Overview of the history and cultural meanings of kissing
The earliest known written traces of romantic kisses extend back thousands of years, with references dating to about 2500 BCE. Contemporary discussions of these records often appear in scholarly articles and overviews that compile ancient textual evidence. A notable examination of this topic appeared in a Science feature, which surveys how kissing has been interpreted across different eras and societies. In these discussions, researchers distinguish between two broad forms: a friendly or familial kiss and a kiss that carries romantic or sexual meaning. While the former appears to be widely present across many cultures and historical periods, the latter displays more variation, typically aligning with the social structure and etiquette of particular communities. It is also worth noting that intimate kissing is not unique to humans inside their close evolutionary lineage; similar expressions occur among our closest primate relatives, such as pygmy chimpanzees, where affectionate contact mirrors some human behaviors.
The earliest documented instances of kissing in the history of humanity emerge from the ancient Near East. In the corpus of the earliest Sumerian texts, kissing appears to be connected with erotic acts, potentially framed as a post-coital gesture and directed toward the lips. Later Akkadian sources categorize kissing into two clusters: one emphasizes friendship, familial affection, and expressions of submission or respect through kissing the feet or the ground; the other classifies kissing as an erotic act involving the lips. These linguistic distinctions illustrate how a simple gesture could embody a spectrum of social meanings, from reverence to desire.
Across the vast collection of cuneiform writings, examples of romantic or sexual kissing are comparatively scarce. Yet multiple texts indicate that kissing played a recognized role in intimate life. Some poetic lines imply that kissing was a standard feature of marital affection, while others describe unmarried individuals who experience longing and desire, situating kissing within the broader conversation about love and romantic attraction. Around 1800 BCE, two particular inscriptions stand out for their vivid detail: one portrays a married woman being nearly overwhelmed by another man’s kiss, and another depicts an unmarried woman who vows to forgo kissing and sexual contact with a specific man. These narratives suggest that ancient communities sometimes regulated romantic or sexual expressions between unmarried partners or suspected adulterers, reflecting social norms and moral expectations of the time. In parallel, certain cultural perspectives held that explicit kissing with a non-active participant, such as a vowed religious figure, could carry consequences for the person initiating the gesture, signaling how sacred or ceremonial boundaries shaped everyday behavior.
In later discussions of historical kissing, scholars often contrast romantic kissing with other forms of affectionate contact and examine how different societies governed intimate behavior. The overall record shows that while romantic kissing existed and was acknowledged in many periods, it was frequently discouraged or constrained by social rules and norms. The evolution of these attitudes reveals how love, desire, and affection have been negotiated within legal, religious, and cultural frameworks across ancient civilizations, laying groundwork for later conceptions of romance in broader historical contexts.
Remarkably, the scholarly conversation sometimes veers into incongruous or exaggerated notes about far-distant epochs. For instance, a lingering humor persists around strange or misplaced claims about ancient life and prehistoric times. When examined critically, these jokes remind readers to verify facts and avoid conflating myths with well-supported historical evidence. The enduring takeaway is that kissing has long occupied a meaningful, multifaceted role in human expression, reflecting both the ties that bind people together and the strict codes that communities use to regulate intimate life.