intercourse with some stranger once in her life. Many women who are rich and proud and disdain to mingle with the rest, drive to the temple in covered carriages drawn by teams, and stand there with a great retinue of attendants. But most sit down in the sacred plot of Aphrodite, with crowns of cord on their heads; there is a great multitude of women coming and going; passages marked by line run every way through the crowd, by which the men pass and make their choice. Once a woman has taken her place there, she does not go away to her home before some stranger has cast money into her lap, and had intercourse with her outside the temple; but while he casts the money, he must say, “I invite you in the name of Mylitta” (that is the Assyrian name for Aphrodite). It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred. So she follows the first man who casts it and rejects no one.

I do not know whether this custom was real or not -since there is a lot of dubious stuff written in his book- so that would be my first question, whether we know or think that this specific custom has existed or not.

My second question would be on the mental state of these women. Is there any documentation, whether directly from women, their entourage, or foreigners like Herodotus himself, talking about how these women felt? Whether they felt that they were raped, or whether they thought it totally normal and natural to have intercourse with total strangers once in their lifetime because it was part of their custom?

When I read above passage, I immediately thought that, if it were real, the women must have felt awful to have sex with total strangers. However, different cultures have different views on different things, so I wondered if anyone had more information about this particular subject.

If you know of any kind of similar rituals in any other civilization throughout any part of the history with more in-depth information about the women, feel free to share.

Thank you.

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PS: Although I originally read the physical book, you can find this passage online on several sites, as it is public domain. I don't know whether linking is allowed or not so I will just leave this note for anyone who would want or need to read the full text on Babylonian customs.