Eunuchs, Caliphs and Sultans, pt. 2

[JesusA (imported)]

CASTRATION<p>In this section some passages where the castrating operation is described will be reproduced, and then analyzed. Not all of them are brought in the chronological order. From the first two only summaries of part of them or short excerpts will be brought, because they are found in full, with a translation, in another part of this study.<p>I. Al-Muqaddasi (d. ca. 380/990) [the first year is in the Moslem calendar/the second in the western one]: There are two versions about the castration. According to one, the male organ and the scrotum are completely removed with one stroke. According to the other the scrotum is cut open and the testicles are taken out of it. Then a piece of wood is put under the male organ, which is cut to its very root. The eunuch 'Urayb, whom al-Muqaddasi asked about the operation, gave a description which corroborates the second version, and adds that after the castration a rod made of lead is put in the urinary opening, which is removed only for the purpose of urinating, so that the opening would not cicatrize before being healed.<p>The Rum [=Byzantines] used, according to the same author, a less radical form of castration. ["All that the Rum do is that they take out the testicles and leave the male organs. They do this to their own boys when they give them over to the churches. The Muslims, when they raided [the Rum territory], used to capture them from the churches. (p. 220)]<p>II. Al-Mas'di (died 346/957): The contradictory traits of the eunuchs, resulting from the cutting of that organ of theirs. [The full passage which is referred to was discussed on pp. 209-214 and speaks briefly of the difference between eunuchs with and without penises.]<p>III. Al-Jahiz (circa 160-255/776-86<img src="http://beta.eunuch.org/Public/Images/Default/E8.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle">: The Castration of the Rum [=Byzantines] "There are among people of certain creeds those who castrate their sons and dedicate them to the house of worship and make them sacristans as the Rum do. But they [in carrying out that operation] do not harm [touch] the penis, and they only interfere with the testicles. It is as if they only hate that their children would impregnate their women and their nuns and nothing else! As For sexual pleasure and lust satisfaction, they [the Rum] claim that they [the eunuchs] reach heights, never reached by the unemasculated virile man. It is as if they claim that the eunuch draws out of the woman everything she has, because of his excessive ability to prolong [the sexual act].<p>[This is followed by three more paraphrased quotations and a long discussion of the surgery. Ayalon's main point is that, contrary to much of the literature, most eunuchs in the Moslem world had their penis removed, as well as the testicles. Following are a few excerpts from this discussion.]<p>(continued in pt. 3)

[JesusA (imported)]

CASTRATION<p>In this section some passages where the castrating operation is described will be reproduced, and then analyzed. Not all of them are brought in the chronological order. From the first two only summaries of part of them or short excerpts will be brought, because they are found in full, with a translation, in another part of this study.<p>I. Al-Muqaddasi (d. ca. 380/990) [the first year is in the Moslem calendar/the second in the western one]: There are two versions about the castration. According to one, the male organ and the scrotum are completely removed with one stroke. According to the other the scrotum is cut open and the testicles are taken out of it. Then a piece of wood is put under the male organ, which is cut to its very root. The eunuch 'Urayb, whom al-Muqaddasi asked about the operation, gave a description which corroborates the second version, and adds that after the castration a rod made of lead is put in the urinary opening, which is removed only for the purpose of urinating, so that the opening would not cicatrize before being healed.<p>The Rum [=Byzantines] used, according to the same author, a less radical form of castration. ["All that the Rum do is that they take out the testicles and leave the male organs. They do this to their own boys when they give them over to the churches. The Muslims, when they raided [the Rum territory], used to capture them from the churches. (p. 220)]<p>II. Al-Mas'di (died 346/957): The contradictory traits of the eunuchs, resulting from the cutting of that organ of theirs. [The full passage which is referred to was discussed on pp. 209-214 and speaks briefly of the difference between eunuchs with and without penises.]<p>III. Al-Jahiz (circa 160-255/776-86<img src="http://beta.eunuch.org/Public/Images/Default/E8.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle">: The Castration of the Rum [=Byzantines] "There are among people of certain creeds those who castrate their sons and dedicate them to the house of worship and make them sacristans as the Rum do. But they [in carrying out that operation] do not harm [touch] the penis, and they only interfere with the testicles. It is as if they only hate that their children would impregnate their women and their nuns and nothing else! As For sexual pleasure and lust satisfaction, they [the Rum] claim that they [the eunuchs] reach heights, never reached by the unemasculated virile man. It is as if they claim that the eunuch draws out of the woman everything she has, because of his excessive ability to prolong [the sexual act].<p>[This is followed by three more paraphrased quotations and a long discussion of the surgery. Ayalon's main point is that, contrary to much of the literature, most eunuchs in the Moslem world had their penis removed, as well as the testicles. Following are a few excerpts from this discussion.]<p>(continued in pt. 3)

