23 April 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New study says earliest recorded kiss occurred 4500 years ago in Mesopotamia

The University of Copenhagen according to researchers, humanity’s earliest recorded kiss occurred around 4,500 years ago in the ancient Middle East – 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

Kissing was practiced in the earliest Mesopotamian societies, according to scientists, and may even have contributed to the spread of cold sores. In their article, published in the journal Science, the researchers said the findings suggest kissing was common across many cultures and did not originate in a specific region.

According to the researchers, this contradicts a previous theory that the earliest evidence of human lip kissing came from a specific region of South Asia 3,500 years ago.

“In ancient Mesopotamia, which is the name for the early human cultures that existed between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in present-day Iraq and Syria, people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets. Many thousands of these clay tablets have survived to this day, and they contain clear examples that kissing was considered a part of romantic intimacy in ancient times, just as kissing could be part of friendships and family members’ relations,” says Dr Troels Pank Arbøll, an expert on the history of medicine in Mesopotamia at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

He continues: “Therefore, kissing should not be regarded as a custom that originated exclusively in any single region and spread from there but rather appears to have been practiced in multiple ancient cultures over several millennia.”

Studies on bonobos and chimpanzees – the closest living relatives to humans – have shown they engage in kissing.

This suggests the practice of kissing is a fundamental behaviour in humans and explains why it can be found across cultures, the scientists said.

Babylonian clay model showing a nude couple on a couch engaged in sex and kissing. Date: 1800 BC. © The Trustees of the British Museum
Babylonian clay model showing a nude couple on a couch engaged in sex and kissing. Date: 1800 BC. Photo: © The Trustees of the British Museum

The researchers also said kissing may have unintentionally played a role in the transmission of viruses such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores.

Dr. Arboll said: “There is a substantial corpus of medical texts from Mesopotamia, some of which mention a disease with symptoms reminiscent of the herpes simplex virus 1.”

But he added that ancient medical texts can be influenced by cultural and religious concepts so they cannot be read at face value.

Dr. Arboll said: “It is nevertheless interesting to note some similarities between the disease known as buʾshanu in ancient medical texts from Mesopotamia and the symptoms caused by herpes simplex infections.

“The bu’shanu disease was located primarily in or around the mouth and throat, and symptoms included vesicles in or around the mouth, which is one of the dominant signs of herpes infection.”

Recent studies have shown that modern-day viruses that spread through kissing, such as HSV-1, Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever, and human parvovirus B19, which causes a bright red rash on the cheeks in children, were present in ancient times.

Dr. Sophie Lund Rasmussen, of the University of Oxford, said: “If the practice of kissing was widespread and well-established in a range of ancient societies, the effects of kissing in terms of pathogen transmission must likely have been more or less constant.”

Dr. Arbøll and Dr. Rasmussen conclude that future findings from ancient DNA research will benefit from an interdisciplinary approach, as they will inevitably lead to discussions about complex historical developments and social interactions, such as kissing as a driver of early disease transmission.

Cover Photo: Babylonian clay model showing a nude couple on a couch engaged in sex and kissing. Date: 1800 BC. © The Trustees of the British Museum

University of Copenhagen

Related Articles

A sculpture of a snake-bodied Roman-German deity was discovered in Stuttgart

23 April 2024

23 April 2024

A sculpture of a snake-bodied Roman-German deity was discovered at the Roman fort in Stuttgart, Germany. Since the beginning of...

Over 20 terracotta warriors have been discovered in the Terracotta Army pit in China

24 January 2022

24 January 2022

More than 20 Terracotta Warriors were unearthed from the Terracotta Army pit in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi province, according to...

Unveiling a Roman Settlement Beyond the Empire: New Discoveries in Delbrück-Bentfeld, Germany

6 April 2025

6 April 2025

Recent archaeological excavations in Delbrück-Bentfeld, located in northwestern Germany, have revealed significant evidence of a Roman settlement that existed beyond...

A New Picene Prince Tomb Dating to the 7th Century BC with Two Chariots Discovered in Corinaldo, Italy

29 July 2024

29 July 2024

Following the discovery of the so-called ‘Prince of Corinaldo’ in 2018, archaeologists from the University of Bologna have discovered a...

Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on Dartmoor, England

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

Excitement has been felt among archaeologists over the discovery of a Bronze Age burial chamber on Dartmoor, which may provide...

A Second temple of the Second Temple period was discovered at Migdal

13 December 2021

13 December 2021

The University of Haifa reported on Sunday the discovery of a 2,000-year-old synagogue from the Second Temple era in Migdal,...

Archaeologists discovered a dragon made of mussel shells in in Inner Mongolia

26 August 2023

26 August 2023

Archaeologists discovered a dragon made of mussel shells earlier this week in Chifeng, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which...

Archaeologists Uncovered a Terracotta Commander and Warriors at the Mausoleum of China’s First Emperor

12 January 2025

12 January 2025

Archaeologists have unearthed a rare 2,000-year-old statue depicting a high-ranking military commander at the famous Terracotta Army site in China:...

Archaeologists may have uncovered a 13th-century castle in Shropshire

7 August 2021

7 August 2021

Archaeologists have been working on a mound of land in Wem, Shropshire, that belongs to Soulton Hall, Elizabethan mansion and...

Anatolia’s largest olive oil factory unearthed

14 January 2022

14 January 2022

A Roman-era olive oil factory has been unearthed during excavations in the İskenderun district of Hatay. It has been reported...

Archaeologists identify a sunken Nabataean temple dedicated to the God Dusares at Pozzuoli

12 April 2023

12 April 2023

Off the coast of Pozzuoli on the Phlegrean Peninsula in Campania, Italy, underwater archaeologists have identified a sunken Nabataeans temple...

‘Exceptional’ Viking Age silver treasure found in Norway

27 October 2022

27 October 2022

A treasure trove of silver fragments from the Viking Age has been discovered in Stjørdal, near Trondheim in central Norway....

Outstanding Bronze Age artifacts discovered in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France

23 August 2021

23 August 2021

Hundreds of bronze objects have been discovered buried in pottery in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. The research team, led...

Bom Jesus: The Oldest and Most Valuable Shipwreck Found in the Namibian Desert

20 March 2025

20 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological discovery, the Bom Jesus (The Good Jesus), a Portuguese ship that sank over 500 years ago,...

In the city of Gods and Goddesses Magnesia, Zeus Temple’s entrance gate found

26 September 2021

26 September 2021

During an excavation in the ancient city of Magnesia, located in the Ortaklar district of Germencik in Turkey’s Aegean province...