German physicians and psychologists say that those who kiss their spouses each morning before leaving for work miss less work because of illness than those who do not. Those who kiss also have fewer auto accidents on the way to work, earn 20-30 percent more per month and live approximately five years longer.
So who invented kissing? Anthropologists think kissing's origins are to be found in primitive times when mothers chewed food and transferred it directly from their mouths to their babies' mouths, a method of preparing baby food that is still practiced in some cultures today. Another theory comes from the Ziller Valley of Central Europe where pre-chewed tobacco was exchanged between males and females. The man would hold a piece of tobacco between his teeth and invite a girl to grasp it with her teeth which would cause her to press her mouth on his.
Perhaps the origins of kissing came from another source. Indications are from as early as 2000 B.C., various cultures believed that bringing the mouths together signified the joining of two souls.
According to one anthropologist, Vaughn Bryant, Jr., the first erotic kiss was exchanged in about 1500 B.C. in India. Prior to that no clay tablets, cave paintings or written records say anything about kissing.
Kissing is frequently shown in Egyptian art. Scholars believe kissing would have been associated with "giving life" in the ancient Egyptian culture.
The Celts had no word for kiss. The Romans are attributed with perfecting the kiss as we know it today. They kissed each other hello on the mouth or on the eyes, kissed robes, rings and statues of gods to indicate submission and respect. One Roman emperor ranked a person's importance by the body part he allowed them to kiss. Important nobles kissed his lips, less important ones kissed his hands and the least, kissed his feet. Romans assigned words for different types of kisses: osculum meaning a friendship kiss; basium meaning passionate kiss; and savium meaning deep kiss. Today, some natives of African tribes honor their chief by kissing the ground he walks over.
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