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 ...
Yep...it was that joke that made me think of it.
How do spell "FABULOUSTH" in hyroglyphics?
It doesn't looked like they were portrayed joined together. I know that in Egyptian art, symbolism mattered more than reality (note how members of Akhenaten's court had portraits done of themselves looking like the unusual pharaoh), but with people as special as Siamese twins, don't you think the artist might make an exception?
ping
The do look like they could be conjoined twins.
The etiquette for stuff like that (in some circles) is to ask, "may I push in your stool for you?" ;')
I agree, although they could indeed be identical twins.
a non-pw version:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1339417.cms
The daily award for best use of alliteration goes to...
Pharmboy!
Why THANKS, TC; a true honor!
And the Kings favorite Lengthankahman
oh oh I know!
Brokenpyramid Back!!!!
Has somebody checked over at DU to see what they're saying about this???
They're for it! Whatever it is...
I always thought that was a poor name for a condom. We know Ramses II didn't use them, because he had a least a hundred kids. In fact, his father Seti I got him off to an early start, giving him several concubines while he was just a teenager and saying, "Okay, one of Pharaoh's jobs is to make sure he has an heir. Get to it!" By the time he inherited the crown, Ramses must have been saying, "It's good to be a king," like Mel Brooks in "History of the World Part I."
It's probably just as well that Ramses had a large family. In the end, he outlived the first eleven sons, and the twelfth didn't want the job, so the son that became the next pharaoh, Merneptah, was his thirteenth.
I hear the twelfth son was a manicurist... ;')
LOL
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