![Statue égyptienne de Idet et Ruiu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Statue_%C3%A9gyptienne_de_Idet_et_Ruiu.jpg)
Homosexuality in ancient Egypt is a disputed subject within
Egyptology
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
. Historians and egyptologists alike debate what kinds of views the ancient Egyptians' society fostered about
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
. Only a handful of direct clues survive, and many possible indications are vague and subject to speculation.
Depictions of possible homosexuality
Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep
The best known case of possible homosexuality in ancient Egypt is that of the two high officials
Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep. Both men lived and served under
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
Niuserre
Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in Greek known as Rathurês, ''Ῥαθούρης'') was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the sixth ruler of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 ye ...
during the
5th Dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC).
[Richard Parkinson: ''Homosexual Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature''. In: ''The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA)'', vol. 81, 1995, pp. 57–76.] Nyankh-Khnum and Khnum-hotep each had families of their own with children and wives, but when they died their families apparently decided to bury them together in the same
mastaba
A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...
tomb. In this mastaba, several paintings depict both men embracing each other and touching their faces nose-on-nose. These depictions leave plenty of room for speculation, because in ancient Egypt the
nose-on-nose touching normally represented a kiss.
[
Egyptologists and historians disagree about how to interpret the paintings of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep. Some scholars believe that the paintings reflect an example of homosexuality between two married men and prove that the ancient Egyptians accepted same-sex relationships. Other scholars disagree and interpret the scenes as an evidence that Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep were ]twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
s, or even possibly conjoined twins
Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...
. No matter what interpretation is correct, the paintings show at the very least that Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep must have been very close to each other in life as in death.[
]
King Pepi II and his general officer Sasenet
A well known story, dating back to the Middle Kingdom, tells about an anonymous citizen, who comes to the audience hall of king Pepi II
Pepi II Neferkare (2284 BC – after 2247 BC, probably either 2216 or 2184 BC) was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom who reigned from 2278 BC. His second name, Neferkare (''Nefer-ka-Re''), means "Beautiful is ...
(here named by his birth name, ''Neferkarê''). The citizen wants to lament about an unnamed circumstance, but the king does not want to listen to the laments, so he orders his royal musicians to drown the stranger's speech with noise. Disappointed, the stranger leaves the palace. When this happens several times, he orders his friend, the high official ''Tjeti'', to follow the king. The king in turn is frequently leaving the palace during the night. Tjeti finds out that king Pepi II keeps visiting his loyal general officer ''Sasenet'' for several hours, then returning home.[Emma Brunner-Traut: ''Altägyptische Märchen. Mythen und andere volkstümliche Erzählungen''. 10th Edition. Diederichs, Munich 1991, , pp. 178–179.]
The chapter in which king Pepi II visits his loyal general officer is subject of passionate discussions. Especially one certain phrase stays in the centre of investigations: the text says, that "his majesty went into Sasenet's house and did to him what his majesty desired". The phrase "doing what one desires" is a common flowery phrase to describe sex. For this reason, some scholars are convinced that the papyrus reveals king Pepi's homosexual interests and his same-sex relationship with his general officer.[ But other scholars are instead convinced that the passage is merely an allegoric pun to religious texts, in which the sun god Râ visits the underworld god ]Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...
during the middle four hours of the night. Thus, king Pepi II would be taking the role of Râ and Sasenet would take the role of Osiris. The phrase "doing what one desires" would therefore be overrated and misinterpreted.[
]
Horus and Seth
A further famous story about same-sex intercourse can be found in the Kahun Papyri
The Kahun Papyri (KP; also Petrie Papyri or Lahun Papyri) are a collection of ancient Egyptian texts discussing administrative, mathematical and medical topics. Its many fragments were discovered by Flinders Petrie in 1889 and are kept at the U ...
