{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian papyrus scroll-painting}} {{For|other uses of the term|Turin Papyrus (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox artefact | image = Turin Erotic Papyrus Scene, white.jpg | created = {{circa}} 1150 BC | location = [[Turin]], [[Piedmont]], Italy |discovered_date = {{circa}} 1825|caption=Fragments of the papyrus on display at the [[Museo Egizio]], Turin |discovered_place = [[Deir el-Medina]], [[Ottoman Egypt]] |size = length: 2.6 meters}} The '''Turin Erotic Papyrus''' ('''Papyrus 55001''', also called the '''Erotic Papyrus''' or even '''Turin Papyrus''') is an [[ancient Egypt]]ian [[papyrus]] scroll-painting that was created during the [[Ramesside Period]], approximately in 1150 [[Anno Domini|B.C]].<ref name=oconnor2001>David O'Connor ''[http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/eros_in_egypt.htm Eros in Egypt].'' ''Archaeology Odyssey'', September–October, 2001</ref><ref name=shokeir2004>A A Shokeir and M I Hussein. "[http://www.nature.com/ijir/journal/v16/n5/full/3901195a.html Sexual life in Pharaonic Egypt: towards a urological view]." ''International Journal of Impotence Research'' (2004) 16, 385–388. {{doi|10.1038/sj.ijir.3901195}}</ref>

Discovered in [[Deir el-Medina]] in the early 19th century, it has been dubbed the "world's first men's mag"{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}. Measuring {{convert|8.5|ft|m}} by {{convert|10|in|cm}}, it consists of two parts, one of which contains twelve [[Eroticism|erotic]] vignettes depicting various [[sex position]]s.<ref name="oconnor2001" /> It is currently housed by the [[Museo Egizio]] in [[Turin]], Italy. [[File:Papiro satirico-erotico di Torino TRG 1767a.tif|thumb|upright=2.0|center|Full reproduction of the Erotic Papyrus on display at the Egyptian Museum of Turin]]

==Animal section== The first third depicts [[Anthropomorphism|animals performing various human tasks]]. This part of the scroll-painting has been described as satirical and humorous.<ref name=oconnor2001/><ref name=egyptancient>"[http://www.egyptancient.net/erotic_papyrus.htm Erotic papyrus of Turin]." egyptancient.net</ref>

==Erotic section== [[File:Turin Satirical-Erotic Papyrus - Museo Egizio Turin C 2031 p02 detail.jpg|thumb|A detail of the erotic section]] The final two thirds of Turin Erotic Papyrus consist of a series of twelve [[Vignette (literature)|vignette]]s showing men and women in various [[sexual position]]s.<ref name=oconnor2001/>

The men in the illustrations are "scruffy, balding, short, and paunchy" with exaggeratedly large genitalia<ref name="schmidt2000">{{cite book|last1=Schmidt|first1=Robert A.|last2=Voss|first2=Barbara L.|date=2000|title=Archaeologies of Sexuality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSBVQpifqhkC&q=%22Turin+Papyrus%22&pg=PA254|location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-22366-9|page=254}}</ref> and do not conform to Egyptian standards of physical attractiveness.<ref name="schmidt2000" /><ref name="Gay1993" /> The women are nubile,<ref name="schmidt2000" /><ref name="Gay1993" /> and they are shown with objects from traditional erotic [[iconography]], such as [[convolvulus]] leaves and, in some scenes, they are even holding items traditionally associated with [[Hathor]], the goddess of love, such as [[lotus flower]]s, monkeys, and [[sistra]].<ref name="schmidt2000" /><ref name="Gay1993" />

The scroll was probably painted in the Ramesside period (1292–1075 BC).<ref name="oconnor2001" /> Its high artistic quality indicates that it was produced either for a wealthy audience or by and for a group of [[Scribe equipment (hieroglyph)|scribes]] or contour artists.<ref name="oconnor2001" />

No other similar scrolls have yet been discovered.<ref name="Gay1993"/> Depictions of sexual intercourse were not part of the general repertory of ancient Egyptian formal art,<ref name="Gay1993">{{cite book|last1=Robins|first1=Gay|title=Women in Ancient Egypt|date=1993|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-95469-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/womeninancienteg00robi/page/189 189]–190|url=https://archive.org/details/womeninancienteg00robi|url-access=registration|quote=Turin erotic papyrus.}}</ref> but rudimentary sketches of heterosexual intercourse have been found on pottery fragments and in graffiti.<ref name="Gay1993"/> The various male images have also been interpreted{{by whom?|date=June 2022}} as a single protagonist, who has several encounters with a courtesan.<ref name=egyptancient/>

==Uniqueness== The severely damaged Erotic Papyrus is the only known erotic scroll-painting to have survived.<ref name=oconnor2001/> Modern audiences often misconceive that ancient Egyptian art is devoid of sexual themes.<ref name=oconnor2001/> After [[Jean-François Champollion]] saw the papyrus in 1824 in [[Turin]], he described it as "an image of monstrous obscenity that gave me a really strange impression about Egyptian wisdom and composure."<ref name=egyptancient/><ref name="Champollin quote">The quote in the [http://kemit.perso.neuf.fr/sexe/papyrus_erotique1.htm original French]: "Ici un morceau du rituel funéraire,... et là des débris de peintures d'une obscénité monstrueuse et qui me donnent une bien singulière idée de la gravité et de la sagesse égyptienne..."</ref>

==Purpose== The real significance of the images is yet unknown since those fragments of text that have survived reasonably intact have so far not yielded any clear purpose for the Erotic Papyrus.<ref name=shokeir2004/> The text appears to have been hastily written in the margins and would seem to express enjoyment and delight: {{quote|... come behind me with your love, Oh! Sun, you have found out my heart, it is agreeable work...<ref name=shokeir2004/>}}

According to French egyptologist Pascal Vernus, the papyrus is not intended to produce sexual excitement. Indeed, the apparent continuation between the animal section and the so-called "erotic" section suggests that the papyrus was intended to amuse members of the aristocracy by portraying absurd transgressions of aristocratic standards of behaviour.<ref name=egyptancient/><ref name="Pascal Vernus"> Pascal Vernus' lecture [http://live3.univ-lille3.fr/video-recherche/le-papyrus-erotique-de-turin-la-transgression-codifiee.html Turin Erotic Papyrus: a codified transgression] at the Université Lille 3 on December 21, 2012.</ref>

==See also== *[[List of ancient Egyptian papyri]] *[[Istanbul 2461|A Love Song of Shu-Suen]] - an ancient Sumerian erotic poem *[[Kama Sutra]] - an ancient Indian text on sexuality *[[Khajuraho_Group_of_Monuments#Arts_and_sculpture|Khajuraho Group of Monuments]] - Indian temples with extensive pornographic art *[[Chungongtu]] - a traditional erotic art in China *[[Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite web |url= http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/partytime/turin1.htm |title= Turin Erotic Papyrus |website= reshafim.org |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121219001346/http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/partytime/turin1.htm |archive-date=19 December 2012}}; includes line art reconstruction of the scroll * {{imdb title|1495937|Sex in the Ancient World: Egyptian Erotica (2009, History Channel)}}

[[Category:Museo Egizio]] [[Category:Egyptian papyri containing images]] [[Category:12th-century BC literature]] [[Category:19th-century archaeological discoveries]] [[Category:Archaeological discoveries in Egypt]] [[Category:Erotic art in classical antiquity]] [[Category:Works about anthropomorphic animals]]