Tag Archives: Min

Aphrodisiac in ancient Egypt

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Min, ancient Egyptian god of fertility and lettuce

Min, ancient Egyptian god of fertility and lettuce (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is this the start of the silly season for headlines  ……  ?

Mighty Min

Mighty main man Min,
Egypt’s god of sin,
or should I say “fertility”
for on temple walls it was plain to see
in hieroglyphs and wall paintings
Min’s megalithic massive thing,
standing proud, projecting.
Text in the Edfu Temple said
he was “great of love”.
Heavens above, it went straight to his head!

What was the secret of Min’s success,
able to have continuous sex?
Not leek, nor celery, nor rhubarb stalk,
no suggestion of such phallic talk,
a simple leaf, no more nor less,
that today we know as Cos lettuce,
eaten in bundles to excess.

With such an aphrodisiac,
for Min there was no looking back.
So, if one day you’re wilting, slack,
or had an impotent attack,
or if it’s libido you find you lack,
just chomp on lettuce to restore your vigour
and watch, and watch as you grow bigger.

 

 

 
17th July 2013 – headline from the Daily Mail

Notes:  “The land where LETTUCE was a sex symbol: Leafy vegetables were taken as an aphrodisiac in ancient Egypt and considered a delicacy of the god of fertility.”  Plenty of people view lettuce as a rather dull salad ingredient but the leafy vegetable had a racier function in ancient Egypt.  A distant relative of the cos lettuce was taken as an aphrodisiac and used as a phallic symbol by the ancient Egyptians, according to one Egyptologist.  Lettuces can be seen on the walls of tombs dating back to 2,000 BC and were supposedly the Egyptian god of fertility, Min’s favourite food.  The god, who is often depicted with an erect penis in ancient wall paintings and hieroglyphs, was described as the ‘great of love’ in a text from the Edfu Temple.  The lettuce was thought to be sacred to Min because of its straight growth as well as the milky liquid that it exudes when first cut, which could be viewed as a symbol of a mother’s milk or even semen.
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