Gender variance in spirituality: Difference between revisions
→Views about gender variance in Kemet: Fixed references so that they will work when this entry transcludes into other articles. Added some sources.
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==== Views about gender variance in Kemet ==== | ==== Views about gender variance in Kemet ==== | ||
[[File:Sekhet hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|The word "sekhet" in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.<ref | [[File:Sekhet hieroglyphs.jpg|thumb|The word "sekhet" in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.<ref>Mark Brustman. "The Third Gender in Ancient Egypt." ''"Born Eunuchs" Home Page and Library.'' 1999. https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm</ref>]] | ||
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Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: male, ''sekhet (s<u>h</u>t)'', and female, 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 mean a man, but the word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. The word for male did include a hieroglyph explicitly showing a penis. 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 | Writings from ancient Egypt (Middle Kingdom, 2000-1800 BCE) said there were three genders of humans: male (''tie''), ''sekhet (s<u>h</u>t)'', and female (''hemet''), 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 mean a man, but the word doesn't include hieroglyphs that refer to genitals in any way. The word for male did include a hieroglyph explicitly showing a penis. 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. Archaeologists question whether ancient Egyptians castrated humans, because the evidence for it is lacking.<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>Mark Brustman. "The Third Gender in Ancient Egypt." ''"Born Eunuchs" Home Page and Library.'' 1999. https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/egypt.htm</ref><ref>Frans Jonckheere. Mark Brustman, translator. "Eunuchs in Pharaonic Egypt." Translation of "L'Eunuque dans l'Égypte pharaonique," originally in ''Revue d'Histoire des Sciences'', vol. 7, No. 2 (April-June 1954), pp. 139-155. https://people.well.com/user/aquarius/pharaonique.htm</ref> | ||
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==== Gender variant figures in Kemet ==== | ==== Gender variant figures in Kemet ==== | ||