Abstracts
Abstract
Sexual desire involves a subjective experience that may differ significantly from one individual to another and is closely linked not only to personal preferences but also to the circumstances of the moment, cultural norms, and social expectations. When experiencing sexual desire, there are not only positive but also negative dynamics at play, and such an experience can also trigger a wide range of emotions that might differ depending on the circumstances of the moment. The aim of this paper is to explore the expression of sexual desire as well as its relationship to a broad spectrum of emotions through a selected group of ancient Egyptian textual sources, such as love songs.
Keywords:
- Sexual Desire,
- Sexuality,
- Emotions,
- Love Songs,
- Ancient Egypt
Appendices
Bibliography
- TLA Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae. Online: https://aaew.bbaw.de/tla/index.html
- Abramson, P. R. and S. D. Pinkerton. 1995. “Introduction”. Pp. 1–14 in P. R. Abramson and S. D. Pinkerton edd. Sexual Nature, Sexual Culture. Chicago/London.
- Al-Shawaf, L.; D. ConroyBeam; K. Asao; and D. M. Buss. 2016. “Human Emotions: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective”. Emotion Review 8: 173–186.
- Antweiler, C. 2017. “Zur Universalität von Emotionen. Befunde und Kritik kulturvergleichender Ansätze”. Pp. 125–147 in T. L. Kienlin and L. C. Koch edd. Emotionen—Perspektiven auf Innen und Außen. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 305. Bonn.
- Asher-Greve, J. and D. Sweeney. 2006. “On Nakedness, Nudity, and Gender in Egyptian and Mesopotamian Art”. Pp. 125–176 in S. Schroer ed. Images and Gender: Contributions to the Hermeneutics of Reading Ancient Art. Fribourg/Göttingen.
- Baqué Manzano, L. 2005. “Some Iconologic Notes on Two Representations of the Mandrake Plant in Ancient Egyptian Art”. Pp. 29–36 in S. H. Aufrère ed. Encyclopédie religieuse de l’univers vegetal. Croyances phytoreligieuses de l’Égypte ancienne. vol. 3. Montpellier.
- Bosse-Griffiths, K. 2001. “The Fruit of the Mandrake in Egypt and Israel”. Pp. 82–96 in J. G. Griffiths ed. Amarna Studies and Other Selected Papers. Fribourg/Göttingen.
- Brawanski, A. and H.-W. FischerElfert. 2012. “Der ‚erotische‘ Abschnitt des Turiner Papyrus 55001. Ein Lehrstück für das männliche Ego?”.Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 41: 67‒97.
- Cairns, D. and L. Fulkerson. 2015. Emotions between Greece and Rome. London.
- Casini, E. 2018. “Rethinking the Multifaceted Aspects of Mandrake in Ancient Egypt”. Egitto e Vicino Oriente 41: 101–116.
- Castro, G. 2014. “Being Turned On and Emotions”. Online: https://sites.tufts.edu/emotiononthebrain/2014/10/14/beingturned-on-andemotions/. Accessed 13 Dec 2021.
- Champollion, J. F. 1889. Monuments de l’Egypte et de la Nubie. Notices descriptives conformes aux manuscrits autographes redigés sur les lieux. Autographie en entier par G. Maspero. vol. 2. Paris.
- Chaniotis, A. 2012. Unveiling Emotions: Sources and Methods for the Study of Emotions in the Greek World. Stuttgart.
- Cody, M. E. 1999. “Masterworks”. Pp. 35–156 in R. A. Fazzini, J. F. Romano, and M. E. Cody edd. Art for Eternity. Masterworks from Ancient Egypt. New York.
- Collombert, P. and Y. Volokhine. 2005. “De aegyptiacis rebus doctorum verecundia ou ‘Let’s Talk about Sex!’” Egypte, Afrique et Orient 40: 45–56.
- Cozzolino, C. 2002. “Some Egyptian Erotic Statuettes in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples”. Pp. 63–78 in R. Pirelli ed. Egyptological Essays on State and Society. Napoli.
- Darnell, J. C. 2016. “The Rituals of Love in Ancient Egypt: Festival Songs of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the Ramesside Love Poetry”. Die Welt des Orients 46: 22–61.
- De Buck, A. 1958. The Egyptian Coffin Texts. VI. Texts of Spells 472–786. Chicago.
- Derchain, P. 1975. “Le lotus, la mandragore et le perséa”. Chronique d’Égypte 50: 65‒86.
