Ancient pornography before pornography. Amazing works of erotic art of Antiquity.
The material below about ancient and classical erotica is not intended for children or the faint of heart. The selection is a bit spurious, but not is not bad. It’s arbitrary and incomplete. Many of those objects were considered too offensive for the general public to behold and thus were hidden somewhere in the closets and storage rooms of European museums. Have fun. Procreate.
An arbitrary erotic rating of antiquity – from 10 to 1 place.
What is archaeological exoticism?
What is archaeological exoticism?
Thi
In museums hidden for the sake of globalism
It was hidden in museums.
Many of the objects on this list were hidden in the vaults of museums from the eyes of ordinary mouths away, at least in the 19th century, although they are now on public display and attract crowds.
When we imagine the ancient world, especially Greece, we often imagine a rather idealized society. It is captured in the fantasies of illustrations in textbooks. Especially Athens seems to be a collection of philosophers wandering through the streets and squares scraped to cleanliness, surrounded by graceful and shining white statues. In fact, the cities of the ancient world were noisy and dirty, and the white sculptures in our museums were originally painted in bright colors.
Therefore, many are confused when they see objects of sex-related art, erotic works, but simply ancient pornography, from classical Antiquity or even more ancient eras.
10th place
Lovers of Ain Sakhri
The oldest statue of two people having sex was created 11,000 years ago.
Currently in the British Museum, The Lovers of Ain Sahri or The Lovers of Ain Sahri were discovered in a cave near Bethlehem.
The 10 cm high statue is believed to come from the Natufian culture of the ancient Near East. Although at first glance this is just a crude craft, it is actually a clever work of art. The master who created The Lovers used a stone tool to bring out the details.
When viewed from the side, it is unmistakable that this is a couple wrapped around their legs during sex. But the absence of facial features on both figures gives their heads a somewhat phallic appearance. This resemblance to a penis, a member, is preserved if the statue is turned sideways. From different angles, the Lovers can also look like a pair of breasts or dangling testicles.
What the Lovers were originally intended for is unknown. Like any archaeological find, it could very well have ritual significance, but it is also possible that our ancestors were like us and simply preferred to contemplate and feel three-dimensional pornography.
9.
Pompeian brothels – wall pornography from the brothels of ancient Pompeii
Pompeii was a cosmopolitan port. From graffiti found in the ruins of the city, we know that visitors spoke a variety of languages, from Latin to Greek, Oskanian, and perhaps even Hebrew and other Semitic dialects. Given the language barriers, how then can a prostitute make a living?
The eruption of Vesuvius destroyed and preserved Pompeii for us. Excavations have shown exactly what the Roman cities were like, and one of the entertainments offered in Pompeii was going not only to the bathhouse, but also to the brothel. In Lupinar, one of Pompeii’s pleasure houses, there is a series of wall paintings depicting copulation scenes and images of couples in various sexual positions.
These images are thought to have been used as a kind of sexy menu, telling diners exactly what is on offer, in much the same way that pictures of food on a menu help a foreign tourist make an order at a cheap restaurant.
eight.
Egyptian God Min
To describe something as ithyphallic is to say that it has a erect penis. If you know anything about the Egyptian god Min, it’s that he’s ithyphallic – his statues won’t let you forget that fact. Min, the ancient god known as the “creator of gods and men,” was one of the first Egyptian deities to have erected very explicit statues.
These sculptures did not try to hide his anatomy. Ming is often depicted holding a penis in his left hand. In his places of worship, his sacred animal was usually the bull – an animal known for its masculine qualities, “productivity”.
Ming was associated with a type of wild plant, a kind of green lettuce that, when cut, oozes white and sperm-thick juice. Some archaeologists claim that it was this sticky white liquid that caused such associations among the Egyptians.
7
Priapus
It is generally believed that having a large penis is good luck. However, for the ancient Greeks and Romans, a large member was not only successful in itself, but also, in the form of a talisman, brought good luck. Carvings of penises have been found in many ancient sites, and one figure of mythology is particularly associated with them. Priapus is a fertility deity with a comically large penis that was thought to help with agriculture, gardening, and anything else you might think of using a penis for. Paintings and statues of Priapus can be found in all the cities of the Hellenistic world, as well as in Rome. In one famous Pompeian fresco, Priapus shows him weighing his penis on a bag of gold, which may also allude to his role in entrepreneurship and gesheft.
Statues of the god often depict him holding fruit in his robe, which rises to reveal his comically erect penis. We cannot be sure exactly how the Greeks and Romans viewed these images. Were they looked at with awe or with laughter? Perhaps then these two things were not separate concepts. Keep this in mind the next time someone makes fun of your anatomy subject.
6.
