Did STDs exist 2000 years ago?

Question

Because most Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) advocate marriage and loyalty.

Could they have been aware of the dangers of promiscuity?

Answer 1

interesting: the term "veneral" disease is in reference to Venus--the Goddess of Love.

syphilis and gonorrhea have been recorded since antiquity.

Answer 2

There were skins used like rubbers that were used but not for containment of STDs which did exist.

Answer 3

That's one of the reasons WHY Abrahamic religions advocate marriage and loyalty.

Yes there were STD's but they were not as dangerous as today since there were ALOT less people on the Earth and if you weren't healthy looking, or they got sick too quickly and died from some disease, then Darwin's magic formula cuts you right out of the picture then. We know that from getting virus samples from preserved/mummified corpses of people who were infected with STD's in north-Africa and the Mediterranean.

They were certainly aware of promiscuity as a problem, in certain ways. That was an explicit social taboo for the same reason it is today, primarily placed on women based on the guys not wanting to unwittingly raise your promiscuous neighbors kids. Also, it's a guys imposition on other guys so no one guy is the father of all the villiage's children.

So by virtue of that activity it becomes an explicit taboo on both sexes because did our ancient ancestors really want Mr. Josephus Studmuffins in the hut next to your wife or daughter while you go away for a hunt for a couple of days or travel to the next village for a month or take that flight to Chicago next week?

Answer 4

Yes Std' s existed 2000 years ago archaeologists have found evidence of Syphilis in some bones.

Answer 5

There have been Sexually Transmitted Diseases as long as there has been s*x.

Answer 6

I doubt they were aware of it.  Lifespans were not as long and medical advances were slim to none.  I'm sure they just intended for monogamy.  Why not...lifespans weren't as long and it was actually possible to stay with the same person for that shorter period.

Answer 7

Hey, just because people advocate ridiculous ideas doesn't mean they practice them, or haven't you read the bible lately?  I haven't, but I know there's A LOT of promiscuity in it.

I don't know what the archaeological evidence shows as the first confirmed case of an STD, but I'd be willing to bet there were STDs around 2000 years ago.  I have even read that some of the people thought to be lepers may have been suffering from syphilis.

Answer 8

Yes, STD's did exist 2000 years ago.  People began using agriculture 10,000 years ago and with that and domestication of animals came diseases, with TB and leprosy being the earliest.  Along with agriculture came the creation of villages and cities and the world's oldest profession: prostitution.  What eventually developed from prostitution were STD's, with syphilis being one of the oldest ones.  Religion and their views about marriage have nothing to do with STD's as they came along before the religions you mentioned and even after those religions were created the prostitutes still existed.

Answer 9

Of course STDs existed 2000 years ago, fluid exchange is one of the easier ways to transmit a virus.

Most likely you're giving to much credit to the inventors of those religions (which don't condemn prostitutes, just adultery) for knowing how such diseases are spread.  It is a lot more likely that they condemn promiscuity for the immediately observable chaos it causes through jealousy and illegitimate births.

Answer 10

Aware? God made them aware....He doesn't prohibit things like promiscuity or fornication to ruin our fun, He does so because they bring us HARM. There is nothing new under the sun. They were aware, because God made them aware, and we still disobey and harm ourselves and each other in this very day. Slow learning, stiff necked people we are.