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MGM 2006 - BM Explores Same Sex Desire Of The Ancients
By Kate Smith
19/05/2006
Image: a photograph of an egyptian wall carving of two men embracing
A tomb containing two male bodies was discovered last year in Egypt showing frescos on the walls of the two men embracing. © copyright R. B. Parkinson
A fraying 4000 year old papyrus of accounts might seem an unpromising place to look for gay history. But next to the figures is a fragment of the story of Horus and Seth, containing the oldest recorded chat up line in history:
"And the Majesty of Seth said
to the Majesty of Horus: 'How lovely your backside is!
Broad are [your] thighs(?) [...]
And the Majesty of Horus said:
'Watch out or I'll tell this!'"
…and he does: he goes straight round to the palace of his mother, Isis, and says "Seth tried to know me".
Image: a photograph of a papyrus
This fraying papyrus holds evidence about male same-sex desire in the ancient world. © The Petrie Museum
The evidence of this Egyptian papyrus - now held at the Petrie Museum is just one of the aspects of male same-sex desire in the ancient world uncovered at the British Museum this month.
Lectures have been covering Roman, Greek and Egyptian attitudes to gay sex, while a small exhibition in Room 3 of the British Museum shows the Warren Cup, a Roman drinking vessel showing images of homosexual desire.
Richard Parkinson, who has been talking about traces of gay history in ancient Egypt, is cautious about applying modern assumptions about relationships to ancient artefacts. Last year a tomb was discovered in Egypt containing the bodies of two men, and frescos on the walls showing them standing intimately close to each other.
Image: an egyptian drawing of a man bent over with a large penis
Images showing the sexual preoccupations of the Ancient Egyptians. © Brtish Museum
Dr Parkinson argues that these are more likely to have been twins than lovers, although that has not prevented a swarm of gay pilgrimages to the site. His talks have argued that 'gay' sex was constructed very differently in the male elite society of the Ancient Egyptians, with many of the references being negative. Explicit images of erect phalluses like the one above, whilst very common on surviving Egyptian artefacts, are only seen in religious contexts.
Even so, he still finds clear expressions of same-sex desire in Ancient Egyptian poetry.
The Warren Cup, on the other hand, is unequivocal in its images. Made in the first century AD, it is silver and has two scenes of gay lovemaking on each side - in each case the older partner is penetrating the younger man.
Image: an egyptian wall carving of two men embracing
Do Egyptian wall carvings reveal enlightened attitudes to same sex realtionships in the ancient world? © copyright R. B. Parkinson.
It is revealing, because while acts we would describe as 'gay' appear in the work of Catullus and other poets of the period, Latin does not actually have a word meaning 'homosexual'. Meanwhile in the Greek world there was a long tradition of sex between older and younger men - an accepted part of education.
In modern times, the images have been so unacceptable that the cup was never displayed publicly until the 1980s. The cup gets its name from its first recorded modern owner, Edward Perry Warren, who died in 1928.
Because of the risqué images, the British Museum turned down two opportunities to own the cup during the 20th century, before finally buying it in 1999 for £1.8 million.
Image: a photograph of a silver cup with an engraving of two men having sex
The Warren Cup is currently on display in the British Museum and offers a graphic depiction of homosexual lovemaking in the Roman world. © The British Museum
It has been on display in the galleries since then, but this is the first time the museum has focussed on it in depth.
On display alongside the cup are a black-figure amphora with a scene of men and youths courting from the sixth century BC, a terracotta lamp featuring a female lovemaking scene, and a bronze phallic wind chime.
It's a common assumption that pre-20th century gay histories are so closeted and wrapped in protective codes that they quickly run into pure speculation. Yet the British Museum tells us that most of the objects in their exhibition were seen by a wide cross-section of people in Greek and Roman society.
Image: a close up photograph of a silver cup with an engraving of two men having sex
Warren Cup (detail). © The British Museum
Taking the very long view, it may be that our broadminded and liberal society is just catching up.
The Warren Cup is on display in Room 3 of the British Museum 11th May - 2nd July. Admission Free.
Dyfri Williams has published a book, 'The Warren Cup', and will give a free gallery talk on the cup on June 27 2006 at 13.15.
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