An insight about ancient concubinage:

Muslim cultures are thought to have had more female slaves than male slaves.

Enslaved women were given many tasks and one of the most common was working as a domestic servant.

But some female slaves were forced to become sex workers: not prostitutes, as this is forbidden in Islam, but concubines. Concubines were women who were sexually available to their master, but not married to him. A Muslim man could have as many concubines as he could afford.

Concubinage was not unique to Islam; the Bible records that King Solomon and King David both had concubines, and it is recorded in other cultures too.

Being a concubine did have some benefits: if a slave woman gave birth to her owner´s child, her status improved dramatically - she could not be sold or given away, and when her owner died she became free. The child was also free and would inherit from their father as any other children.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/slavery_7.shtml

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:John_frederick_lewis-reception1873.jpg

The Harem in the Ottoman Empire

In order to understand the Harem and to correct the distorted accounts of it, it is essential to be clear that the word Harem refers to the Sultans’ homes and families: both local people visiting Topkapı Palace and foreign tourists who have often been deliberately misinformed about Turkey, suppose that the Ottoman Sultans lived a life of pleasure and dissipation in the Palace. But it was not like that, for within it were the official buildings that for over 300 years housed the central government of the Ottoman Empire. That is to say, it was the equivalent of both the presidential palace, and prime minister’s office, and key ministries, and headquarters of the army, and so on. As is shown in detail in the book together with documentary evidence and photographs, Topkapı Palace consisted of three main areas:

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Thanks for sharing explanatory article!! Interesting.

A painting reg. selling  females came to my mind:

Artist: José Jímenez Aranda (1837-1903)
Title: A Slave Sale/ Une esclave en vente

Above is not entirely true

-The harem existed in order to channel sultans sexuality and reproduction faculties, in the interest of dynasty. 

-Of course the other reason to have harem was pure ´desire´. when you look at the mistresses of french royal family and the embarresments of the royal family in the uk by the dynastic love affairs, in ottomans, sultan simply consumed his desire/lust on women, purely selected for their health and beauty. 

from: http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_29397

Thehandsom, you seem to be very well educated on the nuances of the harems, why is that?

Favorite boys grew up to
marry their masters´ daughters, and to take over management of
businesses and properties. The Sultan´s favorite boys often grew up to
be generals, governors, and high court officials.

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.turkish/2005-10/msg00374.html

Ottomans ruled between 1299 and 1923 till the foundation of Turkish Republic. They had been Moslems long before and they didn´t have much from their pre-Islamic period. Things were organized according to Islamic system, from state system to social services. So the rules about sex were from Islam too. Men could marry four women and even the way he should treat them were mentioned in the Kur´an. But as there are only vague references to homosexuality in Kur´an, it has never been an issue.Sleeping with men who are usually referred as "boys" was very common.It was not something looked upon.

http://www.qrd.org/QRD/www/world/europe/turkey/islamottoman.htm