Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt

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There are only a few references in ancient Egyptian sources to homosexuality in ancient Egypt . These sources are also controversial and open to various interpretations . However, this does not have to be due to a taboo on the topic in ancient Egypt or homosexuality , but can generally be due to the nature of the sources. All types of sexuality are almost never presented and are rarely mentioned in texts.

Hints

Pictorial evidence of homosexuality

Ostracon from the Ramesside period , probably homoerotic.
Kinship between Idet and Ruiu; 18th dynasty; in the Museo Egizio Turin

The decorated mastaba of Nianchchnum and Khnumhotep , who were high court officials, dates from the Old Kingdom (5th dynasty , approx. 2500 BC) . Both men were married and had children, but are depicted several times in close embraces in the grave . However, while some research sees a homosexual couple in these two men , most recent research has suggested a pair of twins or even Siamese twins . The question of the interpretation of these representations must remain open for the time being.

Finally, there are a few erotic depictions that may depict homosexual acts between men. However, these representations are not drawn in great detail and therefore not informative enough.

Written references to homosexuality

The two most detailed descriptions of homosexual relationships come from the Middle Kingdom (approx. 2000–1700 BC). However, they are not descriptions of real events or even love letters. Rather, they are mythological stories.

The text from the plaintiff of Memphis , which is only preserved in fragments from a later period, tells the story of General Sasenet and King Neferkare (as the throne name , birth name probably Pepi II ). Every night the king goes to the general's house, where he throws a stone and the general lowers a ladder , after which "his majesty did what he wished," which in ancient Egyptian texts is a paraphrase of sexual acts. The king is being watched by someone during his nightly walks. The story has not survived, but the secrecy of the actions is an indication that the king's behavior was considered unworthy. Whether this has anything to do with the homosexual acts themselves or the situation - an affair with a subordinate - remains to be seen.

From al-Lahun (Middle Kingdom, approx. 1700 BC) comes a papyrus fragment from the story of the gods of Horus and Seth , the complete text of which has been preserved from the New Kingdom (around 1200 BC). Seth had killed his brother Osiris and was fighting with Horus, the son of Osiris, for rule in Egypt. One passage of the story describes how Seth raped Horus and tried to humiliate him. The interpretation of this stele , in turn, divides Egyptological research: If Horus is humiliated here by the homosexual act, it is the rape or both together. Emma Brunner-Traut rates the plot itself as negative, although it must be taken into account that it comes from an older generation of researchers and often censored passages with sexual content. Rather, Renate Müller-Wollermann assumes that it is the passive, ie unworthy (“female”) role into which Horus is pushed.

Other sources on homosexuality in ancient Egypt are, above all, individual sayings in life teachings or texts from the hereafter. These place homosexuality in a negative context (e.g. as a degrading social punishment inflicted by one's comrades ).

Female homosexuality is not documented in ancient Egypt, apart from one line in the dream book, the translation of which, however, is controversial.

Judgment on homosexuality in ancient Egypt

In the Book of the Dead , a passage in the text is interpreted as a condemnation of homosexual acts (“have no cohabitation with a co-sleeper”), but the translation and interpretation is too vague to draw reliable conclusions from it. This passage in a book of the dead belonging to a woman was judged by the British historian Parkinson to be a condemnation of female homosexuality, but this interpretation is hardly provable.

Gay , coward  in hieroglyphics
N41 m D52

ḥ m
gay , coward

The word Hm can perhaps be translated as gay : the basic sexual meaning of the word seems certain, as it is written with a phallus . Hm is mostly used in texts to defame opponents so that it has a negative connotation. Due to the small amount of evidence, it remains unclear whether Hm is a homosexual in the western sense, or whether it is possibly the passive partner of a same-sex act.

The story of Horus and Seth may at least suggest that there was an image of homosexuality in ancient Egypt that can be found in many oriental cultures . Homosexual acts were allowed for the active (male) partner, while the passive partner, considered to be female, was outlawed.

If one interprets the representation in the grave of Nianchchnum and Khnumhotep as a homosexual couple, this may even indicate an acceptance of mutually consensual homosexuality. It is striking, however, that there is no example of love letters written by homosexuals; Love letters are an important literary genre, especially in the New Kingdom. Because of this, and not least because of the low number of evidence, the assessment of homosexuality in ancient Egypt must be carried out with caution. Social acceptance is more likely to be denied until positive evidence emerges.

See also

literature

  • Frank Kammerzell , Toro Rueda, Maria Isabel: It is not the homosexual that is perverse: The thirty-second maxim of Ptahhotep's teaching. In: Lingua Aegyptia. 11. 2003, pp. 63-78.
  • Richard Parkinson : Homosexual Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature. In: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, pp. 57-76.
  • Beate Schukraft: Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt. In: Studies on Ancient Egyptian Culture . (SAK) Volume 36, Hamburg 2007, pp. 297-331.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hartwig Altenmüller , Ahmed M. Moussa: Das Grab des Nianchchnum and Chnumhotep (= Archaeological Publications. Vol. 21). von Zabern , Mainz 1977, ISBN 3-8053-0050-6 .
  2. ^ R. Parkinson: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, p. 62 (with further literature).
  3. ^ R. Parkinson: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, pp. 71-74.
  4. ^ R. Parkinson: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, pp. 70-71.
  5. ↑ Emma Brunner-Traut: Myth in everyday life. To the lottery calendar in ancient Egypt. In: Antaios. Magazine for a Free World. Volume 12, Stuttgart 1970, p. 338.
  6. ^ Renate Müller-Wollermann: Offenses and punishments. To sanction deviant behavior in ancient Egypt. In: Problems of Egyptology. Volume 21, 2004.
  7. ↑ She covers it with a coffin text, swear words and quotations from a relevant work on this topic: Eckhard Neumann: Herrschafts- und Sexualsymbolik. Stuttgart 1980.
  8. ^ Gay Robins: Women in ancient Egypt. British Museum Press, London 1993, ISBN 978-0-7141-0956-5 , pp. 73 f.
  9. ^ R. Parkinson: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, pp. 61-62.
  10. ^ R. Parkinson: The Journal of Egyptian Archeology. No. 81, 1995, pp. 66-67.
  11. ↑ B. Schuhkraft: Studies on ancient Egyptian culture. Vol. 36, 2007, pp. 330-331.