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The ancient history of kissing
Recent studies maintain that the first known record of human romantic-sexual kissing originates in a Bronze Age manuscript deriving from South Asia (India), tentatively dated to 1500 BCE (1). Yet, a substantial corpus of overlooked evidence challenges this premise because lip kissing was documented in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt from at least 2500 BCE onward. Because this behavior did not emerge abruptly or in a specific society but appears to have been practiced in multiple ancient cultures over several millennia, the kiss cannot be regarded as a sudden biological trigger causing a spread of specific pathogens, as recently proposed (2). Further understanding of the history of kissing in human societies—and its secondary effect on disease transmission—can be gained from a case study of sources from ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq and Syria).
In research, two types of kissing are generally differentiated, namely the friendly-parental kiss and the romantic-sexual kiss. Whereas friendly-parental kissing appears to be ubiquitous among humans across time and geography, romantic-sexual kissing is not culturally universal, and it is dominant in stratified societies (3). Research has suggested that romantic-sexual kissing evolved for the purposes of evaluating aspects of a potential mate’s suitability through chemical cues communicated in the saliva or breath, mediating feelings of attachment between pairbonded individuals, and facilitating sexual arousal and thereby sexual relations (3). Kissing is also attested in other animal species, such as mouth-to-mouth kissing with a romantic-sexual purpose in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and platonic kissing to manage social relationships in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) (1). These two species constitute the closest living relatives to humans, and their practices of kissing may hint at the presence and evolution of this behavior in human ancestors (4).
In a study investigating the transfer of the oral microbe Methanobrevibacter oralis, it has been hypothesized that Neanderthals could have engaged in lip kissing with modern humans more than 100,000 years ago (5, 6). Still, the advent of romantic-sexual kissing remains uncertain, although two prehistoric sculptures from Ain Sakhri (BM 1958,1007.1) and Malta (T/p1014) might imply its existence before the invention of writing.
Humanity’s earliest recorded kiss occurs in sources from the ancient Middle East. Kissing is attested in ancient Mesopotamian texts from 2500 BCE onward. Ancient Mesopotamia constituted the areas along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which today roughly cover Iraq and Syria. Writing was first invented simultaneously in southern Iraq and in Egypt around 3200 BCE. In Mesopotamia people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets, which primarily recorded the Sumerian and Akkadian languages from ∼3200 BCE to 75 CE. In the earliest texts in the Sumerian language, kissing was described in relation to erotic acts, possibly as a postcoital activity, and the locus was the lips (7). In the Akkadian language, references to kissing can be subdivided into two distinct groups, the first designating friendly and familial affection, describing a display of submission or respect through the act of kissing the feet or the ground, and the second being an erotic action with the lips as the primary locus (7).
Considering the thousands of cuneiform texts that are available, there are relatively few instances where romantic-sexual kissing is described. Regardless, there are clear examples illustrating that kissing was considered an ordinary part of romantic intimacy in ancient times. The texts imply that kissing was something that married couples did (8), though the kiss was regarded as part of an unmarried person’s sexual desire when in love (8). Two texts from ∼1800 BCE are especially revealing. One describes how a married woman was almost led astray by a kiss from another man, and the other describes an unmarried woman swearing to avoid kissing and having sexual relations with a specific man (9). Apparently, society tried to regulate such activities between unwed people or adulterers. Furthermore, the sexual aspect of kissing was frowned upon in public, and kissing a person who was not meant to be sexually active, such as a priestess, was believed to deprive the kisser of the ability to speak (9). Still, it seems that tokens of friendship and familial affection, such as that between mother and child, included kissing (7). Kissing was also used in ritual contexts, where a person in need of divine restoration could kiss a person in a state of trance, an old woman, or a slave girl.
