Posted on 12/20/2005 3:29:30 AM PST by Pharmboy
When Egyptologists entered the tomb for the first time more than four decades ago, they expected to be surprised. Explorers of newly exposed tombs always expect that, and this time they were not disappointed - they were confounded.
snip....
There, carved in stone, were the images of two men embracing. Their names were inscribed above: Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. Though not of the nobility, they were highly esteemed in the palace as the chief manicurists of the king, sometime from 2380 to 2320 B.C., in the time known as the fifth dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Grooming the king was an honored occupation.
snip...
Courtesy of Dr. Violaine Chauvet
Since the 4,300-year-old tomb was
discovered outside Cairo in 1964,
Egyptologists have known the names of the
two men buried there
-Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep-
and their occupation, manicurists
to the king. But why were they
embracing?
Over the years, the tomb's wall art has been subjected to learned analysis, inspiring considerable speculation. One interpretation is that the two men are brothers, probably identical twins, and this may be the earliest known depiction of twins. Another is that the men had a homosexual relationship, a more recent view that has gained support among gay advocates.
Now, an Egyptologist at New York University has stepped into the debate with a third interpretation. He has marshaled circumstantial evidence that the two menmay have been conjoined twins, popularly known as Siamese twins. The expert, David O'Connor, a professor of ancient Egyptian art at the N.Y.U. Institute of Fine Arts, said: "My suggestion is that Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were indeed twins, but of a very special sort. They were conjoined twins,
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ancient egypt possible poofter-in-the-pyramid ping list...
Uh oh, manicurists...
Well, the fact that they were manicurists suggests...
they were highly esteemed in the palace as the chief manicurists of the king,
No, they just couldn't be gay could they.....
Brokeback Pyramid?
Of course they were.
The riddle of the Sphincter.
LOL!! I think I'll miss that movie also...
Check the next room and you may find his hairdresser too.
That would be 'Fudgepack Pyramid'.
LOL!!!
gross.
"Posterior-Poke Pyramid"?
Products of an overprotective mummy, no doubt
LOL.
Chief manicurists, it says. Socially, is that like hairdressers?
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