Phallus

A phallus is a penis, especially when erect, an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis.

Any object that symbolically — or, more precisely, iconically — resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic (as in "phallic symbol"). Such symbols often represent fertility and cultural implications that are associated with the male sexual organ, as well as the male orgasm.

Etymology

The term is a loanword from Latin phallus, itself borrowed from Greek φαλλός, which is ultimately a derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰel- "to inflate, swell". Compare with Old Norse (and modern Icelandic) boli "bull", Old English bulluc "bullock", Greek φαλλή "whale".

Archaeology

The Hohle phallus, a 28,000-year-old siltstone phallus discovered in the Hohle Fels cave and first assembled in 2005, is among the oldest phallic representations known.

Religion

Classical antiquity

In traditional Greek mythology, Hermes, god of boundaries and exchange (popularly the messenger god) is considered to be a phallic deity by association with representations of him on herms (pillars) featuring a phallus. There is no scholarly consensus on this depiction and it would be speculation to consider Hermes a type of fertility god. Pan, son of Hermes, was often depicted as having an exaggerated erect phallus.

Ithyphallic (album)

Ithyphallic is the fifth studio album by American technical death metal band Nile. It was released on July 17, 2007 through Nuclear Blast, in both standard and digipak formats. It is the band's first album released on Nuclear Blast, since signing with them in May 2006. It is also the band's first album since Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka not to feature notes explaining the context of the lyrics. 1000 limited edition copies of the album were released in a pyramid-shaped box containing the disc, several images, a certificate of ownership and a scroll containing the lyrics and liner notes from the album. The cover art of this album depicts a statue of the god of fertility "Min", being erected by Egyptian slaves.

Promotion

Throughout June and July, Nuclear Blast Records held a special contest to allow several fans to be able to listen to Ithyphallic. The rules were that they would have to be able to decipher a secret hieroglyphic message. If they won, they were given an email containing a link to a website where the album was posted for the free listening. On July 7, the contest ended, and the answer was revealed to be "papyrus."