Sex And The Ancient Egyptians

In ancient Egypt, sexuality and sex was unencumbered by guilt. From conception to death and rebirth, sex was an integral part of life, however, There are few references on this topic because documents have not survived the passage of time. This is because they were written on materials that would have been destroyed by humidity, water, and war, among other things. But there are other reasons why these records are not available. For example, when stone carvings or writings were found to be “shocking to public decency”, they were hidden or destroyed by those who found them.

It’s also possible that they were pillaged or stolen from Egypt and then sold to the highest bidder, and are now tucked away in a museum’s forgotten storehouse, gathering dust while waiting to be rediscovered again. Unlike other contemporary and later cultures, ancient Egypt had a fairly natural concept of the human body and sex, despite what people think.

General Understanding

Before we get into it here are some general ideas and understanding around Ancient Egyptian sexual behaviour and mores. The lack of material on sexual positions and activities is frequently regarded by researchers as indicating that the Egyptians did not place a high value on the subject. In fact, the Egyptians were so excepting of bodily functions and activities that they may not have seen it as important to write about or describe these activities. Nakedness was so commonplace in ancient Egypt that what was sexually appealing to a man was a woman wearing a semi transparent dress and wet.

First, it was considered that men had one role and that was they created life. While women appear to have performed two roles: firstly, they aroused and encouraged the man’s act of creation with their attractiveness and sexual allure, and second: they sustained the life that his creative power formed.

From what we can tell sexual positions such as from behind (also known as “doggy style) appears to have been rather popular in Egypt, based on the amount of representations of this position that survive, with the male standing and the woman bending over. The depictions alone cannot indicate if any of these examples represent anal sex.

Virginity didn’t seem to matter much in ancient Egypt, either for the couple or for the individual, as it was extremely typical for persons who married to have had sexual liaisons with each other or with other individuals before marriage.

In Ancient Egypt, the union between two people was so precious that infidelity was unforgivable and resulted in an instantaneous divorce. In fact, fornication with a married woman was both a moral and legal offence. In a document named the Negative Confession (part of Chapter 125), the norms of the day in relation to sexual morality are set down in the Book of the Dead. Two marriage contracts from the 26th Dynasty demonstrate that the man had no responsibility to the woman if he divorced her for infidelity.

In less dramatic circumstances for divorce, it was not stigmatised, and divorcees could readily remarry, albeit the emphasis on producing children meant that a woman considerably past her reproductive prime would have had difficulty successfully finding a suitable spouse.

Marriage

Despite being such a significant event in Egyptian culture, the marriage between both parties only became functional once they shared a home. There was no grand ceremony, just a quiet gathering. They would only have to agree on what goods each of them would bring to the household. Pre-nuptial agreements were widespread, and the bride’s personal goods remained hers to do with as she chose after the marriage.

In a relationship, men and women are seen as equal partners and friends, in fact they would call each brother and sister. Women were treated with respect as fellow workers with their husbands, not as subordinates, while the man was the head of the household and expected to be obeyed.

Sex Crimes

Rape was despised, and the guilty party was usually punished as well. One could believe the exact opposite, given that sex was such a transparent facet of life, but even the Egyptians had their limits. Sexual assault was rarely recorded; this shows that it was regarded as a wholly private matter between individuals. When such issues were brought to the notice of the authorities, it was evident that action needed to be done to maintain ma’at (peace and order).

Sex and Religion

The buildings, artefacts, and the written word from throughout Egypt shows that the country was deeply religious with many gods and stories to tell. Many of the myths we’ve encountered clearly mention sex. We can see that with the God Atum and how he created the first few Gods (He masturbated him to Create them), the God Geb and his sister Nut (they had sex which created Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephtys. Geb and Nut were at it so much the had to be separated) Osiris and Isis (another brother and sister combination, whose liaison produced Horus), and Horus and Seth (Seth attempted to rape his nephew, so as to dominate him), just to give a few examples.

These stories also lead to the topic of incest. The Egyptian gods, especially the legendary brother-sister coupling Osiris and Isis, promoted the institution of incest, this practise was more prevalent amongst the pharaohs and nobles. This might be due to the fact that royal succession was related to political elites, and only a few persons were judged “pure” enough to have a relationship with.

The ancient Egyptian gods didn’t just have sex with themselves and with each other, they also had sex with humans. This is alluded to in the “divine conception stories” of pharaohs such as Hatshepsut and Amenhotep the third (The father of Akhennaten and grandfather of Tutankhamun). In both stories it is said that the God and one had impregnated their mothers.

