Circumcision: History, Scope, and Aim: Part I

Abstract

The issue of circumcision has been vigorously discussed throughout human history. Discussions about its origin, history, purpose, and religious and social meanings have been ongoing since the first human civilizations, occurring within primitive tribes, slave-based societies, fortified cities, slave kingdoms, and empires (e.g., the Roman Empire). The topic has been taken up across feudal and modern kingdoms, and within modern capitalist and socialist societies. For example, the Nazis stand out for having used circumcision in their propaganda against Jews, and as an identifier to segregate Jews from others during their extermination. However, despite such prolonged and vigorous discussion, no consensus has been reached on the issue. Many well-based explanations for specific aspects of circumcision have been advanced (e.g., its origin, history, purpose, and religious and social meanings), yet each has contradicted the others. The aim of this paper is to determine the most plausible explanations for circumcision, within the context of various forms of genital manipulations that have been conducted across human history. It is difficult to cover all aspects of this topic in a relatively brief paper—indeed, it would also be difficult to cover the entire story in a voluminous book. In addition to the evidence available from other sources, special attention is paid to the passages from the Torah, the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and the Koran.