These were taken from a Turkish translation of an Arabic erotic manual attributed to the Egyptian author al-Tifashi (d. 1253), who was a scholar of sexual hygiene and mineralogy. The manuscript belongs to a genre of erotic literature known in Turkish as bahname (combining the Arabic word bah which means sexual desire/lust/libido with the Persian name which means book/treatise). In the Ottoman Empire, the genre dates back as far as the fifteenth century, appearing mainly in the form of older texts translated from Persian and Arabic
“Scenes of Intercourse between European Men”
-8-2018_41verso.-The-David-Collection.-Copenhagen_photo-Pernille-Klemp_sort.jpg)
The men in these scenes can be identified from the notes written in red. The upper miniature shows a Polish man penetrating a German/Austrian, while the lower miniature depicts a Russian and a Dutchman.
The manuscript contains eleven other similar homoerotic miniatures featuring male archetypes from Europe and the Ottoman Empire (Spaniards, Greeks, Turks and Syrians, etc.). The text on the surrounding pages discusses the beauty and qualities of the different peoples. The illustrations seem to be inspired by the period’s non-erotic ‘costume albums’, which were popular with both locals and foreigners in Istanbul.
“Chain Manoeuvre”
_8-2018_126verso.-The-David-Collection.-Copenhagen_photo-Pernille-Klemp_sort.jpg)
The manuscript contains several different tales of homosexuality. In one of these, the protagonist meets a young man in a palace garden. The youth initiates him into the joys of homoeroticism by introducing him to sixteen different positions, which are meticulously described and illustrated. At one point, the narrator is introduced to a group of the young man’s friends, and together they perform a complicated position involving ten participants: the zincir sekişi (chain manoeuvre).
In Ottoman erotic literature, a distinction is made between women, men and beardless youths, with the latter constituting what almost amounts to a separate gender until adulthood. According to the logic of this literature, it was not unmanly to have sex with a youth, as long as you assumed the active, penetrating role. By contrast, love and sex between adult men is a rather more marginalised topic in this literature.
However, this and several other miniatures in the present manuscript break away from the usual logic as they clearly depict adult, bearded men having sex with each other. In this miniature we even see the active-passive dichotomy being dissolved entirely.
“Courtiers Amusing Themselves”
-8-2018_128recto.-The-David-Collection.-Copenhagen_photo-Pernille-Klemp_sort.jpg)
This miniature is also part of the story of the sixteen sex positions. While the story is set in the Syrian city of Raqqa in the ninth century, the illustrations are unmistakably Ottoman. So-called ‘costume albums’ from the period make it possible to identify several of the men in this miniature as Ottoman officials and courtiers. Furthermore, the man in the blue robe appears to be manuscript’s presumed patron, who also appears in the tavern scene and in the final portrait.
“Scenes of Intercourse between European Men”
The men in these scenes can be identified from the notes written in red. The upper miniature shows a Polish man penetrating a German/Austrian, while the lower miniature depicts a Russian and a Dutchman.
The manuscript contains eleven other similar homoerotic miniatures featuring male archetypes from Europe and the Ottoman Empire (Spaniards, Greeks, Turks and Syrians, etc.). The text on the surrounding pages discusses the beauty and qualities of the different peoples. The illustrations seem to be inspired by the period’s non-erotic ‘costume albums’, which were popular with both locals and foreigners in Istanbul.
“Chain Manoeuvre”
The manuscript contains several different tales of homosexuality. In one of these, the protagonist meets a young man in a palace garden. The youth initiates him into the joys of homoeroticism by introducing him to sixteen different positions, which are meticulously described and illustrated. At one point, the narrator is introduced to a group of the young man’s friends, and together they perform a complicated position involving ten participants: the zincir sekişi (chain manoeuvre).
In Ottoman erotic literature, a distinction is made between women, men and beardless youths, with the latter constituting what almost amounts to a separate gender until adulthood. According to the logic of this literature, it was not unmanly to have sex with a youth, as long as you assumed the active, penetrating role. By contrast, love and sex between adult men is a rather more marginalised topic in this literature.
However, this and several other miniatures in the present manuscript break away from the usual logic as they clearly depict adult, bearded men having sex with each other. In this miniature we even see the active-passive dichotomy being dissolved entirely.
“Courtiers Amusing Themselves”
This miniature is also part of the story of the sixteen sex positions. While the story is set in the Syrian city of Raqqa in the ninth century, the illustrations are unmistakably Ottoman. So-called ‘costume albums’ from the period make it possible to identify several of the men in this miniature as Ottoman officials and courtiers. Furthermore, the man in the blue robe appears to be manuscript’s presumed patron, who also appears in the tavern scene and in the final portrait.
