A Possible Same-Sex Intercourse Scene from Ancient Egypt – The Erotic Ostracon

What an Ostracon Is

The ostracon depicts two people having sex, drawn in black paint. Beside them is a short inscription: “A satisfied foreskin – a satisfied man.” This sounds like a joke and shows that the ancient Egyptians could talk about sex directly and with irony.

Who exactly is depicted in the drawing is a subject of debate. Some researchers believe it is a man and a woman. But the “female” figure looks androgynous: she has short hair and almost no breasts. Perhaps the author simply did not draw female features, deciding that everything was clear from the context.

Other scholars believe that two men are drawn on the ostracon. In this case, the scene becomes homoerotic. The receiving partner looks like a youth: he is without a beard and without musculature. But the drawing is schematic, so it is impossible to accurately determine the sex of the figures.

We are unlikely to know the exact answer until we find similar drawings or inscriptions. For archaeology, this is normal: the older the object, the less context there is and the more room for guesswork.

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