The theme of ancient Egyptian lechers, while seemingly straightforward, unveils a complex tapestry of desire, symbolism, and cultural context. Examining historical texts and interpretations provides a glimpse into how ancient societies perceived and depicted sexuality, particularly in relation to power, morality, and religious beliefs.
One recurring motif used to describe these desires involves comparing the physical attributes and actions of lovers to those of animals, specifically donkeys and horses. This imagery, while graphic, serves to emphasize the perceived intensity and unbridled nature of these sexual encounters.
References to such imagery can be found in various translations and interpretations of ancient texts:
- She eagerly wanted to go to bed with Egyptian men, who were famous for their sexual powers.
- She wanted men who behaved like animals in their sexual desire.
- She wanted those strong men to be her lovers. They had sex in a strong way, like donkeys or horses.
The comparison to donkeys and stallions is not merely descriptive; it carries symbolic weight, reflecting cultural attitudes towards sexuality and the perceived characteristics of different groups of people.
The use of such vivid and graphic language serves to shock the audience into recognizing the severity of their sin. This aligns with the prophetic tradition of using stark imagery to convey the seriousness of Israel's apostasy.
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The unfaithfulness of Aholah and Aholibah. This phrase highlights the spiritual adultery of Israel and Judah, symbolized by the sisters Oholah and Oholibah, representing Samaria and Jerusalem. The lusting after lovers signifies the nations' pursuit of alliances and idolatry with foreign powers, particularly Egypt and Assyria. This reflects a recurring theme in the Old Testament where Israel is often depicted as an unfaithful spouse to God.
The comparison to donkeys emphasizes the extreme and unnatural nature of Israel's idolatry and alliances. In ancient Near Eastern culture, donkeys were often associated with strength and virility, but also with stubbornness and foolishness. Stallions are known for their powerful and uncontrollable nature, symbolizing the overwhelming and destructive influence of the foreign nations with whom Israel and Judah allied themselves.
The army will stone them and hack them to pieces with their swords.
She remembered when she was young, just starting out as a whore in Egypt. That whetted her appetite for more virile, vulgar, and violent lovers-stallions obsessive in their lust. She longed for the sexual prowess of her youth back in Egypt, where her firm young breasts were caressed and fondled.
The description of Nineveh is also very interesting:
The Fall of Nineveh (612 BCE)
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The sack of Nineveh took place in the summer of 612 B.C. Babylonian chronicles record the event with laconic brutality:- ‘On that day Sin-shaw-ishkum, the Assyrian king was slain. The great spoil of the city and temple they carried off and turned the city into a ruin-mound of heaps of debris.’
Ancient Egyptian Circumcision
In 2010, about 58% of baby boys born in America were circumcised. Although the practice had begun in the 1930s to curb rates of venereal diseases, sex before marriage, and masturbation, its roots can be traced all the way back to ancient Egypt. Being the oldest documented surgical procedure in the world, circumcision is believed to have been developed as a religious ritual, specifically amongst Africans and Jewish peoples.
As told by a wall relief in the tomb of a minister of the Pharaoh Teti, ancient Egyptians had been practicing circumcision as early as the 23rd century B.C. To the ancient Greeks, circumcision was equivalent to mutilating any other part of the body and portraits dating back to this period depict penises with foreskin on them, except for portraits of those considered lesser than the Greeks, such as barbarians, lechers, and satyrs.
By the 2nd century, the only circumcising groups in the Roman Empire were Jews, Jewish Christians, Egyptian priests, and Nabataean Arabs. Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher, began to insist that circumcision should be only for the purpose of faith, for it is a difficult thing for someone to do to themselves and should only be done to “quell the impulses of matter” and to “perfect what is defective morally”.
At this time, it had become apparent to most scholars that the foreskin of the penis allowed for greater sexual pleasure than would be possible otherwise. Maimonides believed that the bleeding and loss of covering weakened the penis, reducing a man’s lustful thoughts, leading to less pleasurable sex.
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In the 13th century, Isaac Ben Yediah, a disciple of Maimonides, proposed the idea that circumcision was the only way to reduce a woman’s sexual desires. He postulated that with non-circumcised men, she would always orgasm first, so her sexual appetite would grow, whereas with a circumcised man she would never orgasm, making her believe that sex is not very pleasurable an act. Dating back to the 23rd century B.C., circumcision is the oldest recorded surgical practice in history.
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