Overview
• The first book to fully explore the sexual philosophy and practices of the ancient Egyptians • Lavishly illustrated with erotic scenes from papyri that have long been hidden from the public • Clarifies the connection of sacred sexuality to Egyptian cosmic symbolism Until recently the forbidden papyri, whose explicit illustrations of Egyptian sexual practices were judged too shocking, were off limits to all but a few scholars. In this book, the first to fully explore Egyptian sexual philosophy and practices, Egyptologist Ruth Schumann-Antelme provides us a new view of the provocative sexual life of the ancient Egyptians. Richly illustrated throughout, Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt explains the symbolism of the erotic images found on the inner walls of the temples and tombs as well as those carved into pieces of limestone and sketched on papyri. The authors cover in detail the astonishing erotic scenes illustrating the Turin Papyrus, which have long been kept from public view. These papyri reveal in great detail Egyptian attitudes about love, religion, and even medicine, as well as specific sexual practices. Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt reveals the intimate details of a society in which sexuality was the dynamic principle of the divine world, and the cosmic symbolism of religion imbued every level of Egyptian society with sexual significance.
Full Product Details
Author: Ruth Shumann-Antelme ,
Stephane Rossini ,
Ruth Schumann-Antelme
Publisher: Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Imprint: Inner Traditions Bear and Company
Edition: Original ed.
Dimensions:
Width: 20.30cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 25.40cm
Weight: 0.001kg
ISBN: 9780892818631
ISBN 10: 0892818638
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 18 October 2001
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
. . . the first book to explore the sexual philosophy and practices of the ancient Egyptians. A truly intriguing study.
Utilizing material sequestered away in museum and university archives and rarely seen, evidently because of its explicit sexuality, Ruth Schumann Antelme reveals an aspect of Egypt that many have suspected but no one to date has demonstrated: an intense and joyous eroticism that plays out in the human sphere but is intimately tied to a profound metaphysical and cosmological Egyptian understanding--sex as a sacrament.
Utilizing material sequestered away in museum and university archives and rarely seen, evidently because of its explicit sexuality, Ruth Schumann Antelme reveals an aspect of Egypt that many have suspected but no one to date has demonstrated: an intense and joyous eroticism that plays out in the human sphere but is intimately tied to a profound metaphysical and cosmological Egyptian understanding--sex as a sacrament. --John Anthony West, author of The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt . . . the first book to explore the sexual philosophy and practices of the ancient Egyptians. A truly intriguing study. --The Midwest Book Review, January, 2002 . . . clearly and in great detail shows a part of the human side of ancient Egyptian civilization; that sexual intercourse was something that was seen as physically gratifying, spiritually gratifying and necessary not only for species survival, but also for spiritual and cosmic well-being. --Cristina Rizen, Cup of Wonder, Issue #7
Author Information
Ruth Schumann Antelme is an Egyptologist, an emeritus researcher of the Centre Nationale de la Researche Scientifique in France, and a former professor at the Ecole du Louvre. She is the author of Becoming Osiris and a resident of Paris. Stephane Rossini illustrated Becoming Osiris and Reading and Writing Hieroglyphics. He lives in Paris.
