Kissing is a universal expression of love and affection, but when and where did humans first start to smooch? According to a new study published in the journal Science, the earliest evidence of human lip kissing dates back to 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia, the ancient civilization that spanned present-day Iraq and Syria.
The study, conducted by Dr. Troels Pank Arbøll and Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Oxford, challenges the previous hypothesis that kissing originated in a specific region in South Asia 3,500 years ago and spread from there to other cultures.
The researchers based their findings on a range of written sources from the earliest Mesopotamian societies, which used cuneiform script on clay tablets to record various aspects of their lives. Among these clay tablets, some contained clear examples of kissing being part of romantic intimacy, as well as friendship and family relations.
One such example is a Babylonian clay model showing a nude couple on a couch engaged in sex and kissing, dating from 1800 BC. Another is a Sumerian love poem that describes a passionate kiss between a goddess and a king, dating from 2000 BC.
Kissing: more than just a cultural phenomenon
The researchers argue that kissing should not be regarded as a custom that originated exclusively in any single region and spread from there, but rather as a fundamental behavior in humans that may have evolved independently in multiple ancient cultures over several millennia.
They point out that kissing is also practiced by some of our closest living relatives, such as bonobos and chimpanzees, which suggests that it has a biological basis and may serve important functions for social and sexual bonding.
However, kissing may also have unintended consequences for the transmission of microorganisms and diseases among humans. The researchers note that some ancient medical texts from Mesopotamia mention a disease with symptoms similar to the herpes simplex virus 1, which can be spread by oral contact.
They caution that these texts cannot be taken literally, as they were influenced by various cultural and religious concepts, but they suggest that kissing may have played a role in the spread of certain pathogens throughout history.
