Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt

Homosexuality in the past shows clearly that the different cultures had words (and therefore mental constructs and concepts) of same-sex activity; however since the needs of agricultural/pastoral living require reproduction not only to work the farm but also to provide support for the parent in old age, it was expected that no matter what one's affectional preferences were that each individual would marry and reproduce. Life expectancy in the ancient time was generally in 40s and 50s and infants' and children's mortality rate are high. There are little to no recorded instances of homosexual or lesbian couples in the some culture; moreover, the idea of living as an exclusively homosexual person did not exist in most cultures until present day Western civilization appeared. 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 set under penalty. Thus, a straight evaluation remains problematic.

Lesbianism was acknowledged in Ancient Egypt, though evidence of it is relatively sparse. A number of archaeologists have suggested that there is sexual symbolism in a number of scenes depicting women embracing, while others explicitly depict scenes of intimacy, particularly in the artifacts from Amarna period. In much of Ancient Egyptian art, however, it is difficult to distinguish males from females, due to the androgynous features of the figures depicted.

While evidence points to the fact that Ancient Egyptian society was largely accepting of male homosexuality, nonetheless, the receptive partner was viewed as inferior, while the active partner was celebrated and praised for his virility and. In the myth of Horus and Set, Horus was not concerned with denying having had intercourse with his uncle, but with denying having been on the receiving end of the act like many ancient Mediterranean cultures.

With the passing of time and the changes in ideology and beliefs, as traced in the artifacts from each era, the disdain for the receptive partner in a homosexual relationship grew. Eventually, Ancient Egyptians began using homophobic phrases in their insults and jokes.

In his study of sexuality in Ancient Egypt, archaeological researcher Mohamed Gamal supports this theory, stating: “In contemporary Egyptian society, in certain youth circles, particularly those in the tourism and hospitality industries, it is not shameful to admit having engaged in homosexual relations, so long as you are the active partner.”

He traces these changes in ideology to the fact that Egypt was the center of a vast empire, thereby coming into contact with a number of different civilizations and cultures, which “perhaps disdained homosexuality, and therefore influenced Egyptian culture in that regard.” This was, of course, compounded by the advent of the Abrahamic faiths, which forbade homosexuality.

In the creation story for the Egyptian gods, the first deity, Atum (Ra), was both male and female, according to studies by researcher Mark Brustman. The ancestor to all self-produced two offspring, Shu and Tefnut, through either a sneeze or his own semen.

Isis was among the few goddesses worshipped by the Egyptians and their Mediterranean neighbors in Greece and Rome. The Great Mother Goddess and a protector of children, she also cared for society’s outcast, which may be why gay priests in ancient Egypt worshipped the deity. In one tale documented at Isiopolis, Isis appeared in a dream accompanied by an Egyptian retinue to calm the pregnant Telethusa, who feared she would deliver a girl against her husband’s wishes. Isis told the mother to carry the child, Iphis, who was born a girl but raised as a boy. Later in life, Iphis called on Isis to change his gender to male, an ancient gender affirmation granted by divine means.

Hapi, the god of the Nile, is depicted in hieroglyphics as an intersex person with a ceremonial false beard and breasts. While generally referred to as male, the god also was also considered a symbol of fertility.

Seth is the God of Desert, Storm and Chaos associated with many natural disasters, Seth was among the more colorful figures in the Egyptian pantheon. Researcher Mark Brustman says Seth, while married to his sister Nephthys, is depicted as engaging in sexual activities with other male deities such as Horus and Ash, God of Oasis.

Horus is God of the Sky and the Pharaoh, the child of Isis and Osiris. In one tale documented well in Richard Parkinson’s Homosexual Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature, Horus is either raped or seduced into a sexual encounter. And how the story goes...

Seth and Horus have had a long history of one-upsmanship and some pretty awkward sexual tension. Seth, who has long wanted to be the chief god of the pantheon, tries to assert his dominance over Horus by having sex with him, planning to have penetrative sex with Horus. By putting Horus in the “womanly” or passive position, Seth would have elicited the anger of the other gods towards Horus. 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 fucks him. But Horus has tricked Seth; his drunkenness was staged. He catches Seth's semen with his hands and hides it.
This does not come to pass, however, thanks to aid of Isis who helps her son keep Seth’s semen off his body and plots to turn the tables around, making Seth appear to be the receptive partner by tricking him into eating Horus’s semen. (Yum, yum, can you imagine how good the semen of a god tastes?) Seth, thinking his semen is in Horus, although he himself has actually eaten Horus's seed as salad dressing, appears with Horus before the judges who will determine who has primacy among the gods. When the two gods go before the judgment of the other gods of Egypt to decide who will rule, Seth states that he has penetrated Horus and deposited his seed. Horus, says, yes he penetrated me, but his seed was deposited in my hand and I threw his seed in the Nile. Neither Seth nor the other gods believe Horus; his credibility to rule has been destroyed by the fact that he was the receptive partner. Then Horus tells the gods in judgment that Seth has ingested his seed which is even more of a horror to the gods (sexual relations could be forgiven by the Egyptian gods, but a man’s semen should only be deposited into a woman’s vagina [or in the Nile for fertility, more on that later]).Seth tells the judges to call to his semen so that it can respond telling where it is. They do, and his semen responds from the reeds along the river, making it seem as though Seth was sterilely pleasuring himself down by the river. Then they call to Horus's semen, and it responds, much to Seth's surprise, from Seth's own belly. Seth is disgraced and Horus assumes the role as prime god. (Though, some sources say that both men were equals in the sense that they were able to penetrate one another.) What can be gleaned from this story is that it was not homosexual relations themselves that were looked upon negatively but, like in Ancient Greece, the partner in the “passive” role who was disdained.

Part of an incomplete text dating from approximately 2200 B.C. has been termed, Neferkare’s Affair with General Sisene. 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 (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. It tells of a common man discovering that King Neferkare was making regular nightly visit to a man living without a wife, and which may imply a homosexual affair as part of royal corruption.