ir-egipto-travel:

The Erotic Papyrus of Turin

“The image 1 and 10 here are a reconstruction of the original”

Papyrus Turin 55001 is known for its humorous and erotic content. The piece is now, and has been since it was ‘discovered’, in the Egyptian Museum of Turin, Italy. It has been known since at least 1820, but due to its controversial content it was not published until the 1970’s. The papyrus was made in the Ramesside Period, the period after Ramsess II (better known as Ramsess the Great) until the end of the 20th dynasty. It was found in the workmen’s village of Deir el-Medina in Thebes, a small village which was inhabited by the artisans and workers who created the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

The papyrus has two ‘sections’ of scenes; on the right side of the papyrus there are a group of animals who are making music on various instruments and other human activities. On the left side of the papyrus there are 12 scenes which show couples who are having sex, in many various positions.

Besides the obvious sexual content of these scenes, there are many other indicators that this is meant as a sexual, or fertility, piece. Most women have round forms, showing that a woman is of the right age to have sex. The extremely large penis of the men are meant to show us that they are very potent, and that they can satisfy their women. The woman all have a lotus flower on their head, a strong Egyptian symbol for fertility, along the perfume bottle which appears under chairs and even on one of the women butts.

Why this papyrus was written remains a mystery