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KISSING
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Kissing
A kiss (from Old English cyssan "to kiss," in turn from coss "a kiss," perhaps onomatopoeic) is the touching with the lips. The scientific name for kissing is .
Origins
Anthropologists have not reached a consensus as to whether kissing is a learned or an instinctive behavior. It may be related to grooming behavior also seen between other animals, or arising as a result of mothers premasticating food for their children. Kissing allows prospective mates to smell and taste each other's pheromones for biological compatibility. Women are subconsciously more attracted to men whose major histocompatibility complex portion of their genome is different than her own, leading to offspring with resistance to a greater number of diseases, and thus having a better chance of survival.
This explains why couples are more likely to bond if they have the right "chemistry". Many primates also exhibit kissing behavior.
Kissing as affection
In modern Western culture, kissing is most commonly an expression of affection. This is unlike many parts of the world where kissing is viewed as a means of respecting others.
Between people of close acquaintance, a kiss, often reciprocal, is offered as a greeting or farewell. This kind of kiss is typically made by brief contact of puckered lips to the skin of the cheek or no contact at all, and merely performed in the air near the cheek with the cheeks touching. Such kissing is a common greeting in European and Latin American countries between a man and a woman or between two women but also by two men in part of the Middle East and parts of Europe and Latin America. People sometimes kiss children to comfort them or show affection, and vice versa. This usually takes place on the forehead or cheek.
As an expression of romantic affection or sexual desire, kissing involves two people kissing one another on the lips, usually with much more intensity, and for a considerably longer period of time. In more passionate kissing couples may open their mouths, suck on each other's lips, or move their tongues into each others' mouths (see French kiss). Sexual kissing may also involve one person kissing another on various parts of the body (see Foreplay).
In romantic and sexual kissing, the physical sensations are often of primary importance.
One might find it stimulating if their partner moved their tongue in small circles against their own, or bite the lips gently. Caution should be exercised, as others may find the biting of lips distasteful and displeasing, not enjoying it.
Kissing as symbolism
When not an expression of affection, a kiss is a largely symbolic gesture in that the purpose of the kiss is to convey a meaning, such as salutations or subordination, rather than to experience the physical sensations associated with kissing. Kisses on the cheek as salutations are traditional in many parts of continental Europe, and the number of kisses, alternating cheeks, depends on which region one comes from.
Kissing may also be used...
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| Private Half Day Tour to Abu Simbel by Air - With Guide |
4 hours |
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Your guide will meet you at your Aswan hotel, and after a short 45 minute flight from Aswan, you will arrive in Abu Simbel.
Not only are the two temples at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the world but their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. When the temples, 174 miles (280 kilometers) from Aswan were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world wide appeal.
During the salvage operation which began in 1964 and continued until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 197 feet (60 meters) up the sandstone cliff where they had been built more than 3,000 years before. Here they were reassembled, in the exact same relationship to each other and the sun, and covered with an artificial mountain.
Most of the joins in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts, but inside the temples it is still possible to see where the blocks were cut. You can also go inside the man made dome and see an exhibition of photographs showing the different stages of the massive removal project.
The two temples, that of Ramesses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burckhardt found them.
Click here for more information and Booking Details
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| Luxor Sound and Light Show - Karnak Temple |
1.5 - 2 hours |
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The Sound and Light Show at Karnak starts with a historical introduction covering the birth of the great city of Thebes and erection of the Karnak Temple.
The show narrates the glorious achievements of some great Pharaohs as spectators listen to a magnificent and poetic description of the artistic treasures and great legacy which the Karnak temple encloses.
Please ensure you refer to the "Departure Times" and select a show operated in your preferred language.
Click here for more information and Booking Details
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| Private Half Day West Bank Tour |
4 hours |
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Valley of the Kings
The king's formal names and titles are inscribed in his tomb along with his images and statues. Beginning with the 18th Dynasty and ending with the 20th, the kings abandoned the Memphis area and built their tombs in Thebes. Also abandoned were the pyramid style tombs. Most of the tombs were cut into the limestone following a similar pattern: three corridors, an antechamber and a sunken sarcophagus chamber. These catacombs were hard to rob and easily concealed.
Hatshepsut Temple
A tree lined avenue of sphinxes led up to the temple, and ramps led from terrace to terrace. The porticoes on the lowest terrace are out of proportion and coloring with the rest of the building. They were restored in 1906 to protect the celebrated reliefs depicting the transport of obelisks to Karnak and the birth of Queen Hatshepsut. Reliefs on the south side of the middle terrace show the queen's expedition by way of the Red Sea to Punt, the land of incense.
Colossi of Memnon
Amenhotep III built a mortuary temple in Thebes that was guarded by 2 gigantic statues. All that remains now are the 23 meter (75 foot) high, 1,000 ton statues of Amenhotep III. Though damaged by nature and ancient tourists, the statues are still impressive. Ancient Egyptians called the southern of the two statues "Ruler of Rulers". Later travelers called them "Shammy and "Tammy", which may be from the Arabic words for "left" and "right".
The statues are made from carved blocks of quartzite quarried at Giza or Gebel es-Silsila. On the sides of the statues are reliefs depicting Nile gods joining together plants symbolizing a united Egypt. Due to an earthquake in 27 BC, these statues became known for a bell like tone that usually occurred in the morning due to rising temperatures and humidity.
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