<P> In Egypt, only the priestly caste retained circumcision, and by the 2nd century, the only circumcising groups in the Roman Empire were Jews, Jewish Christians, Egyptian priests, and the Nabatean Arabs . Circumcision was sufficiently rare among non-Jews that being circumcised was considered conclusive evidence of Judaism (or Early Christianity and others derogatorily called Judaizers) in Roman courts--Suetonius in Domitian 12.2 described a court proceeding in which a ninety - year - old man was stripped naked before the court to determine whether he was evading the head tax placed on Jews and Judaizers . </P> <P> Cultural pressures to circumcise operated throughout the Hellenistic world: when the Judean king John Hyrcanus conquered the Idumeans, he forced them to become circumcised and convert to Judaism, but their ancestors the Edomites had practiced circumcision in pre-Hellenistic times . </P> <P> Some Jews tried to hide their circumcision status, as told in 1 Maccabees . This was mainly for social and economic benefits and also so that they could exercise in gymnasiums and compete in sporting events . Techniques for restoring the appearance of an uncircumcised penis were known by the 2nd century BCE . In one such technique, a copper weight (called the Judeum pondum) was hung from the remnants of the circumcised foreskin until, in time, they became sufficiently stretched to cover the glans . The 1st - century writer Celsus described two surgical techniques for foreskin restoration in his medical treatise De Medicina . In one of these, the skin of the penile shaft was loosened by cutting in around the base of the glans . The skin was then stretched over the glans and allowed to heal, giving the appearance of an uncircumcised penis . This was possible because the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision defined in the Bible was a relatively minor circumcision; named milah, this involved cutting off the foreskin that extended beyond the glans . Jewish religious writers denounced such practices as abrogating the covenant of Abraham in 1 Maccabees and the Talmud . </P> <P> Because of these attempts, and for other reasons, a second more radical step was added to the circumcision procedure . This was added around 140 CE, and was named Brit Peri'ah . In this step, the foreskin was cut further back, to the ridge behind the glans penis, called the coronal sulcus . The inner mucosal tissue was removed by use of a sharp finger nail or implement, including the excising and removal of the frenulum from the underside of the glans . Later during the Talmudic period (500--625 CE) a third step, known as Metzitzah, began to be practiced . In this step the mohel would suck the blood from the circumcision wound with his mouth to remove what was believed to be bad excess blood . As it actually increases the likelihood of infections such as tuberculosis and venereal diseases, modern day mohels use a glass tube placed over the infant's penis for suction of the blood . In many Jewish ritual circumcisions this step of Metzitzah has been eliminated . </P>

When did circumcision become popular in the united states