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When did mankind give its first kiss?

2023-05-21 18:06:00, Kuriozitete CNA

The earliest recorded human kiss dates back to 4,500 years ago in the ancient Middle East, a millennium earlier than previously thought by science.

According to scientists, there is evidence that kissing as a practice existed in some of the earliest Mesopotamian societies, as evidenced by records written in ancient texts from 2500 BC.

In an article published in the scientific journal Science, researchers cite evidence that kissing may have contributed to the spread of oral diseases such as the common cold.

Although research shows that kissing between friends or acquaintances was a common behavior among people of the time and geography, kissing as a sign of sexual attraction was not a universal practice. For researchers who studied ancient texts and more modern publications, the kiss between lovers occurs - and did occur thousands of years ago - in societies of different social classes.

First kiss

The first mention of a kiss with an erotic/sexual starting point is found in a Bronze Age Indian manuscript, dating from around 1500 BC. About five hundred years later, a similar behavior is described in the Indian epic Mahabharata, with researchers initially believing that the kiss spread around the world from this geographical and temporal starting point.

Texts from ancient Mesopotamia indicate that kissing was a behavior occurring around 2500 BC (ie, a millennium earlier than previously thought) between married couples, although it was also a sign of desire or love for a person. not married.

"In ancient Mesopotamia, as the area where early human civilizations lived between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where Iraq and Syria are today, was called, people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets," explains Dr Troels Pank Arbol, a specialist in Mesopotamian medical history. . at the University of Copenhagen.

"Many of these clay tablets have survived to this day and contain clear examples of how kissing was considered part of romantic intimacy in ancient times, but also a sign of friendship and relationship between families," he adds.

"Consequently, kissing should not be considered a custom that originated exclusively in one region and from there spread throughout the world. On the contrary, it seems to have been practiced in many ancient cultures over many millennia," he argues. / Adapted from CNA.al