Tale as old as Nile
An Exploration of Queerness in Ancient Egypt
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Image credit: Jeremy Bezanger
Located on the lower banks of the Nile in Africa, Ancient Egypt is one of the world's earliest civilizations. This civilization was unquestionably extremely advanced for its time. Archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians have been captivated by the culture, art, architecture, religion and its unique way of life for ages. However, homosexuality was a part of ancient Egyptian civilization that was frequently disregarded. Egyptologists and historians have long debated about the prevalence of homosexuality in ancient Egypt. So far, there are few representations of homosexuality in Egyptian art and history that we have discovered. What little evidence we have is also very vague and subject to much speculation. The level of tolerance towards the members of the LGBTQ community in ancient Egypt is still a matter of debate, but the truth lies in Ostraca. The myths depicted in hieroglyphics and the history traced on the walls of the pyramids confirm homosexual relationships in the culture and folklore along the Nile. Here we go back to their history and the stories of other Egyptian gods who belong to the LGBTQ spectrum. Discover some of the most well-known instances of queerness in the history of ancient Egypt by reading below.
Horus, Seth and the Forbidden Salad Dressing
In ancient Egypt, sex was viewed as a healthy aspect of life. With even the Gods engaging in sex, there was no stigma associated with it. Stories of homosexuality weren't just limited to mortals. For instance, in this especially scandalous story, the God of chaos and disaster Seth is seen engaging in homosexual intercourse with his own nephew. The intimacy between the two is described in The Contendings of Horus and Seth
Game of Thrones
According to legend, the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut gave birth to Osiris and Seth. Horus, the son of Osiris and his sister-wife Isis, the goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom, inherited the conflict between the two sibling deities who stood for good and evil. The battle for the throne now involves the murderous Seth and Horus, the falcon-headed son of Osiris. With the assistance of his mother, Horus swears to seek vengeance on Seth for treacherously murdering Osiris. However, vengeance would not be exacted without some homoerotic twists.
Order in the Court!
To put an end to the long lasting conflict between the two, Seth and Horus were summoned before the Ennead, a gathering of the most significant and powerful deities, and instructed to cease their conflict. Seth then invited Horus to "make holiday in my house." At this point, everything began to turn homoerotic. "Now afterward, [at] evening time, bed was prepared for them, and they both lay down. But during the night, Seth caused his phallus to become stiff and inserted it between Horus’ thighs. Then Horus placed his hands between his thighs and received Seth’s semen". Horus went to tell his mother Isis: “Help me, Isis, my mother, come and see what Seth has done to me.” And he opened his hands and let her see Seth’s semen. She let out a loud shriek, seized the copper [knife], cut off his hand[s] that were equivalent. Then she fetched some fragrant ointment and applied it to Horus’ phallus. She caused it to become stiff and inserted it into a pot, and he caused his semen to flow down into it.
In conclusion, Seth wanted to disgrace his nephew by penetrating him, however, Horus sneakily got his hands on Seth's semen. When Horus explained what had happened to his mother, Isis, she severed his hands, aroused him, and made him ejaculate into a jar.
Isis then threw Seth's semen into the Nile and came up with an idea to deceive him: Isis at morning time went carrying the semen of Horus to the garden of Seth and said to Seth’s gardener: “What sort of vegetable is it that Seth eats here in your company?” So the gardener told her: “He doesn’t eat any vegetable here in my company except lettuce.” And Isis added the semen of Horus onto it. Seth returned according to his daily habit and ate the lettuce, which he regularly ate. Thereupon he became pregnant with the semen of Horus.
CUM FORTH YE
"Let me be given the position of Ruler", Seth confidently said as he approached the tribunal "for as to Horus, the one who is standing [trial], I have performed the labor of a male against him.” Although there is little proof that ancient Egyptians actively opposed gay sex, they did have a tendency to humiliate the receiving male a he is regarded as a weaker man who submits to the other man who is then considered dominant or superior. However, Horus argued otherwise: “All that Seth has said is false. Let Seth’s semen be summoned that we may see from where it answers, and my own be summoned that we may see from where it answers.” Thoth put his hand on Horus’ shoulder and said, “Come out, you semen of Seth.” Nothing happened but when the god then put his hand on Seth’s shoulder and said, “Come out, you semen of Horus.” Because it had been ingested with the lettuce leaves, it answered from inside Seth’s stomach and came out from his head in the form of a gold disk which Thoth "placed it as a crown upon his own head" and thus Seth lost the game of thrones and Horus became the ruler.