Reaching beyond its importance for social and sexual behavior, the act of kissing may have played a secondary and unintentional role throughout history in facilitating the transfer of orally transmitted microorganisms, potentially causing disease. Infectious diseases have been around since the dawn of history, with a constant evolutionary arms race unfolding between pathogens and hosts. Recent advances in the technology for extracting ancient DNA have enabled the detection of a wide range of pathogen genomes, such as herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) (2), Epstein-Barr virus (10), and human parvovirus B19 (11), in ancient human remains. These pathogens can infect humans through a range of different transmission routes, including saliva, making any act of kissing a potential means of spreading infection (12). The confirmation of microbial genomes deriving from human remains dating back thousands of years indicates that potentially kiss-transmissible organisms were present in historical and even prehistorical periods (5).
Recently, an interesting study presented ancient European human HSV-1 genomes deriving from dental material from human skeletons dating from 253 to 1700 CE (2). The authors discovered that there was a shift in dominant lineages of HSV-1 in the Bronze Age, and they suggested that this shift occurred because of an additional route of lateral transmission of HSV-1, potentially linked to the introduction of new cultural practices caused by migration, such as romantic-sexual kissing. Given this example, it is possible that symptoms indicating HSV-1 were included in the substantial corpus of medical manuscripts that describe symptoms of illness from ancient Mesopotamia. Although this material should be cautiously approached when using retrospective diagnosis, which interprets ancient descriptions of a specific illness by correlating the symptoms with those of a modern disease, it cannot be ignored that the ancient medical texts were influenced by a variety of cultural and religious concepts. It must therefore be emphasized that the preserved texts cannot be read at face value.
It has been proposed that the disease called bu’šānu, which was described in ancient medical texts, might have reflected HSV-1 infection (10) in addition to a number of other modern diseases, such as diphtheria. The bu’šānu, disease was located primarily in or around the mouth and pharynx, and the name itself was derived from a verb meaning “to stink” (13). Various descriptions of the disease exist, and several include the symptom bubu’tu (14). The interpretation that bušānu could cover HSV-1 infection is mainly based on the observation that bubu’tu might be interpreted as “vesicle,” although the translations “pustule” and “boil” remain dominant. Vesicles in or around the mouth are one of the dominant signs of HSV-1 infection.
Ideas of how humans contracted disease in ancient Mesopotamia differed from the modern understanding (15), and people in Mesopotamia did not attribute bušānu, or the spread of infectious diseases in general, to kissing. Regardless, certain cultural and religious factors instituted a partial social control on this practice. Such regulation of intimate relations could have had the unrecognized benefit of reducing the spread of pathogens. Still, it seems that experience with contagious illness may have brought about other pragmatic means to avoid infection through bodily fluids. In a letter from ∼1775 BCE, a woman in a palace harem had fallen ill with an infectious disease that caused lesions (9). To avert infection, everyone was instructed to avoid drinking from her cup, sleeping in her bed, or sitting on her chair.
The sources from ancient Mesopotamia suggest that kissing in relation to sex, family, and friendship was an ordinary part of everyday life in central parts of the ancient Middle East from the late 3rd millennium BCE onward. Accordingly, kissing should not be regarded as a custom originating exclusively in any single region and spreading from there (7).
Furthermore, the sources from Mesopotamia show that the romantic-sexual kiss was known far earlier, and in a wider geographic area, than the references from India dated to 1500 BCE (1, 2), which stands in contrast to previous observations about the history of kissing (2).
Accounting for an ancient cultural diffusion of the romantic-sexual kiss is challenging, and it seems to have had numerous independent origins. Although some societies may not have practiced the romantic-sexual kiss, it must have been known in most ancient cultures, which could be indicative of a near universality. The written documentation to support this observation originates in stratified and complex societies, and the question remains whether the findings are only typical of behaviors found in complex state-level societies. Evidence indicates that kissing was a common practice in ancient times, potentially representing a constant influence on the spread of orally transmitted microbes, such as HSV-1. It therefore seems unlikely that kissing would have arisen as an immediate behavioral adaptation in other contemporary societies, which inadvertently accelerated disease transmission. Finally, the debate about kissing as a vector of disease transmission illustrates the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to produce a holistic representation of historical disease transmission through social interactions.