Even though sex was viewed positively in a social and religious sense, according to Herodotus the Egyptians were “the first to make it a religious practise not to have intercourse with women in temples, nor to enter a temple without washing after being with a woman,…”

Contraception

Egyptians desired to have as many children as possible, having more offspring helped a man advance in social status in ancient times. Illegitimate offspring were also not stigmatised in any way. Notwithstanding the fact that the average life expectancy at the period was 30 years, and many of the children born did not live to adulthood. Even while the Egyptians sought to have as many children as possible, this does not mean that a couple necessarily desired children or had sex with the intent of having children. It is widely known that the Egyptians had a variety of contraception methods, some of which were dubious.

The most prevalent methods to prevent pregnancies were coitus interruptus (That is when the penis is withdrawn before ejaculation during sexual activity.) , douching, anal sex, and a “blocking system” comprised of linen placed into the vagina and then removed with tweezers, according to reports.

If none of these techniques for preventing pregnancies worked, they still could get an abortion. Because life in ancient Egypt was precious, it was not a particularly widespread activity, but it was a socially acceptable one.

According to the Ancient Egyptian Papyrus Ebers, “The lady empties out the conception in the first, second, or third time period,” by using herbal drinks, vaginal douches, and vaginal suppositories available to help with this. The Kahun Papyrus references crocodile dung as an abortifacient, or treatment that promotes a miscarriage thus causing an abortion. It was made by making the dung into a pessary with dough and placing it into the vagina. This was to function as both a birth control and a miscarriage inducer. Although crocodile dung has spermicidal qualities, it was most likely used as a contraceptive rather than an abortifacient.

Prostitution

Prostitutes were revered and promoted themselves via their wardrobe and make-up, and were often associated or connected with the local temples. This would bring in a good source of income for the local temples. Blue faience beaded fishnet costumes were donned by certain prostitutes. She tattooed herself on her breasts and arms and painted their lips scarlet.

Other prostitutes walked about naked. There’s no proof that these women were reimbursed for their fertility-related services. Prostitutes were treated with dignity and honour since they provided a channel for fertility, magic, and religion. Rather, they appeared to be connected to the sacred; they would help pregnant women as caregivers, along with being singers, dancers, and musicians.

Homosexuality

Historians and Egyptologists argue about what types of attitudes towards homosexuality ancient Egyptian civilisation generated.

The two senior officials, Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are the most well-known cases of probable homosexuality in ancient Egypt. Egyptologists and historians differ about how to read Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum’s artwork in their tomb. According to some scholars, the paintings portray an instance of homosexuality between two married men, proving that the ancient Egyptians tolerated same-sex relationships.

One image in particular has garnered considerable attention since it depicts them rubbing their noses. This might be regarded as a kiss, but could also be interpreted in some other manner. Such as the daily greeting of “touching noses”, which is still performed between many men in the Arab Emirates. The roots can be traced back to ancient Bedouins. When they were meeting with a friend and their hands were full, they would use their nose to make a physical connection and welcome the person.

Others disagree, interpreting the images as confirmation that Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum were twins, or perhaps conjoined twins.

It’s still unknown how the ancient Egyptians viewed homosexual behavior. Any papers or literature featuring stories about sexual acts avoid specifying the nature of the sexual acts in lieu of poetic and euphemistic allusions. While the myths about Seth and his sexual encounters may reflect negative thoughts and attitudes, still, same-sex relationships were never clearly explained as reprehensible or repulsive in ancient Egyptian texts. It should be noted that in the maxims of Ptahhotep, maxim number 32 states: “Do not have sex with an un-matured person, you know it is forbidden. Be well assured that such unworthy action will only arouse their passionate desire, and what they lust for will not be satisfied. Let darkness never come for the performance of such lewdness, So that they may be quiet after they have satisfied their desire.” It has been generaly accepted that the un-matured person refered to here is male, wheather it is refering to a pubescent male or adult male is still debated. However, There is no indication that homosexual behavior was punishable in ancient Egypt. As a result, a direct assessment is still problematic. It can still be said however, that homosexual actions were viewed as morally undesirable (non-reproductive) and socially hazardous (like adultery) in the majority of allusions from Egypt’s literature .

Polygamy

Polygamy was prevalent, especially among the upper classes; a common man could have several wives, but this was prohibitively expensive; kings and rulers, on the other hand, used to have concubines and an official wife. The most prominent example is that of Ramses the Second, who had many concubines and is considered to have had approximately 150 children at the age of 91.

Necrophilia:

It has been claimed that the Egyptians had to be vigilant of embalmers because it seems that certain embalmers preyed on the deceased and had sex with them, notably women. As a consequence, several families engaged the services of a guard to keep a watchful eye on the body at all times. Whenever a young woman passed, the family would wait a few days before delivering the body to be mummified so that the putrefaction would discourage the embalmers from molesting her remains.

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