Ancient Egypt's Heteronormative Family Model Challenged Modern Views in Andorra Lecture

A lecture series complementing the 'From Birth to Rebirth' exhibition launched this evening in Andorra, beginning with an exploration of ancient Egyptian views on masculinity, femininity, sexuality, maternity, childhood, and old age.

Held in the Comú's conference hall, the opening talk by Marc Orriols challenged modern assumptions about sexuality in ancient Egypt. Families were strictly heteronormative—father, mother, and children—with no documented alternative identities. Orriols explained that homosexual relationships fell outside this model because they could not produce offspring, essential for survival and the afterlife. In a society without such concepts, he said, people rarely identified or acted beyond the norm, and no direct evidence of homosexuality has survived.

Male homosexual acts appear only in contexts of humiliation, such as the anal penetration of defeated enemies to "feminize" them—a practice seen across cultures, where the active participant remained heterosexual. No cases of lesbianism are recorded.

Life expectancy was low at around 28 years for women and 32 for men, driven by childbirth risks, 50% infant mortality, poor nutrition, diseases, and harsh working conditions for the 95% lower-class population. Large families ensured survival and post-mortem care, as descendants provided food offerings for the afterlife.

Women held more status than in Greece or Rome but lacked equality. Over 3,000 years, only four ruled as kings—not queens—including Hatshepsut, Sobekneferu, Merneith, and Cleopatra VII. Nefertiti was merely the royal wife of Akhenaten. Wives shared husbands' tombs and faced social exclusion upon widowhood.

Sexual representations were scarce, mostly religious, such as the creator god Atum masturbating to birth air and moisture deities. The Turin Papyrus, a rare profane source, depicts 12 sexual scenes—nine coital, with vaginal and anal heterosexual penetration in varied positions—suggesting pleasure beyond reproduction. Orriols interpreted it not as pornography or a brothel directory, but as an illustrated oral tale mocking a character's masculinity.

Prostitution, he argued, is a Western concept absent from ancient Egypt or the Near East. "We assume it's inherent to humanity, but it's inherent to the Western world," Orriols said. No evidence exists, though future discoveries could change that.