, dating back to the Middle Kingdom. It contains the nearly completely preserved story of the Osiris myth
The Osiris myth is the most elaborate and influential story in ancient Egyptian mythology. It concerns the murder of the god Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt, and its consequences. Osiris's murderer, his brother Set, usurps his throne. Meanwhile, ...
and the legendary fight for the throne of Egypt between Horus
Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
and Seth
Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...
. The chapter in question reports that Seth was unutterably jealous about his young nephew Horus, because Horus was very young and popular. He was quite pampered by the other gods. Seth instead had very few companions and he was comparatively unpopular because of his choleric and vindictive behaviour. As a result, Seth tried to either chase away or even kill Horus, no matter what the cost. When Seth constantly fails, he plans to humiliate his rival so badly that Horus would be banned from Egypt forever. Seth invites Horus to a party and convinces the teenage Horus to drink more than Horus could normally cope with. When Horus is drunk, Seth seduces him to sleep over the night in one bed together. When lying together in one bed, Seth grabs Horus and rapes him. But Horus has tricked Seth; his drunkenness was staged. He catches Seth's semen with his hands and hides it. The next morning, Horus runs to his Mother, Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
, to tell her what happened. Isis is at first speechless with rage and disbelief, then she tells Horus to masturbate and use his semen to lubricate Seth's favorite food (Egyptian lettuce). Oblivious, Seth eats the manipulated lettuce, then he goes to the divine court to inform on Horus. At first, the divine judges swear at Horus, but when Thoth
Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a ...
, the scribe of the court, calls for Seth's semen to emerge from the body of Horus, instead the semen of Horus emerges from the body of Seth. Seth blushes in embarrassment and shock, then flees. Horus is acquitted.[
The famous rape of Horus by his jealous uncle is also a subject of passionate discussion. While most scholars agree that the papyrus clearly describes rape, it must remain open, whether it actually describes a homosexually driven deed. Background of the dispute are Seth's motives: he does not love Horus; in contrast, he hates his nephew and the rape was clearly performed to humiliate Horus. The only common ground between the rape and homosexuality is that the act was of same-sex nature.][ But some scholars are not so sure and point out that Seth was often credited with alternative sexual interests.
]
Others
Two military men named Ramose and Wepimose or Wepwawetrnose who dedicated Salakhana Stela CM004 might have been a couple.
Suty and Hor who are known of the famous stela, often regarded as a locus classicus of twins, could have been a male couple.
At Sheikh Fadl, there is a tomb dating to the 6th or 5th Century BCE with an Aramaic inscription apparently written by one member of a male couple to another, in which the speaker says "I cannot abandon him, I shall rest with him; I love Lekii (personal name?) very much."
Ancient Egyptian views
It remains unclear what exact view the ancient Egyptians fostered about homosexuality. Any documents, or literature that contain stories involving sexual acts never name the nature of the sexual deeds but instead use flowery and euphemistic paraphrases. While the stories about Seth and his sexual behavior may reveal rather negative thoughts and views, the tomb inscription of Nyankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep may instead suggest that homosexuality was likewise accepted. Ancient Egyptian documents never clearly say that same-sex relationships were seen as reprehensible or despicable. No ancient Egyptian document mentions that homosexual acts were punishable offenses. Thus, a direct evaluation remains problematic.[
]
Talmudic literature
In Talmudic literature, the ancient Egyptians are known for their liberal sexual lifestyles and are often used as the prime example of sexual debauchery. Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
, who lived in the 11th Century CE, describes an Egyptian practice for women to have multiple husbands. Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
refers to lesbianism as "the acts of Egypt." While polyandry and lesbianism are characteristics of the ancient Egyptians according to religious Jewish discourse, male-male homosexual relationships are usually attributed to Sodom, Gomorrah, and Amalek
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
.[Rebecca T. Alpert: ''Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition''. Columbia University Press, New York 1997, , page 17–36.]
See also
* Ashmolean Parchment AN 1981.940, a Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
male homosexual love charm written in Hermopolitan dialect
*Timeline of LGBT history
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale represent ...
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender related history)
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homosexuality In Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian society
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
LGBT in Egypt