- Derchain, P. 1981. “Observations sur les Erotica”. Pp. 166‒167 in G. T. Martin ed. The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqara. The Southern Dependencies of the Main Temple Complex. London.
- DuQuesne, T. 2005. “The Spiritual and the Sexual in Ancient Egypt”. Discussions in Egyptology 61: 7‒24.
- Dvornichenko, A. 2016. “Commented Translation of the Cannibal Hymn”. Cultural Anthropology and Ethnosemiotics 2: 14‒27.
- Everaerd, W.; S. Both; and E. Laan. 2006. “The Experience of Sexual Emotions”. Annual Review of Sex Research 17: 183–199.
- Faraone, C. A. 1999. Ancient Greek Love Magic. Cambridge, UK.
- Faulkner, R. O. 1977. The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts. vol. 2. Warminster.
- Faulkner, R. O. 1991. A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Oxford.
- Fellinger, R. 2013. “Sex Object or Equal Partner? The Role of Women as Portrayed in Ancient Egyptian Love Poems”. Pp. 41‒54 in L. McGarrity, C. Graves, E. Millward, M. Sfakianou Bealby, and G. Heffernan edd. Current Research in Egyptology 2012. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Symposium, University of Birmingham 2012. Oxford.
- Fischer, H. G. 1974. “The Mark of a Second Hand on Ancient Egyptian Antiquities”. Metropolitan Museum Journal 9: 5‒34.
- Foster, J. 2001. Ancient Egyptian Literature. An Anthology. Austin.
- Fox, M. V. 1980. “The Cairo Love Songs”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 100: 101‒109.
- Fox, M. V. 1985. The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Madison.
- Fox, M. V. 2016. “The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs: Thirty Years Later”. Die Welt des Orients 46: 8‒21.
- Frandsen, P. J. 1977. “On Categorization and Metaphorical Structuring: Some Remarks on Egyptian Art and Language”. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7: 71–104.
- Frankfurter, D. 2001. “The Perils of Love: Magic and Countermagic in Coptic Egypt”. Journal of the History of Sexuality 10: 480–500.
- Frost, S. 2008. “Secret Museums. Hidden Histories of Sex and Sexuality”. Museums & Social Issues. 3: 29–40.
- Gaimster, D. 2000. “Sex and Sensibility at the British Museum”. History Today 50: 10–15.
- Gander, M. 2006. “Erotische Sinnbilder? Enten und Gänse im Alten Agypten”. Pp. 84–89 in V. Vaelske ed. Ägypten. Ein Tempel der Tiere. Begleitbuch zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung im Zoologischen Garten Berlin. Berlin.
- Garzón Rodríguez, J. and U. Steinert. 2024. “The Powers of Semen and Their Conceptualization in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt”. In Proceedings of the International Conference of the RTG 1876, September 2022. Forthcoming.
- Graves-Brown, C. 2008. Sex and Gender in Ancient Egypt: “Don Your Wig for a Joyful Hour”. Swansea.
- Grünhagen, M. 2019. “‚Im Banne einer Frau sein‘ als Grund unrechten Handelns—Der Fall des ‚Heißen‘ in Borchardt 1”. Pp. 375–384 in M. Brose, P. Dils, F. Naether, L. Popko, and D. Raue edd. En detail—Philologie und Archäologie im Diskurs. Festschrift für HansWerner FischerElfert. Berlin/Boston.
- Hagedorn, A. C. 2005. “Jealousy and Desire at Night: Fragmentum Grenfellianum and Song of Songs”. Pp. 206–384 in A. C. Hagedorn ed. Perspectives on the Song of Songs — Perspektiven der Hoheliedauslegung. Berlin/New York.
- Hagedorn, A. C. 2016. “What Kind of Love Is It? Egyptian, Hebrew, or Greek?”. Die Welt des Orients 46: 90‒106.
- Hekma, G. and A. Giami. 2014. Sexual Revolutions. Genders and Sexualities in History. London.
- Hornblower, G. D. 1926. “Phallic Offerings to HatHor”. Man 26: 81‒83.
- Houlihan, P. F. 2001. “Erotica”. Pp. 479‒516 in D. B. Redford ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford.
- Hsu, S.-W. 2014. “The Images of Love: The Use of Figurative Expressions in Ancient Egyptian Love Songs”. Orientalia 83: 407–416.
