Most Disturbing Sexual Practices in History

Most Disturbing Sexual Practices in History

From Egypt to the Middle Ages, the cultural tradition surprises with customs that today are strange and difficult to understand  Society classifies sexual practices and tendencies as “normal” or “deviant”, based on cultural criteria that change over time. Good proof of this is reviewing the bedroom customs of Rome or Ancient Egypt, and observing how disturbing and unacceptable many of them are.

Disturbing ancient Egypt

The pharaohs allowed marriage between brothers and, in some cases, also between father and daughter, in order to preserve the purity of the lineage. Incest was allowed between monarchs and circumcision, a practice later adopted by the Jews, had a ritual character in the initiation ceremony of adolescence. The Egyptians had a more pragmatic than unrestrained view of sex. Perhaps for this reason rapists, that is, those who acted like animals without being able to contain their base passions, were reserved for a penalty as drastic as castration.  The pharaohs allowed marriage between brothers and, in some cases, also between father and daughter, in order to preserve the purity of the lineage. Incest was allowed between monarchs and circumcision, a practice later adopted by the Jews, had a ritual character in the initiation ceremony of adolescence. The Egyptians had a more pragmatic than unrestrained view of sex. Perhaps for this reason rapists, that is, those who acted like animals without being able to contain their base passions, were reserved for a penalty as drastic as castration.  It is believed that there were religious ceremonies related to fertility rites that involved the practice of group sex. An astonished fifth-century Greek historian Herodotus described in detail one of the orgies held in the name of the feline goddess Sekhmet in the city of Bubastis: “The boats, filled with men and women, floated down the Nile: The men played lotus flutes, women cymbals and tambourines, and those who had no instrument accompanied the music with clapping and dancing. They drank a lot and had sex. This was yes while they were in the river; when they arrived at a city the pilgrims disembarked and the women sang, imitating those of that city».  Prostitutes also existed, they specialized in oral sex and distinguished by the intense red color of their lips. An accepted practice in contrast to the conservatism of the Romans, who considered oral sex impure. Every year the pharaohs led a ceremony in homage to the god Atum (“He who exists by himself”) that consisted of going to the banks of the Nile to masturbate, taking care that the semen fell into the river and not on the shore. Later, the rest of those attending the celebration did the same. His intention was to emulate Atum, who, according to his tradition, was formed from nothing, after which he masturbated and from his semen the gods that would help him create and govern the universe were born.  Furthermore, there is evidence from the Ebers Papyrus that necrophilia was not severely censored, as it has been in all civilizations throughout the centuries. According to this document during the reign of Amenhotep I it was discovered that embalmers committed these practices, without any of them being punished for carrying out said paraphilia. Which does not mean that it was socially accepted: the relatives of the deceased women began to hire guards to watch over the bodies. 

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