[JesusA (imported)]

CASTRATION<p>In this section some passages where the castrating operation is described will be reproduced, and then analyzed. Not all of them are brought in the chronological order. From the first two only summaries of part of them or short excerpts will be brought, because they are found in full, with a translation, in another part of this study.<p>I. Al-Muqaddasi (d. ca. 380/990) [the first year is in the Moslem calendar/the second in the western one]: There are two versions about the castration. According to one, the male organ and the scrotum are completely removed with one stroke. According to the other the scrotum is cut open and the testicles are taken out of it. Then a piece of wood is put under the male organ, which is cut to its very root. The eunuch 'Urayb, whom al-Muqaddasi asked about the operation, gave a description which corroborates the second version, and adds that after the castration a rod made of lead is put in the urinary opening, which is removed only for the purpose of urinating, so that the opening would not cicatrize before being healed.<p>The Rum [=Byzantines] used, according to the same author, a less radical form of castration. ["All that the Rum do is that they take out the testicles and leave the male organs. They do this to their own boys when they give them over to the churches. The Muslims, when they raided [the Rum territory], used to capture them from the churches. (p. 220)]<p>II. Al-Mas'di (died 346/957): The contradictory traits of the eunuchs, resulting from the cutting of that organ of theirs. [The full passage which is referred to was discussed on pp. 209-214 and speaks briefly of the difference between eunuchs with and without penises.]<p>III. Al-Jahiz (circa 160-255/776-86<img src="http://beta.eunuch.org/Public/Images/Default/E8.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle">: The Castration of the Rum [=Byzantines] "There are among people of certain creeds those who castrate their sons and dedicate them to the house of worship and make them sacristans as the Rum do. But they [in carrying out that operation] do not harm [touch] the penis, and they only interfere with the testicles. It is as if they only hate that their children would impregnate their women and their nuns and nothing else! As For sexual pleasure and lust satisfaction, they [the Rum] claim that they [the eunuchs] reach heights, never reached by the unemasculated virile man. It is as if they claim that the eunuch draws out of the woman everything she has, because of his excessive ability to prolong [the sexual act].<p>[This is followed by three more paraphrased quotations and a long discussion of the surgery. Ayalon's main point is that, contrary to much of the literature, most eunuchs in the Moslem world had their penis removed, as well as the testicles. Following are a few excerpts from this discussion.]<p>(continued in pt. 3)

[JesusA (imported)]