- Hsu, S.-W. and J. Llop Raduà. 2021. The Expression of Emotions in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Leiden/Boston.
- Hue-Arcé, C. 2013. “Les Graffiti érotiques de la Tombe 504 de Deir el-Bahari revisités”. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 113: 193–202.
- Janák, J. and H. Navrátilová. 2008. “People vs. P. Turin 55001”. Pp. 63‒70 in Graves-Brown 2008.
- Kennedy, R. and R. Coulter. 2018. Censoring Art: Silencing the Artwork. London/New York.
- Kipfer, S. 2017. Visualizing Emotions in the Ancient Near East. Fribourg/Göttingen.
- Köpp-Junk,H. 2015. “The Artists behind the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs: Performance and Technique”. Pp. 35‒59 in Navrátilová and Landgráfová 2015.
- Kus, S. 1992. “Towards an Archaeology of Body and Soul”. Pp. 168–177 in C. Peebles and J.-C. Gardin edd. Representations in Archaeology. Bloomington.
- Landgráfová, R. 2008. “Breaches of Cooperative Rules. Metaphors and Parody in Ancient Egyptian Love Songs”. Pp. 71‒82 in Graves-Brown 2008.
- Landgráfová, R. and H. Navrátilová. 2009. Sex and the Golden Goddess: 1. Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Prague.
- Landgráfová, R. and H. Navrátilová. 2015. Sex and the Golden Goddess: 2. World of the Love Songs. Prague.
- Lange, B. P.; F. Schwab; and H. A. Euler. 2019. “Emotionskonzepte der Evolutionspsychologie”. Pp. 73–80 in H. Kappelhoff, J. H. Bakels, H. Lehmann, and C. Schmitt edd. Emotionen. Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch. Berlin.
- Leick, G. 1994. Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature. London/New York.
- López, J. 1996. “Le Verger d’amour (P. Turin 1966, Recto)”. Revue d'égyptologie 43: 133−143.
- López, J. 2005a. Cuentos y fábulas del Antiguo Egipto. Madrid.
- López, J. 2005b. “La disputa de los árboles del huerto”. Pp. 19–25 in J. Cervelló, M. Díaz de Cerio, and D. Rull edd. Actas del Segundo Congreso Ibérico de Egiptología. Bellaterra 12–15 de marzo de 2001. Bellaterra.
- Manniche, L. 1977. “Some Aspects of Ancient Egyptian Sexual Life”. Acta Orientalia 38: 11‒23.
- Manniche, L. 1988. Liebe und Sexualität im Alten Ägypten. Eine Text- und Bilddokumentation. Zürichn/Munich.
- Martin, G. T. 1981. The Sacred Animal Necropolis at North Saqqâra: The Southern Dependencies of the Main Temple Complex. London.
- Martin, G. T. 1987. “‘Erotic’ Figurines: The Cairo Museum Material”. Göttinger Miszellen 96: 71–84.
- Mathieu, B. 1996. La Poésie amoureuse de l’Égypte ancienne. Recherches sur un genre littéraire au Nouvel Empire. Cairo.
- Mathieu, B. 2003. “La Littérature égyptienne sous les Ramsès d’après les Ostraca littéraires de Deir el-Médineh”. Pp. 117–138 in A. Guillemette ed. Deir el-Médineh et la Vallée des Rois. La Vie en Egypte au temps des pharaons du Nouvel Empire. Paris.
- Matić, U. 2016a. “(De)queering Hatshepsut. Binary Bind in Archaeology of Egypt and Kingship beyond the Corporeal”. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23: 810–831.
- Matić, U. 2016b. “Gender in Ancient Egypt. Norms, Ambiguities, and Sensualities”. Near Eastern Archaeology 79: 174–183.
- Matić, U. 2018. “The Sap of Life: Materiality and Sex in the Divine Birth Legend of Hatshepsut and Amenhotep III”. Pp. 35‒54 in R. Lemos, C. Velloza, and É. Meynart edd. Perspectives on Materiality in Ancient Egypt—Agency, Cultural Reproduction and Change. Oxford.
- McDonald, A. 2020. “Emotions”. In A. Austin and W. Wendrich edd. UCLA Library Digital Collections. Online: https://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002kj9sj.
- Meeks, D. 1982. Année Lexicographique. 3.79.1541. Paris.
- Meskell, L. 1999. Archaeologies of Social Life: Age, Sex, Class et cetera in Ancient Egypt. Oxford/Malden.
