Evidence of homosexual sex in ancient Egypt

Evidence in literature and carvings appears in the tomb that scientists believe that homosexuality may have appeared in ancient Egypt.

New findings about homosexual sex in ancient Egypt

Sex in history is the subject of many archeological challenges. Unlike menus or illnesses, traces of sexual activity do not remain on unearthed remains. The objects used in lovemaking during this period (such as contraceptives) often do not exist in archaeological data, making conclusions about their existence from the early days still full of doubts. .

The paragraph describes the ritual weighing the heart from the Book of Death.After vowing not to commit any of the 42 sins, the dead man's heart will be weighed to measure the fidelity of the confession.(Photo: Public Domain).

Moreover, for many ancient communities, sex is a subject that is considered disgusting and not allowed to be mentioned directly. That makes sexual descriptions seem absent from cultural artifacts. When this problem is portrayed by a drawing, its meaning is primarily interpreted according to the reasoning of modern humans. In order to clearly identify the message that the ancient community reminded them through these images, the scientific community only relied on ancient literary sources.

However, the problem is even more complicated when literary notes do not seem representative to the whole society but only from the author's own perspective. All the lack of information makes knowledge of ancient sex still a controversial topic. Other related issues, besides the normal sexuality of men and women, such as intercourse with corpses, animals and homosexual relationships are even more confusing for experts.

Homosexual sex in the Book of Death

According to most of the collected documents, the ancient Egyptians under the rule of Pharaohs, considered the heterosexual or male-sexual intercourse to be natural. Homosexual sex, on the other hand, suffers from harsh stigma.

The section called Spell 125 in the Book of Death includes what a dead person must confess when walking to the "Two-truth Hall" . Among them is the line that says: "I don't have any wrongdoing, I don't have sex with people of the same gender". Based on this evidence, it can be affirmed that homosexuality is a taboo in ancient Egyptian civilization.

"The feud between Horus and Seth"

Homosexual behavior among people of the same gender who are discriminated against does not mean that people have not done it in ancient times. Ancient Egyptian literature is not a rare example of the possibility of describing same-sex sexuality, usually between two men more popular than women.

The god Seth (on the left) and Horus (on the right) expressed their respect for Ramesses.Carvings at the temple in Abu Simbel, Egypt.(Photo: Public Domain).

Prominent among these is the legend of 'The feud between Horus and Seth' (Seth and Horus are the two gods who have uncle and grandchildren, repeatedly fighting for hatred). A version of this legend has a passage that says:

"Then Seth told Horus:" Come here, come and rest at my house. "Horus said," I will come, I will definitely come, will come. "At night, the bed is prepared. and they both lay down, but all night, Seth erected his penis and inserted it between Horus's thighs, Horus put his hands in the middle of his thighs and caught Seth's semen. Isis's mother and said, "Help me, Isis, my mother, come here and see what Seth did to me." Then Horus opened his hand for the mother to look in. Isis screamed in horror, grabbing the knife. and cut off Horus's hand ".

In order to understand this part of the legend, the reader must clearly identify the relationship between Horus and Seth as hostile. Therefore, in this version, although Seth is involved in a type of relationship that is considered homosexual, the purpose of action is not to show love, but to overwhelm Horus and prove that Seth is the superior.

Story of King Neferkare and General Sasenet

Another story describes a homosexual relationship entitled "King Neferkare and General Sasenet" . The story, most likely fictitious, tells the story of the Pharaoh Neferkare (also known as Pepi II, the fifth Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty of Ancient Egypt during the Ancient Kingdom), night after night to the General's house. Sasenet:

"Then he (who is called Tjeti) discovered the Pharaoh on the pedestal of Upper and Lower Egypt, went alone in the night without any guards near him. Tjeti hid before the king saw him. Tjeti, Henet's son, still stood there and thought: "If so, the rumor of the king going out every night is the truth".

Tjeti, Henet's son, continued to follow the king, trying not to let his heart blame himself, trying to keep track of all his actions. The king came before General Sasanet's house. He threw a brick, then a ladder was lowered and the king climbed up.

Now Tjeti, Henet's son, waited until the king left General Sasenet. After the king had done what he wanted to do with the general, he returned to the palace and Tjeti followed him again. Only after the king returned to Great House, Tjetin returned.

Pharaoh's trip to the Sasenet general took 4 hours in the night. He spent another 4 hours in General Sasenet's house. And when He stepped into Great House, there was only 4 hours left until dawn. "

Pharaoh Neferkare reliefs (Pepi II) in the tomb at Saqqara, Egypt.(Photo: Ancient Origins).

This passage in the story does not directly and explicitly describe what Pharaoh did during his time at General Sasenet. Nevertheless, the text about " the things Pharaoh wants to do with him (general)" is said to be indirectly referring to sex. If that's what the story really is about, scientists can add a proof that reaffirms the negative attitudes of ancient Egyptians and homosexuals.

However, since the story is only found in discrete pieces of paper, scientists still do not know its outcome until now. Therefore, no one can ascertain what has happened or what relationship is behind Pharaoh and the general in this ancient story.

The picture of the heart of homosexual controversies in ancient Egypt

The most intense controversy about homosexuality in ancient Egypt now comes from two images in the tomb of the Ancient Kingdom of two Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep people in Saqqara , on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, discovered in 1964 .

The drawings "lying on an area on the west wall, between the two entrances of the sacrificial rooms" made the scientists extremely impressed, depicting two men hugging each other lovingly. This image is again portrayed "inside the last sacrifice room, opposite the tomb entrance".

Images of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep at the common tomb in Saqqara, Egypt.Two men are portrayed with respectful children standing behind.(Photo: Ancient Origins).

Initially, the scientists deduced that this was a grave for burying two brothers, or maybe two conjoined twins. However, another hypothesis is that Niankhkhmum and khnumhotep have sexual relationships and are buried together as husband and wife. Over the past few decades, this ability has won the support of many scholars.

However, the lack of persuasive evidence makes the relationship between Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep as well as homosexual relations in the period of ancient Egypt still a problem.