CASTRATION<p>In this section some passages where the castrating operation is described will be reproduced, and then analyzed. Not all of them are brought in the chronological order. From the first two only summaries of part of them or short excerpts will be brought, because they are found in full, with a translation, in another part of this study.<p>I. Al-Muqaddasi (d. ca. 380/990) [the first year is in the Moslem calendar/the second in the western one]: There are two versions about the castration. According to one, the male organ and the scrotum are completely removed with one stroke. According to the other the scrotum is cut open and the testicles are taken out of it. Then a piece of wood is put under the male organ, which is cut to its very root. The eunuch 'Urayb, whom al-Muqaddasi asked about the operation, gave a description which corroborates the second version, and adds that after the castration a rod made of lead is put in the urinary opening, which is removed only for the purpose of urinating, so that the opening would not cicatrize before being healed.<p>The Rum [=Byzantines] used, according to the same author, a less radical form of castration. ["All that the Rum do is that they take out the testicles and leave the male organs. They do this to their own boys when they give them over to the churches. The Muslims, when they raided [the Rum territory], used to capture them from the churches. (p. 220)]<p>II. Al-Mas'di (died 346/957): The contradictory traits of the eunuchs, resulting from the cutting of that organ of theirs. [The full passage which is referred to was discussed on pp. 209-214 and speaks briefly of the difference between eunuchs with and without penises.]<p>III. Al-Jahiz (circa 160-255/776-86<img src="http://beta.eunuch.org/Public/Images/Default/E8.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle">: The Castration of the Rum [=Byzantines] "There are among people of certain creeds those who castrate their sons and dedicate them to the house of worship and make them sacristans as the Rum do. But they [in carrying out that operation] do not harm [touch] the penis, and they only interfere with the testicles. It is as if they only hate that their children would impregnate their women and their nuns and nothing else! As For sexual pleasure and lust satisfaction, they [the Rum] claim that they [the eunuchs] reach heights, never reached by the unemasculated virile man. It is as if they claim that the eunuch draws out of the woman everything she has, because of his excessive ability to prolong [the sexual act].<p>[This is followed by three more paraphrased quotations and a long discussion of the surgery. Ayalon's main point is that, contrary to much of the literature, most eunuchs in the Moslem world had their penis removed, as well as the testicles. Following are a few excerpts from this discussion.]<p>(continued in pt. 3)

[JesusA (imported)]

CASTRATION<p>In this section some passages where the castrating operation is described will be reproduced, and then analyzed. Not all of them are brought in the chronological order. From the first two only summaries of part of them or short excerpts will be brought, because they are found in full, with a translation, in another part of this study.<p>I. Al-Muqaddasi (d. ca. 380/990) [the first year is in the Moslem calendar/the second in the western one]: There are two versions about the castration. According to one, the male organ and the scrotum are completely removed with one stroke. According to the other the scrotum is cut open and the testicles are taken out of it. Then a piece of wood is put under the male organ, which is cut to its very root. The eunuch 'Urayb, whom al-Muqaddasi asked about the operation, gave a description which corroborates the second version, and adds that after the castration a rod made of lead is put in the urinary opening, which is removed only for the purpose of urinating, so that the opening would not cicatrize before being healed.<p>The Rum [=Byzantines] used, according to the same author, a less radical form of castration. ["All that the Rum do is that they take out the testicles and leave the male organs. They do this to their own boys when they give them over to the churches. The Muslims, when they raided [the Rum territory], used to capture them from the churches. (p. 220)]<p>II. Al-Mas'di (died 346/957): The contradictory traits of the eunuchs, resulting from the cutting of that organ of theirs. [The full passage which is referred to was discussed on pp. 209-214 and speaks briefly of the difference between eunuchs with and without penises.]<p>III. Al-Jahiz (circa 160-255/776-86<img src="http://beta.eunuch.org/Public/Images/Default/E8.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle">: The Castration of the Rum [=Byzantines] "There are among people of certain creeds those who castrate their sons and dedicate them to the house of worship and make them sacristans as the Rum do. But they [in carrying out that operation] do not harm [touch] the penis, and they only interfere with the testicles. It is as if they only hate that their children would impregnate their women and their nuns and nothing else! As For sexual pleasure and lust satisfaction, they [the Rum] claim that they [the eunuchs] reach heights, never reached by the unemasculated virile man. It is as if they claim that the eunuch draws out of the woman everything she has, because of his excessive ability to prolong [the sexual act].<p>[This is followed by three more paraphrased quotations and a long discussion of the surgery. Ayalon's main point is that, contrary to much of the literature, most eunuchs in the Moslem world had their penis removed, as well as the testicles. Following are a few excerpts from this discussion.]<p>(continued in pt. 3)