In some cultures and religions around the world, the act of masturbation is considered a sin or taboo. In ancient Egypt, however, not only was masturbation a public thing, it was done in worship of a god.
Masturbation was more of an obsession in Ancient Egypt. They believed that ejaculation from the god of creation, Atum, was what gave life to the River Nile.
As a result of this, they would ritually masturbate into the Nile to ensure a wealth of water for crops. During the Egyptian festival of the god Min, who represented the pharaoh’s sexual power, men regularly masturbated in public.
Egypt remains one of the most prominent civilisations in northeast Africa dating back to ancient times when the Pharaohs used to reign over the country.
Blessed with the world’s greatest man-made structures like the colossal pyramids, the Karnak Temple and the Sphinx of Gaza, ancient Egypt also had what has been described till date as some of the greatest and unsolved mysteries.
Part of it was this strong belief of the ancient Egyptians that male masturbation was very important. They based this mainly on the Egyptian creation myth.
According to legend, the Egyptian god Atum created the universe after ejaculation from masturbation. The flow of the Nile was also said to be connected to the number of times the god ejaculated.
Due to this, the pharaohs of ancient Egypt were required to ceremonially masturbate into the Nile. This became a ritual for the Pharaoh as he was expected to recreate Atum’s gift to the universe every year in order to nourish the Nile.
During the feast of Nim each year, the Pharaoh alongside the general public would head to the shores of the Nile and perform the holy rite. Upon getting to the shore of the Nile, the pharaoh would remove his clothes and masturbate, ensuring that his semen fell into the Nile.
The other men would do the same. They believed that the semen would enable the Nile to give them more blessings and a plentiful harvest.