- Meskell, L. 2000a. “Cycles of Life and Death: Narrative Homology and Archaeological Realities”. World Archaeology 31: 423–441.
- Meskell, L. 2000b. “Re-em(bed)ding Sex: Domesticity, Sexuality, and Ritual in New Kingdom Egypt”. Pp. 253–262 in R. A. Schmidt and B. L. Voss edd. Archaeologies of Sexuality. London.
- Meskell, L. 2002. Private Life in New Kingdom. Princeton/Oxford.
- Mobbs, A. E. D. 2020. “An Atlas of Personality, Emotion and Behaviour”. PLoS ONE 15: 1‒25.
- Moers, Gerald. 2015. “Why ‘the’ Egyptians Never Said I Love You”. Pp. 61‒70 in Navrátilová and Landgráfová 2015.
- Montserrat, D. 1996. Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt. London.
- Müller, D. 1996. “Die Zeugung durch das Herz in Religion und Medizin der Ägypter”. Orientalia 35: 247‒274.
- Myśliwiec, K. 1997. “Phallic Figurines from Tell Atrib”. Pp. 119‒138 in J. Aksamit ed. Essays in Honour of Prof. Dr. Jadwiga Lipińska. Warsaw.
- Myśliwiec, K. 2004. Eros on the Nile. London.
- Nagel, S. and F. Wespi. 2015. “Ägypter, Griechen und Römer im Liebesbann—Antiker ‘Liebeszauber’ im Wandel der Zeiten”. Pp. 218–280 in A. Jördens ed. Ägyptische Magie und ihre Umwelt. Wiesbaden.
- Naville, E. 1897. The Temple of Deir El Bahari: 2. The Ebony Shrine, Northern Half of the Middle Platform. London.
- Navrátilová, H. and R. Landgráfová. 2015. Sex and the Golden Goddess: 2. World of the Love Songs. Prague.
- Newberry, P. E. 1893. Beni Hasan. vol 2. London.
- Noegel, S. B. and K. Szpakowska. 2007. “‘Word Play’ in the Ramesside Dream Manual”. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 35: 193‒212.
- O’Connor, D. 2011. “Satire or Parody? The Interaction of the Pictorial and the Literary in Turin Papyrus 55001”. Pp. 361–380 in M. Collier and S. Snape edd. Ramesside Studies in Honour of K. A. Kitchen. Bolton, UK.
- Omlin, J. A. 1973. Der Papyrus 55001 und seine satirischerotischen Zeichnungen und Inschriften. Torino.
- Orriols i Llonch, M. 2009. “Léxico e iconografía erótica del Antiguo Egipto. La cópula a tergo”. Trabajos de Egiptología 5: 123‒138.
- Orriols-Llonch, M. 2012. “Sex and Cosmogony: The Onanism of the Solar Demiurg”. Göttinger Miszellen 233: 31–42.
- Orriols-Llonch, M. 2015. “Semen Ingestion and Oral Sex in Ancient Egyptian Texts”. Pp. 839–848 in P. Kousoulis and N. Lazaridis edd. Proceedings of the Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, 22–29 May 2008. Leuven.
- Orriols-Llonch, M. 2016. “Women’s Role in Sexual Intercourse in Ancient Egypt”. Pp. 194–203 in S. L. Budin and J. M. Turfa edd. Women in Antiquity: Real Women across the Ancient World. London/New York.
- Orriols-Llonch, M. 2020a. “El acto sexual como agente del (re)nacimiento de Osiris”. Trabajos de Egiptología 11: 241–261.
- Orriols-Llonch,M. 2020b. “Sexo en el antiguo Egipto”. Historia National Geographic 194: 32–45.
- Parkinson, R. 1995. “Homosexual Desire and Middle Kingdom Literature”. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 81: 57–76.
- Parkinson, R. 2008. “‘Boasting about Hardness’: Constructions of Middle Kingdom Masculinity”. Pp. 115–142 in Graves-Brown 2008.
- Petrie, W. M. F. 1905. A History of Egypt. From the XIXth to the XXXth Dynasties. vol. 3. London.
- Pinch, G. 1993. Votive Offerings to Hathor. Oxford.
- Quack, J. F. 2016. “Where Once Was Love, Love Is No More? What Happens to Expressions of Love in Late Period Egypt?”. Die Welt des Orients 46: 62–89.
- Quibell, J. E. 1907. Excavations at Saqqara 1905–1906. Cairo.
