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[-] don@lemm.ee 62 points 1 month ago

“Statue of Idet & Ruiu, two women who have been identified as possibly mother and daughter, sisters, or a same-sex couple. Idet is given priority by the artist who placed her on the right, and is given the title "Lady of the House". Limestone. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, 1480-1390 BCE. From the Theban necropolis, Egypt. (Egyptian Museum of Turin)”

From the World History Encyclopedia:

https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14160/statue-of-idet--ruiu/

The photo is also prominently displayed in the wiki for “Homosexuality in ancient Egypt”,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_ancient_Egypt?wprov=sfti1

So it seems that there are people who are aware of the likelihood of them being a lesbian couple, if that’s the case.

[-] BossDj@lemm.ee 76 points 1 month ago

I feel the text was fair, too. Statues like this typically depict a married couple, although their relationship is not specified. That's a full tilt scientist explanation, not necessarily a gay-denying bigot.

[-] ech@lemm.ee 34 points 1 month ago

That's a full tilt scientist explanation, not necessarily a gay-denying bigot.

Which is the best way to do it. I get this sub is (mostly) tongue-in-cheek, but erasing platonic relationships from history is problematic as well.

People are a lot less willing to give the benefit of the doubt when it comes to same-sex relationships because of the history of erasure and bias present in science. Once burned, twice shy, as they say. Like how women are less likely to trust a doctor's opinion because of how often doctors ignore women's symptoms and pain.

The text in the above comment clearly spells it out, but the text in the photo is more reminiscent of the ways that lesbian relationships are often erased or ignored. Stuff like "These two women lived together for their entire lives, never marrying, and often wrote poems of their deep love and longing for each other. Historians don't know what this could mean, but they most likely were very close friends."

I think a simple rephrasing would have made people a lot less critical of the original text. "Though the relationship between these women is unclear, these statues were often made for married couples." is a lot less likely to be seen as "These statues were usually made for married couples, so we don't know why they would make one for two women. They must have been very close friends or even roommates."

[-] flamingos@feddit.uk 2 points 1 month ago

I think that mostly depends on if these statues normally specify the relationship.

[-] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago

"although Idet seems to be more important, as she is seated in the place of honor, at the right"

Is this how Ancient Egyptians identified who is the husband lesbian?

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago
[-] ogeist@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago

They did everything together and were business partners

[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 27 points 1 month ago

They can’t possibly have been lesbians because lesbianism wasn’t invented until the 1920s or something.

[-] Bassman1805@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago

Oh my gaaawd they were roommates

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Well, they do look like twins.

[-] transfluxus@leminal.space 1 points 1 month ago
[-] wheeldawg@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

Love the Twitter account name

this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
427 points (96.9% liked)

Sappho and her Friend

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A community dedicated to mostly humorous instances of queer erasure.

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