Judaeus Pondum

Judaeus pondum

The Judaeus Pondum was a device used during the later Roman occupation of Judea. Its roman name may be translated as either the "Jewish Weight" or the "Jewish Burden". None are known to still exist and contemporary descriptions of them are rather vague. We know the body of the device was a heavy copper or bronze tube that perhaps was attached to the remaining foreskin with a leather thong, or it may simply have been fitted tightly enough that, when the penis was inserted into the tube, the tube was unable to slide off. In any case, the weight of the tube acted as a source of tension to stimulate tissue expansion and the growth of new foreskin tissue.

A similar device was previously described by Galen, a round object in the form of a little lead spout. The skin of the posthe would be stretched over the exterior of this spout and secured with a soft leather cord.

Foreskin restoration was evidently common enough for those who underwent it to have a name, epispastikós ("stretched one") in Greece and recutitio ("re-skinned") in Rome.

External links

• http://www.foreskin.gc.bz/other_historical.php
• http://www.cirp.org/library/history/