KISS to Live Long
“May I kiss you then? On this miserable paper? I might as well open the window and kiss the night air.” ― Franz Kafka Relief showing Queen Nefertiti, 18th Dynasty, Ancient Egypt, c1352-1336 BC. A detail of a relief showing Nefertiti kissing her daughter, perhaps Merytaten, under the rays of the Aten. Kissing is described in the surviving Ancient Egyptian love poetry from the New Kingdom , found on papyri excavated at Deir el-Medina . T he earliest reference to kissing in the Old Testament is in Genesis 27:26, when Jacob deceives his father to obtain his blessing: And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. A little later, we have the first man-woman kiss in the Bible in Genesis 31:11, when Jacob flees from Esau and comes to the house of his uncle Laban : And Jacob kissed Rachel , and lift...