注释：
corpus: n
表示"文集"，means "a collection of writings"，如：I've got the corpus of Shakespeare's works.我有莎士比亚全集。
onward: adj; adv
表示" 向前"，means "forward in time or order or degree"，如：The onward march of globalisation is, of course, not ineluctable.当然，全球化进程并不是不可阻挡的。The ship sailed onward. 船向前航行。
pathogen: n
表示"病原体(物)"，means "any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism)"，如：One must be concerned about the fate of these pathogens in the absorption field.必须注意到这些病原体在吸收场地的归宿。
ubiquitous: adj
表示"到处存在的"，means "being present everywhere at once"，如：He could see the ubiquitous TV cameras. 他可以看到那些无处不在的电视摄像机。
saliva: n
表示" 唾液"，means "a clear liquid secreted into the mouth by the salivary glands and mucous glands of the mouth; moistens the mouth and starts the digestion of starches"，如：Saliva is secretion of the salivary glands.唾液是唾液腺的分泌物。
pair bond: v
表示"配对连接, 长期的对偶结合, 一夫一妻的结合"，如：He believes that the release of the so-called "pair bonding" hormone oxytocin might explain the calming effect. 他认为所谓的配偶融合荷尔蒙催产素的释放或许能够解释这种缓解效应
bonobo: n
表示"倭黑猩猩"，means "small chimpanzee of swamp forests in Zaire;"，如：In fact, bonobo promiscuity seems to be an example of this. 事实上倭黑猩猩的混交行为便是佐证。
platonic: adj
表示"柏拉图哲学的；柏拉图主义的；理想的；"，means "of or relating to or characteristic of Plato or his philosophy;free from physical desire"，如：The Platonic notion is that mathematics is the imperturbable structure that underlies the very architecture of the universe.柏拉图主义认为，数学所表现出的泰然自若之境界乃宇宙之根本。Platonic love 精神恋爱
Methanobrevibacter oralis: n
表示"口腔甲烷酸杆菌"，其中methano表示"甲醇"，Brevibacterium表示“ 短杆菌“，oralis 表示"口的"，如：pars oralis 口部。
Attest: v
表示" 经检验证明；证明；作证"，means "provide evidence for; stand as proof of"，如：Several witnesses can attest to her good character. 好几位证人证实她品行端正。
erotic: adj
表示" 性爱的；性欲的；色情的"，means "giving sexual pleasure; sexually arousing"，如：Erotic themes give his texts feverish excitement, and many of them have the choreography of seduction as their basic pattern. 性爱的主题赋予他的文本一种炽热的张力，男女调情动作在很多剧作中成为基本模式。
Postcoital：adj
表示"性交后的"，means "after the intercourse"，如：postcoital contraception 性交后避孕
cuneiform：n; adj
表示" 楔形文字(的）；"，means ""，如：The cuneiform script is a great invention by the Sumerians. 楔形文字是苏美尔人的一大发明。
astray：adv; adj
表示" 迷途地"，如：The first thing we did was look for errors in our experimental design and for every conceivable scenario that could have led us astray. 我们的第一个动作是寻找的实验设计哪里出了差错，并想遍每一种可能让我们误入歧途的状况。
adulterer: n
表示" 通奸者"，means "someone who commits adultery or fornication"，如：How senseless is the adulterer! Whoever commits adultery destroys himself. 与妇人通奸的人，实属愚眛，他这样做，却是毁灭自己
restoration: n
表示" 恢复；"，means "the act of restoring something or someone to a satisfactory state"，如：We demand an immediate restoration of our right to vote.我们要求立即恢复我们的选举权。
trance: n