- Ragazzoli, C. 2017. La Grotte des Scribes à Deir el-Bahari. La Tombe MMA 504 et ses Graffiti. Cairo.
- Robins, G. 1988. “Ancient Egyptian Sexuality”. Discussions in Egyptology 11: 61–72.
- Romer, J. 1982. Romer’s Egypt: A New Light on the Civilization of Ancient Egypt. London.
- Roth, A. M. 2000. “Father Earth, Mother Sky: Ancient Egyptian Beliefs about Conception and Fertility”. Pp. 187–201 in A. Rautman ed. Reading the Body: Representations and Remains in the Archaeological Record. Philadelphia.
- Roth, A. M. 2005. “Gender Roles in Ancient Egypt”. Pp. 211–218 in D. C. Snell ed. A Companion to the Ancient Near East. Malden.
- Salvo, I. 2020. “Experiencing Curses: Neurobehavioral Traits of Ritual and Spatiality in the Roman Empire”. Pp. 157–180 in V. Gasparini, M. Patzelt, R. Raja, A.-K. Rieger, J. Rüpke, and E. Urciuoli edd. Lived Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Approaching Religious Transformations from Archaeology, History and Classics. Berlin/Boston.
- Schott, S. 1950. Altägyptische Liebeslieder. Mit Märchen und Liebesgeschichten. Zürichn.
- Schreiber, S. 1991. “Keusch wie kaum ein anderes Volk? Einige Anmerkungen zum SexualVokabular der alten Ägypter”. Pp. 315–335 in D. Mendel and U. Claudi edd. Ägypten im Afro-Orientalischen Kontext. Aufsätze zur Archäologie, Geschichte und Sprache eines unbegrenzten Raumes. Gedenkschrift Peter Behrens. Köln.
- Sethe, K. 1930. Historisch-biographische Urkunden der 18. Dynastie. Abteilung IV. Leipzig.
- Shaw, I. 2007. Historia del Antiguo Egipto. Madrid.
- Sigusch, V. 2004. “On Cultural Transformations of Sexuality and Gender in Recent Decades”. German Medical Science 2: 1–14.
- Sweeney, D. 2011. “Sex and Gender”. In E. Frood and W. Wendrich edd. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Online: https://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0027fc04.
- Tait, W. J. 2009. “Anger and Agency: The Role of the Emotions in Demotic and Earlier Narratives”. Pp. 75–82 in R. Nyord and A. Kjølby edd. Being in Ancient Egypt: Thoughts on Agency, Materiality and Cognition: Proceedings of the Seminar Held in Copenhagen, September 29/30, 2006.Oxford.
- Tarlow, S. 2000. “Emotion in Archaeology”. Current Anthropology 41:713–746.
- Verbovsek, A. 2011. “The Correlation of Rituals, Emotions, and Literature in Ancient Egypt”. Pp. 235–262 in A. Chaniotis ed. Ritual Dynamics in the Ancient Mediterranean: Agency, Emotion, Gender, Representation. Stuttgart.
- Verbovsek, A. and B. Backes. 2015. “Sinne und Sinnlichkeit in den ägyptischen Liebesliedern”. Pp. 105–120 in Navrátilová and Landgráfová 2015.
- Vernus, P. 1992. Chants d’amour de l’Egypte antique. Paris.
- Vinson, S. 2015. “Behind Closed Doors: Architectural and Spatial Images and Metaphors in Ancient Egyptian Erotic Poetic and Narrative Literature”. Pp. 121‒143 in Navrátilová and Landgráfová 2015.
- Voss, B. L. 2008. “Sexuality Studies in Archaeology”. Annual Review of Anthropology 37: 317‒336.
- Weeks, J. 1999. “The Sexual Citizen: Who or What?”. Pp. 35–52 in M. Featherstone ed. Love and Eroticism. London/New Delhi.
- Wente, E. F. 1984. “Some Graffiti from the Reign of Hatshepsut”. Journal ofNear Eastern Studies 43: 47‒54.
- Wimmer, S. 2000. “Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Papyrus Harris 500. New Insights into an Old Problem”. Pp. 25‒33 in K. Modras ed. The Art of Love Lyrics. In Memory of Bernard Couroyer, OP and Hans Jacob Polotsky, First Egyptologists in Jerusalem. Paris.
- Yoyotte, J. 1959. “Sexual Behaviour”. P. 260 in G. Posener ed. Dictionary of Egyptian Civilization. New York.