eunuch
Sign in to savethumb|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
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A eunuch is a boy or man who has been castrated, a practice with ancient origins dating back at least to the 2nd millennium BC in Sumeria. Throughout history, eunuchs have served diverse social roles across many cultures, including as courtiers, domestics, singers, and in various other functions within their societies.
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Article
32 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Non-castrated eunuchs
- Asia and Africa
- China
- Indian subcontinent
- Eunuchs in Indian sultanates (before the Mughals)
- The hijra of South Asia
- Korea
- Vietnam
- West Asia and North Africa
- Ancient
- Arabian Peninsula
- Fatimid Caliphate
- Ottoman Empire
- Algiers
- Coptic involvement
- Ancient Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
- Religious castration
- In the Christian Bible
- In Judaism
- Social factors
- Castrato singers
- Notable eunuchs
- First millennium BCE
- First millennium CE
- Second millennium CE
- See also
- References and bibliography
- Citations
- Further reading
- Further listening
- External links
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 partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants.
Eunuchs were usually servants or slaves who were castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter, or even relaying messages—could, in theory, give a eunuch "the ruler's ear" and impart de facto power to the formally humble but trusted servant.