表示"恍惚；出神；"，means "a state of mind in which consciousness is fragile and voluntary action is poor or missing; a state resembling deep sleep"，如：He appeared as a man in a trance.他显得神思恍惚。
microorganism: n
表示" 微生物"，means "any organism of microscopic siz"，如：Bacteria belong to the microorganism.细菌属于微生物。
genome: n
表示" 基因组；"，means "the ordering of genes in a haploid set of chromosomes of a particular organism; "，如：Scientists have decoded the dog genome. 科学家已经译解了狗的基因组。
herpes: n
表示" 疱疹"，means "viral diseases causing eruptions of the skin or mucous membrane"，如：Vesicles of herpes simplex occur around the lips.唇部可发生单纯疱疹。
microbial: adj
表示" 微生物的；"，means "of or involving or caused by or being microbes"，如：These compounds inhibit microbial growth.这些化合物能抑制微生物的生长。
retrospective: adj
表示" 回顾的；追溯的"，means "concerned with or related to the past"，如：The legislation was made retrospective.该项法规具有追溯效力。
diphtheria: n
表示" [医]白喉"，如：Diphtheria is a serious infectious disease.白喉是一种严重的传染病。
pharynx: n
表示" 咽头"，如：When food is swallowed,it passed through the pharynx and in the esophagus当食物被吞下，会经过咽进入食道。
vesicle: n
表示"泡；小水泡"，如：a small anatomically normal sac or bladderlike structure (especially one containing fluid)
pustule: n
表示" 脓泡"，如：The pustule grows bigger and bigger as the days go by. 时间一天天的过去，这个小脓包也逐渐增大.
harem: n
表示"一位男性的一群女性性伴侣;后宫"，如：The sultan's wives and concubines live in the harem.苏丹的妻妾住在后宫。
lesion: n
表示" 损害；损伤；"，means "an injury to living tissue "，如：This lesion can be lessened by surgical correction.这种损害可通过外科矫治减弱。
stratify: v
表示"分层"，means "divide society into social classes or castes;"，如：Stratify teaching to be one to plant in lower individual-rization collective teaching form teaching tactics.分层教学是一种在集体教学形式下的个别化教学策略。
inadvertently: adv
表示"不注意地"，means "without knowledge or intention"，如：At present, if too many turtles are inadvertently caught in Hawaiian waters, the entire fishery is closed down. 现在，在夏威夷海域，如果海龟被不注意地捕捞过多，整个渔场就被关闭。
interdisciplinary: adj
表示"跨学科的"，means "drawing from or characterized by participation of two or more fields of study"，如：Interdisciplinary research on climate change in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's science and engineering schools.马萨诸塞州科学工程部技术研究所有关气候变化的学科间研究。
中文简要说明：
人类伴侣之间透过亲吻，藉此表达爱意或性欲。过去有不少专家根据印度《爱经》（Kama Sutra）的记载，推测最早的接吻起源于印度，不过最近有研究指出，早在距今4千5百年前，美索不达米亚地区（现在的伊拉克和叙利亚）就出现了爱人「四唇交迭」的纪录，比《爱经》足足早了1千年。
据《海峡时报》（The Straits Times）、《华盛顿邮报》报导，专门研究古代两河流域的哥本哈根大学历史学家阿波尔（Troels Pank Arboll）和牛津大学生物学家拉斯穆森（Lund Rasmussen）从泥版上的古老文字发现，公元前1,800年的人类就有接吻示爱的行为。
「其中一段文字描述一名已婚女性，她差一点就受到另一名男子的吻所诱惑；另外一段文字则叙述一位未婚女性，她发誓绝对不和某个男人接吻并发生关系，」阿波尔和拉斯穆森表示。
过去已有研究显示，人类一度藉由接吻来评估交往的对象是否健康。另外，伴侣间激情热吻也有助于撩拨情绪，达到交配的目的，或维系彼此的感情，而这样的行为也出现在我们的祖先猩猩身上。因此该研究认为，接吻的文化很可能存在远古时代不同的社会中。
接吻看似带来不少好处，但也有缺点。研究指出，远古文献中记载一种叫做bu’shanu的疾病，类似于今日的第一型单纯疱疹病毒（Herpes simplex virus-1, HHV-1）或白喉（diphtheria），可能透过接吻时的唾液交换传播病毒，让老祖宗们的热情一吻变得危险重重。
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