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A Mystery, Locked in Timeless Embrace
NY Times ^ | December 20, 2005 | JOHN NOBLE WILFORD

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: egypt; gays; godsgravesglyphs; twins
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To: Syberyenta

Now THAT'S funny...(love yer handle, too).


21 posted on 12/20/2005 5:30:32 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

No wonder the dynasties crumbled. Seems there's a lesson in this story somewhere.


22 posted on 12/20/2005 5:31:31 AM PST by add925 (The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
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To: add925
One lesson: when you're the king, don't spend so much time worried about your nails!

And yes, don't play Pokemon...

23 posted on 12/20/2005 5:34:12 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy
And yes, don't play Pokemon...

LOL! Especially near the Ass-swan dam on the Nile.

24 posted on 12/20/2005 5:40:32 AM PST by add925 (The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
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To: Pharmboy
"Well...those two was all up in that picture..."


25 posted on 12/20/2005 5:47:28 AM PST by Dallas59 (“You love life, while we love death"( Al-Qaeda & Democratic Party)
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To: Berosus

You'll love it.


26 posted on 12/20/2005 5:48:08 AM PST by SunkenCiv ("In silence, and at night, the Conscience feels that life should soar to nobler ends than Power.")
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To: add925

The Ass-wan Dam...LOL...I knew this thread was going to be fun.


27 posted on 12/20/2005 5:48:31 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy
...a more recent view that has gained support among gay advocates."

Homosexuality has almost achieved religion status. The queer community has decreed that these two are homos based solely on dogma. No science required.

28 posted on 12/20/2005 5:52:13 AM PST by Doohickey (If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice...I will choose freewill.)
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To: Dallas59

Funny memories of that bit...LOL!


29 posted on 12/20/2005 5:53:15 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

30 posted on 12/20/2005 5:56:31 AM PST by Physicist
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To: Pharmboy
Pokemon

A Jamaican proctologist?

31 posted on 12/20/2005 6:07:11 AM PST by TC Rider (The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.)
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To: Pharmboy; All

So is hollywierd gonna make a "Camelback Pyramid" movie now??...


32 posted on 12/20/2005 6:20:38 AM PST by musicman
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To: Pharmboy

That's embracing????? They both have their "skirts" on. I don't see fondling, tongue, probing or fellatio. Which brings to mind, what gives any person the right to violate another person's final resting place. Archeology is Necromancy!


33 posted on 12/20/2005 6:27:26 AM PST by Doc Savage ("Guys, I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more COWBELL...Bruce Dickinson)
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To: Doc Savage
Well, American Indians (as well as many other native/tribal people) would not argue with you at all.

I guess I take a middle ground in that I believe things can be learned with minimal disturbance at the site.

34 posted on 12/20/2005 6:34:46 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

This follows in the wake of the finding of the graves of Izdatyu and Imontop, the first Egyptian interior decorators.


35 posted on 12/20/2005 6:38:06 AM PST by Inwoodian
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To: SunkenCiv

Gotta Dance


36 posted on 12/20/2005 7:16:01 AM PST by wildbill
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To: Pharmboy
Ancient egypt possible poofter-in-the-pyramid ping list...

A very active ping list?

37 posted on 12/20/2005 7:40:16 AM PST by aculeus
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To: Pharmboy

THe explanation might even be simpler. Perhaps the first draft had him facing left and then the conservatives took over and had the artist paint over and draw him facing right. The cover paint has since dissolved and we are left with two portraits of the same man.


38 posted on 12/20/2005 7:48:41 AM PST by Raycpa
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To: aculeus

The first--and likely the last--time that list will be pinged! LOL!


39 posted on 12/20/2005 7:49:43 AM PST by Pharmboy (The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones.)
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To: Pharmboy

"..they were highly esteemed in the palace as the chief manicurists of the king"

Sort of like clothing designers or interior decorators?


40 posted on 12/20/2005 7:51:18 AM PST by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts, and guns made America great.)
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