Herms / Hermas ( from the Greek ῾Ηρμῆς)
Hermas in ancient Greece was special sculptures. On top of a square pillar stood the head of a person or deity. It wouldn’t be unusual, but about halfway down the column, a set of male genital clunks was carved. Often Hermes was depicted with the “household”.
5.
Tintinnabula
The penis was as much a talisman for the Romans as the bell around the neck. Therefore, it made sense for the Romans to hang bells from well-hung dicks to double the power of this charm. These bells, called tintinnabula, were hung from doorways and in gardens to ward off evil spirits. But the Romans were not satisfied with simply combining the power of two amulets. Some tintinnabula are a complex mixture of objects. The central figure may be an erect phallus with wings and a lion’s tail. This flying dick may also have an erect phallus growing out of it on its own. These connected penises may have dangled bells or even other phalluses to which even more bells were attached. Truly monstrous!
4
Warren Cup (Warren Cup, Warren Cup)
Warren Cup from the British Museum is one of the best existing works of ancient Roman silver art. It is also one of the most pornographic. This is also a masterpiece of ancient erotica. Dating from the 1st century AD, the silver drinking vessel depicts four male figures doing the unspeakable in a richly decorated chamber. The figures are surrounded by musical instruments. However, as you’ve figured out by now, these signs of obvious luxury are not what the Warren Cup is famous for. On the one hand, a couple of young guys, boys really, are depicted making frank love, and on the other, a boy kneels down on his older bearded sponsor’s knees. As if to emphasize our own role as voyeurs, a fifth figure can be seen looking at the copulating pairs of teenagers and men from behind the edge of the door. Who is this witness of an ancient gay porn scene? This is a servant. He must be sad because he is not participating in the common pleasures. On the website of the British Museum and elsewhere, you can view the bowl from all sides. Moreover, you can also buy a modern copy of the ancient LGBT masterpiece.
3
Sheela
When PJ Harvey sang Sheela Na Gig , some listeners may not have understood what the hell she was singing about at all.
So what is a sheela? These are sculptures with exaggerated vulvas, that is cunts, which they shamelessly reveal to the astonished world. They are often found in churches, which would seem like the last place to place an obsene statue of an exhibitionist. Sculptures similar to sheela na gig, most often found in Ireland and Great Britain, can also be found in other countries of our continent. When statues appear in churches, they are usually placed above doorways or windows. The portal opened by the statue is, as it were, reflected in the “portal” located below. No one knows exactly why these sculptures began to appear in the 11th century and what their significance and meaning is. No one knows who invented them and why. The best guess is that, like other erotic figurines, they were used,
2
Copulating Babylonian couples
Sigmund Freud Freud is supposed to have said, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” (Manchmal ist eine Zigarre nur eine Zigarre. In all likelihood, Freud never said that).
When it comes to erotic art, sometimes porn is just porn. This may be the case with the copulating couples of ancient Mesopotamia. Over the millennia, and in various places in the Middle East, tablets and statues have been discovered which depict nothing more than couples of opposite-sex as well same-sex, all engaged in shameless copulation.
Two famous tablets from what is now Iraq, almost 4,000 years old, may serve as an illustration of the indecent art of the ancients. One shows a man taking a woman from behind, apparently to the delight of both. Another shows the couple in a similar pose, but the couple is taking a break from their efforts to drink a refreshing beverage. The lady sips thick Babylonian beer through a straw, while the man imbibes from a cup. It has been suggested, that these different styles of drinking may be associated with male and female oral, sex. Here is an example of a simple, joyful response to sex from the ancient world, uncorrupted by any deep spiritual meaning.
For the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, it seems that sex was just sex, and not something to be ashamed of. However, we, modern readers, or at least some of us, maybe shocked by such an abashed display of carnal pleasure.
1 (the number one)
And the first place: God Pan **** a goat or, more delicately, a bearded gentleman, with goat limbs, copulates with an unfortunate animal.
When, in 1752, during excavations in Herculaneum (the second Roman city after Pompeii that got buried under volcanic ash as a result of the eruption of Vesuvius), a statue of the god Pan was discovered, the discoverers found themselves in a difficult predicament or, “position” would perhaps be a better word.
What do you do with a sculpture that clearly depicts a half-man, half-goat screwing another goat? One contemporary wrote home that the statue was too obscene to describe and suggested that it should be tossed back into the volcano. Instead of being thrown into the vulcano, the sculpture was placed in a collection of other works of erotic art from ancient Roman monuments, which could only be accessed by obtaining permission from His Majesty the King of Naples. Or one assumes you could bribe museum guards to get in. Women were completely forbidden to view objects.
Today, anyone of any age who pays to enter the Archaeological Museum in Naples can admire the obscene sculpture.
That’s all. We’ll continue our journey into the world of poetry, literature, fine arts, sculpture, architecture, and fascinating history.
