also gotta mention that the word 'eunuch' had different connotations during the biblical era. it was seen as a third gender, a state in between genders, or just a 'man' becoming a woman depending on the time period and country. there were people that just became eunuchs and were men like the modern definition, but the biggest connotation was with religious groups at the time. the galli are one example (and many galli referred to themselves as women or with female pronouns), but also syria (a neighbor of judea) maintained a priesthood of eunuchs that dressed in womens clothes, performed complicated genital surgeries of many varieties, and were generally highly esteemed. ISIS even blew up a statue of a eunuch dressed in female attire from that time period. it was the centerpiece in a town square of a major city
scythia would have effeminate 'eunuch' shamans dressed in female raiment that would smoke weed as part of a religious ritual
in general, being trans or a 'eunuch' would be seen as a highly faithful and religious thing back then. and of course, they attracted scorn from many romans for not being masculine, and sometimes was used as a punishment (re:forcing someone into this socially gender variant state where theyd only be accepted by priests and other religious groups). i even remember reading some latin text that basically was word for word a modern transphobic argument about whether the galli should be allowed into bathhouses. there were some emperors that favored the galli over others and even expanded their rights and gave them a mandatory representative to the senate. some emperors even tried to make castration procedures illegal in order to suppress the galli. there are many, many historical analogues here.
in the torah, there is one passage that refers to eunuchs in a jewish king's harem as women which also sort of implies he also had sex with them. this sort of interpretation is why iran funds gender surgeries fyi, so it isnt even a niche thing, an entire very religious abrahamic country issued laws based on similar religious interpretations
though the syrians had some pretty complex surgeries described by the romans. they never successfully made a vagina (there were attempts) but they did find out a way to safely castrate someone without infection (getting some smooth flat rocks really hot and smashing some nuts, no incisions made, body would absorb dead testicular tissue automatically). they even had surgeries to make one flat down there (e.g. nulloplasty) and would create forked penises (there is a claim that this was for sexual purposes, you could 'wrap' the two ends of the fork around another penis for the penis to fuck) i find it fascinating that so much thought was put into it even back then
yeah my reading of it was it was a 'make do with what you got' situation since they couldnt make vaginas. all genital surgeries that required incision had pretty high mortalities so they mustve really wanted it to attempt it. generally was only given to younger people (re: ages 14-25) cause the mortality was so high to not be worth it older. main cause of death was kidney infection from swelling around the urethra making it impossible to pee. they did come up with some ways to combat this (re: do not drink or drink sparingly for 4-5 days and keep them in a cool area) which lead to decreases in mortality. the main benefit of the forked penis surgery is if the swelling got too bad they could just make the fork bigger by cutting further down the urethra allowing you to pee, so thats why it was prominent
also gotta mention that the word 'eunuch' had different connotations during the biblical era. it was seen as a third gender, a state in between genders, or just a 'man' becoming a woman depending on the time period and country. there were people that just became eunuchs and were men like the modern definition, but the biggest connotation was with religious groups at the time. the galli are one example (and many galli referred to themselves as women or with female pronouns), but also syria (a neighbor of judea) maintained a priesthood of eunuchs that dressed in womens clothes, performed complicated genital surgeries of many varieties, and were generally highly esteemed. ISIS even blew up a statue of a eunuch dressed in female attire from that time period. it was the centerpiece in a town square of a major city
scythia would have effeminate 'eunuch' shamans dressed in female raiment that would smoke weed as part of a religious ritual
in general, being trans or a 'eunuch' would be seen as a highly faithful and religious thing back then. and of course, they attracted scorn from many romans for not being masculine, and sometimes was used as a punishment (re:forcing someone into this socially gender variant state where theyd only be accepted by priests and other religious groups). i even remember reading some latin text that basically was word for word a modern transphobic argument about whether the galli should be allowed into bathhouses. there were some emperors that favored the galli over others and even expanded their rights and gave them a mandatory representative to the senate. some emperors even tried to make castration procedures illegal in order to suppress the galli. there are many, many historical analogues here.
in the torah, there is one passage that refers to eunuchs in a jewish king's harem as women which also sort of implies he also had sex with them. this sort of interpretation is why iran funds gender surgeries fyi, so it isnt even a niche thing, an entire very religious abrahamic country issued laws based on similar religious interpretations
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pretty much
though the syrians had some pretty complex surgeries described by the romans. they never successfully made a vagina (there were attempts) but they did find out a way to safely castrate someone without infection (getting some smooth flat rocks really hot and smashing some nuts, no incisions made, body would absorb dead testicular tissue automatically). they even had surgeries to make one flat down there (e.g. nulloplasty) and would create forked penises (there is a claim that this was for sexual purposes, you could 'wrap' the two ends of the fork around another penis for the penis to fuck) i find it fascinating that so much thought was put into it even back then
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true lol. added some more deets
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yeah my reading of it was it was a 'make do with what you got' situation since they couldnt make vaginas. all genital surgeries that required incision had pretty high mortalities so they mustve really wanted it to attempt it. generally was only given to younger people (re: ages 14-25) cause the mortality was so high to not be worth it older. main cause of death was kidney infection from swelling around the urethra making it impossible to pee. they did come up with some ways to combat this (re: do not drink or drink sparingly for 4-5 days and keep them in a cool area) which lead to decreases in mortality. the main benefit of the forked penis surgery is if the swelling got too bad they could just make the fork bigger by cutting further down the urethra allowing you to pee, so thats why it was prominent
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:yea:
An amusing cititation where Hippocrates blames the prevalence of the enaree on Scythians wearing pants and riding horseback too much :so-true:
:dog-faced-pony-soldier: :soy-cutie: