Esther 2:13

Then thus came every maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.

Then thus came every maiden unto the king. 'Gynaeceum, the women's apartment, was, in the Susa palace at any rate, building distinct from the general edifice, separated from "the king's house" by a court. It was itself composed of at least three sets of apartments, namely, apartments for the virgins, who had not yet gone into the king, apartments for the concubines, and apartments for the queen-consort and the other wives. These different portions were under the supervision of different persons. Two eunuchs of distinction had the charge respectively of the "first" and of "the second house of the women." The queen-consort was, at any rate nominally, paramount in the third, her authority extending over all its inmates, male and female' (Rawlinson's 'Ancient Monarchies,' 4:, p. 174).