Copulating Couple

This limestone piece, despite damage and missing aspects, depicts a scene of a man and a woman copulating. The man’s phallus is oversized, for symbolism, but the tenderness of the scene showcases an interesting and unique representation of erotic artworks from Ancient Egypt. As the couple lay upon their side facing one another, the man, almost tenderly, has his hand resting upon the woman’s cheek, as his head rests upon a raised pillow. The woman’s remaining hand has been delicately carved to display it laid relaxed near her face, giving the scene a touch of realism.

The piece has unfortunate damage, each of the couple are missing an arm and a leg, and an unknown animal by the side of the scene is damaged beyond recognition in the lower right corner. Pigments of the original paintwork remain, including the red of the male skin, the black of the woman’s wig, and the blue of the base.

Fertility was a very important and holy notion for the Egyptians and other ancient cultures. The Egyptian religion and other ancient religions from regions all across the world were essentially almost fully focused on the concept of fertility, with both the philosophy and practices, all coming down to maintaining agriculture, thus survival. In short, fertility meant life.

Gods and goddesses, would be depicted in reproductive role, what with the nourishing suckling of Hathor the mother goddess, to the erected phallus of Min protruding forward in scenes. The Osiris myth, of his sister-wife, Isis, replacing his lost phallus with magic, and becoming pregnant with their son, Horus, of whom the living pharaoh would associate himself with… all of these concepts share similar notions of fertility.

The name “Kemet” itself even stems from such ideology. “Kemet”, meaning “Black Land”, for instance, may seem strange and has led to many conspiracies floating upon the internet… alas, in short, the name “Kemet” was literally the declaration of the fertile land. “The Black Land”, referencing the black luscious silt, that left fertile soil for life to spring within the Nile Delta after the annual inundations. These inundations, aka floods, would therefore become the centrepiece of Ancient Egyptian religion, prayers, rituals and rites, all working towards a common goal in hope of maintaining the annual flood, thus promise of fertility and life to Egypt through agriculture. For this reason, the colours black and green became associated with such notions of fertility and rebirth after death. Black being the fertile soil, and green being the agriculture growing forth with new life.

The Ancient Egyptians saw sexual love as a vital component of the reproductive process, and hence necessary for continuing fertility. It is believed that religious festivals, like the “Festival of Drunkenness”, that would usually take place in the summer months as the Nile began to flood, would involve sexual aspects: “The destruction wrought by Hathor is the background to the level of drinking that goes on in the festival: It’s not just to drink but to drink to pass out. A hymn inscribed in a temple associated with the lion goddess describes young women, dressed with floral garlands in their hair, who serve the alcohol. It is described as a very sensual environment.”

These type of pieces, with exaggerated male reproductive organs, were therefore both comic and symbolic. This piece dates from approximately Early Ptolemaic Period, 305–30 B.C.

Betsy Bryan of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore writes;

We do know people left texts that refer to the ritual’s sexual component. We have one dating back to 900 BC, saying, “I remember visiting the ancestors, and when I went, anointed with perfume as a mistress of drunkenness, travelling the marshes.”
“Travelling the marshes” is a euphemism for having sex (marshes being the place from which life springs). Another was written by a man who is a priest, who identifies himself as having been conceived in this context. Much later, in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, 330 B.C. to 27 B.C., there are a number of people identified as orphans who are gifts to the temple.

Summary:

Painted limestone scene of a couple copulating
Ptolemaic Period, 30th Dynasty (?), c. 305–30 B.C.
Brooklyn Museum. 60.181