| * Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: males, ''sekhet (s<u>h</u>t)'', and females, in that order. Sekhet is usually translated as "eunuch," but that's probably an oversimplification of what this gender category means. Since it was given that level of importance, it could potentially be an entire category of gender/sex variance that doesn't fit into male or female. The hieroglyphs for ''sekhet'' include a sitting figure that usually means a man. The word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. At the very least, ''sekhet'' is likely to mean cisgender gay men, in the sense of not having children, and not necessarily someone who was castrated. <ref>Sethe, Kurt, (1926), ''Die Aechtung feindlicher Fürsten, Völker und Dinge auf altägyptischen Tongefäßscherben des mittleren Reiches,'' in: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, 1926, p. 61.</ref><ref>Sandra Stewart. "Egyptian third gender." http://www.gendertree.com/Egyptian%20third%20gender.htm</ref><ref name="Brustman" /> | | * {{#if:1|{{#section:Gender variance in spirituality|SekhetDefinition}}}} |
