The History of Oral Sex!
By the Naughty Nectar Wellness Team | 3-minute read
The answer is wilder than you think
It Started with a Myth. A Very Sexy Myth.
The earliest documented reference to oral sex comes from ancient Egypt, around 3000 BCE - and it’s embedded in their most sacred creation story.
The god Osiris was murdered by his brother Set, chopped into pieces and scattered across Egypt. His devoted wife Isis reassembled him - except for one very important part, which had been swallowed by a fish in the Nile. Undeterred, Isis carved a golden replacement and literally blew life back into her husband. The world was reborn. Oral sex had a starring role in the creation of the universe.
“The first clear real traces of fellatio are from ancient Egypt… there are explicit images of this myth.”
Thierry Leguay, Scholar & Author, Salon (2000)
Egypt documented sexuality extensively - in temples, tombs, and papyri. The Turin Erotic Papyrus, likely the world’s oldest surviving erotic document, depicts twelve explicit sexual positions in remarkable, unapologetic detail. Oral sex wasn’t taboo. It was theology.
A World Tour Through History
Turns out, every great civilisation had something to say about it. Here’s the highlight reel.
01. ~3000 BCE - Ancient Egypt
The Osiris myth gives us the world’s first documented oral sex act - performed by the goddess Isis to literally resurrect her husband. It wasn’t scandalous. It was sacred. The act that created the universe.
02. ~2000 BCE - Mesopotamia
Old Babylonian clay plaques - now in the Israel Museum - depict erotic scenes that predate the Kama Sutra by over 1,500 years. Scholars identified visual puns in the imagery understood as oral sex. The Babylonians viewed pleasure as an elevated, wonder-inducing state.
03. ~79 CE - Pompeii
When Mount Vesuvius buried Pompeii, it accidentally preserved some of the world’s most detailed ancient erotica. Archaeologists uncovered bathhouse frescoes explicitly depicting fellatio and cunnilingus. Rome was matter-of-fact about it - though strict about who gave and who received.
04. ~200–400 CE - Ancient India
The Kama Sutra contains an entire dedicated chapter - Auparishtaka, or “Oral Congress” - with eight named techniques, including one poetically described as “sucking a mango fruit.” It also documents oral sex between women. Written in 400 CE.
05. 16th–18th Century - Edo Japan
Japan’s Shunga woodblock prints - made by masters including Hokusai - depicted the full range of human sexuality without shame or hierarchy. Oral sex appears throughout. These prints were gifted between lovers, collected by samurai, and thought to bring good luck.
06. Medieval Europe - The Church Said No
Church doctrine classified oral sex as a mortal sin. Irish penitential documents prescribed 4 years’ penance for cunnilingus and 5 years for fellatio. The extra year for fellatio remains unexplained. The shame campaign lasted roughly 1,000 years - and some of it, let’s be honest, is still being unlearned.
07. 1970s - The Sexual Revolution
The modern resurgence of oral sex in popular culture owes a strange debt to Deep Throat (1972) - a film built on the premise that a woman’s clitoris is in her throat. Biologically absurd, culturally consequential. It forced the first mainstream conversation about oral sex in centuries.
Speaking of Oral Sex - Meet GRIP
Thousands of years of human history tell us one thing clearly: oral pleasure is best when the giver is fully present, in control, and having just as much fun. That’s where GRIP comes in.
Naughty Nectar’s GRIP is a manual stroker designed for those who like to be hands-on - literally. Whether you’re flying solo or turning foreplay into an event, GRIP lets you set the pace, pressure, and intensity entirely on your own terms. No batteries. No app. Just you, your hands, and a device engineered to make every stroke feel like it was designed for exactly this moment. And here’s the part that really matters - GRIP's ribbed interior texture is designed to mimic the sensation of oral pleasure. That warm, rhythmic, textured feel? That's not an accident. Every ridge is there to replicate the kind of sensation that, as 3,000 years of human history will tell you, nobody has ever wanted to stop.
But Practise It Safely
Oral sex is real sex - which means STIs are real too. Herpes (HSV-1 and HSV-2), gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HPV can all be transmitted orally. Many infections have no symptoms, which is exactly why you should know this.
• Get Tested - Ask specifically for herpes - it’s not in routine STI panels.
• Use Barriers - Condoms for penises, dental dams for vulvas & anuses.
• Time It Right - Avoid oral if either of you has an active sore or cold sore.
• Oral Health Counts - Gum disease increases transmission risk. Yes, really. Floss.
From Egyptian creation myths to Babylonian clay tablets to the Kama Sutra to Edo woodblocks - oral sex has been present in every culture that bothered to write anything down. It survived a thousand-year Church ban and re-emerged because human desire is, as it turns out, more durable than doctrine.
No one invented it. Everyone inherited it. And it’s yours to enjoy - without apology.