The Tomb Of the Gays?
Murals on the tomb, which Egyptologists first discovered in 1964, show the two men in a position usually designated for husband and wife. An embrace with noses touching may be seen in one panel; this is a common marital intimacy stance in Egyptian art. Although scholars disagree on the specifics of their connection, they all base their arguments on the images in the tomb. The tombs of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, two males buried in the Saqqara necropolis, may be a firm indication that bisexuality was accepted in ancient Egypt. The men are shown in an intimate hug in the hieroglyphics, which also reveal that they are married with kids.
The two men reportedly oversaw manicurists at the royal residence of King Nuiserre. Although there is considerable scholarly debate about whether the men were brothers, almost all representations of the duo convey a commitment that appears to be much deeper than brotherly love. In addition to this, both men were fathers. Niankhkhnum's wife was named Khentikawes. They had three daughters, Hemet-re, Khewiten-re, and Nebet, and three boys, Hem-re, Qed-unas, and Khnumhezewef. Five boys were born to Khnumhotep and Khenut: Ptahshepses, Ptahneferkhu, Kaizebi, Khnumheswef, and lastly Niankhkhnum . Rewedzawes was the name of his daughter as well. Despite such indicators, the tomb is frequently referred to as "The Tomb of Two Brothers," and some historians even claim that they were actually conjoined twins in order to account for their closeness and their mysterious epigraph. Some, however, blame this conclusion on a systemic bias towards the LGBTQ+ community.
The Royal Hanky Panky
A Pharaoh and a General are the subject of another highly contested story about a gay couple in ancient Egypt. There is substantial debate among historians as to whether the Pharoah in question is Neferkare Shabaka from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty or Pepi II Neferkare from the Sixth Dynasty (reigning from 2284 BC to somewhere after 2247 BC) (Ruling from 705 to 690 BC). The actual story is lost to us because there are only three papyrus fragments left. However, there is enough of the story preserved to infer certain details about what transpired between Neferkare and military leader General Sasenet. Although the beginning of the tale has been lost, the first passage mentions Sasanet keeping the King company "because there was no woman, or wife, there with him." When Neferkare, the divine persona of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, went out at night to walk alone, a commoner named Teti witnessed it. Teti followed the King to know his destination and the reason he was out on foot alone at 10 o'clock at night. The King unexpectedly made his way to General Sasenet's home.
A ladder was lowered for King Neferkare after he "threw up a stone and stamped his foot." According to the narrative, Teti waited for hours before he ascended the ladder. One could interpret the King's nighttime visit to his General as quite suspicious. The following line of the narrative states: "When his divine person had done what he wanted to with the general, he returned to the palace.’ It's quite simple to interpret this sentence as a sexual hint that the King is having an affair with General Sasenet. It is believed to be a subtle nod to sex.
Further exploration
Works Cited
DiNallo, Lino. “Meet Ancient Egypt’s First Gay Couple (so We Hope).” Out Adventures, 14 Aug. 2020, https://www.outadventures.com/gay-travel-blog/ancient-egypts-first-gay-couple/.
Fathi, Wael. “The Many Faces of Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt.” رصيف 22, raseef22.net, 18 Apr. 2017, https://raseef22.net/article/1069485-many-faces-homosexuality-ancient-egypt.
Joe, Jimmy. “Homosexuality in Ancient Egypt: Exploring Queerness in Ancient Times.” Timeless Myths, 11 Mar. 2022, https://www.timelessmyths.com/culture-people/homosexuality-in-ancient-egypt/.
Mathers, Charlie. “The Secret Gay History of Ancient Egypt.” Gay Star News, 21 Oct. 2017, https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ancient-egypt-lgbt/.
Sharp, Sarah Rose. “Could This Be the First Recorded Gay Couple in History?” Hyperallergic, 30 June 2022, https://hyperallergic.com/742038/could-this-be-the-first-recorded-gay-couple-in-history/.
Wright, Wally. “Horus vs. Seth: Homosexuality, Hippos and Familial Violence.” The Not So Innocents Abroad, 15 Apr. 2019, https://www.thenotsoinnocentsabroad.com/blog/horus-vs-seth-homosexuality-hippos-and-familial-violence.
Well.com, https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm. Accessed 3 July 2022.
Done By
Zane Rafael Mascarenhas
AU190816
Representation of Gender and Sexuality
Semester 6
Last Updated: 3 July 2022
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