Cut - Circumcision

Religious and other traditions
In ancient Egypt (4th millennium BC to 400 AD), the foreskin of the penis was removed during circumcision; the oldest known depiction of adult men being circumcised dates back to 2300 BC.

The historian Herodotus (Histories II, 104) reports circumcision as an ancient custom that was first practised by the Egyptians or Ethiopians, then by the Phoenicians, the Syrians, the Colchians and their western neighbours, the Macedonians (tribe in the north-east of the Black Sea).

The removal of the foreskin according to the Jewish rite is called Brit Mila, the removal of the foreskin according to the Islamic rite is called Chitan (Khitan).

In some Christian denominations, the ecclesiastical feast of the Circumcision of the Lord (Circumcision Festival) is celebrated on 1 January. Since the renewal of the basic order of the church year in 1969, the feast is no longer celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church.

Various legends surround the relic of the holy foreskin of Jesus of Nazareth.

Medical circumcision
Medical circumcision is one of several treatment options, for example, if a pathological (scarred) phimosis (also known as secondary phimosis) is present and the erection is associated with pain. Circumcision is only necessary if other methods such as treatment with cortisone cream or stretching have been unsuccessful. There is partial circumcision and full circumcision. Circumcision is usually performed by a urologist.

For girls and women
Clitoridectomy
The removal of the clitoris is technically referred to as a clitoridectomy, the cutting or incision of the external genitalia as excision, the cutting off of the external genitalia with subsequent stitching of the wound as infibulation.

Modern forms
For aesthetic and cosmetic reasons, the clitoral hood is shortened or removed (clitoral hood reduction) or the labia are reduced or removed (labia reduction).

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