Eunuchs

thumb|upright=1.2|The Ottoman Court positions|Harem Ağası, head of the black eunuchs of the [[Ottoman Imperial Harem]] A eunuch ( , ) is a boy or man who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BC. Over the millennia since, they performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, castrato singers, concubines or sexual partner

thumb|200px|right|Coin, depicting the head of Philetaerus on the obverse and seated Athena, Greek goddess of war and wisdom, on the reverse, struck during the reign of [[Eumenes I (263 BC–241 BC)]]

Pothinus or Potheinos (; early 1st century BC – 48 or 47 BC), a eunuch, was regent for Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. He is most remembered for turning Ptolemy against his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra, thus starting a civil war, and for having Pompey decapitated and presenting the severed head to Julius Caesar according to some sources.

Ruler of Ikhshidid Egypt and Syria (905–968)

thumb|A painting of Cronus emasculating Uranus, |320x320px Emasculation is the removal of the external male sex organs, which includes both the penis and the scrotum, the latter of which contains the testicles. It is distinct from castration, where only the testicles are removed. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, the potential medical consequences of emasculation are more extensive due to the complications arising from the removal of the penis. There are a range of religious, cultural, punitive, and personal reasons why someone may choose to emasculate himself or another p

thumb|Ebed-Melech sees Jeremiah in the cistern. (Jim Padgett, 1984) Ebed-Melech ( ‘Eḇeḏmeleḵ; ; ) is a character who appears in Jeremiah 38 and 39. When Jeremiah had been thrown into a cistern and left to die, Ebed-Melech came to rescue him. As a result, Jeremiah relayed God's message to him that he would survive the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

biblical figure who was baptised in the New Testament (Acts of the Apostles)

Eunuch, general, tutor of Arsinoe IV

Moroccan military leader

eunuch and kaid of the Diwan of the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of William I of Sicily

eunuchs in Imperial China

military Commander of Saladin

ruler of the Jaunpur Sultanate, 1394–1399

Norman amiral

Sicilian noble

Aghawat, plural, and singular Agha (Arabic: أغاوات plural and آغا singular) were individuals who serve in the holy mosques in Mecca and Madinah. They had to be eunuchs and at least have a minimum amount of Islamic knowledge. They were stated to not be enslaved people; but instead, as free individuals who serve, by choice, the two holy mosques. Historically, Aghawat were non-Muslim slaves came from different ethnic backgrounds: Kurds, Persians, Romans (Byzantine), and Africans. But, currently, the Aghwaat left in both Mecca and Madinah all come from Ethiopia.