Kissing has been practiced for at least 4500 Years in the Ancient Middle East

Sunday - May 21 2023, 18:01 UTC - 1 year ago

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford have published a new article in the journal Science presenting evidence that kissing was practiced in the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago, predating previous theories by about 1,000 years. The team relied on written sources from Mesopotamian societies, which documented the act of kissing in various social contexts, suggesting it is a fundamental human behavior. They also discussed the possibility that kissing could have played a role in the transmission of diseases like the herpes simplex virus 1. In addition to its importance for social and sexual behavior, the practice of kissing may have played an unintentional role in the transmission of microorganisms, potentially causing viruses to spread among humans.

Written sources document that kissing was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago, conclude researchers from the University of Copenhagen and University of Oxford in a new article published in the journal Science.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford have published a new article in the journal Science presenting evidence that kissing was practiced in the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago, predating previous theories by about 1,000 years. The team relied on written sources from Mesopotamian societies, which documented the act of kissing in various social contexts. The researchers suggest that the act of kissing is a fundamental human behavior, as demonstrated in studies of our closest animal relatives, bonobos, and chimpanzees. They also discussed the possibility that kissing could have played a role in the transmission of diseases like the herpes simplex virus 1, although they caution against assuming direct causation.

Recent research has hypothesized that the earliest evidence of human lip kissing originated in a very specific geographical location in South Asia 3,500 years ago, from where it may have spread to other regions, simultaneously accelerating the spread of the herpes simplex virus 1.

But according to Dr. Troels Pank Arbøll and Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen, who in a new article in the journal Science draw on a range of written sources from the earliest Mesopotamian societies, kissing was already a well-established practice 4,500 years ago in the Middle East. And probably much earlier, moving the earliest documentation for kissing back 1,000 years compared to what was previously acknowledged in the scientific community.

"In ancient Mesopotamia, which is the name for the early human cultures that existed between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in present-day Iraq and Syria, people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets. Many thousands of these clay tablets have survived to this day, and they contain clear examples that kissing was considered a part of romantic intimacy in ancient times, just as kissing could be part of friendships and family members’ relations," says Dr. Troels Pank Arbøll, an expert on the history of medicine in Mesopotamia.

He continues: .

"Therefore, kissing should not be regarded as a custom that originated exclusively in any single region and spread from there but rather appears to have been practiced in multiple ancient cultures over several millennia." .

Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen adds: .

"In fact, research into bonobos and chimpanzees, the closest living relatives to humans, has shown that both species engage in kissing, which may suggest that the practice of kissing is a fundamental behavior in humans, explaining why it can be found across cultures." .

In addition to its importance for social and sexual behavior, the practice of kissing may have played an unintentional role in the transmission of microorganisms, potentially causing viruses to spread among humans.

However, the suggestion that the kiss may be regarded as a sudden biological trigger behind the spread of particular pathogens is more doubtful. The spreas of particular microorganisms among humans is likely far more complex.