Gays of Old: Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum

Illustration from photograph © 1999 Greg Reeder Source: http://www.egyptology.com/niankhkhnum_khnumhotep/

The Overseers of the Manicurists.  Circa 2400BC, Egypt.

Let’s be honest -- there’s no 100 percent conclusive evidence that these guys were homos. OK, they had the joint title listed above. And even in the old days, surely, that was a hint, right? And there’s the inscription in their tomb, which translates as “joined in life and joined in death.” And that wall relief in the tomb (pictured) -- I mean, Miss Marple mysteries have been solved on flimsier evidence.

But, opponents of the gay theory say that Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are possibly brothers, even twins. In fact one study holds that they were conjoined twins. Of course, they could have been gay cojoined twins.

Either way, two guys THAT close, both working in the palace’s manicuring department, painted in such a loving embrace, are gay in our book. Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, we raise a glass in our elegantly manicured hands and toast you.

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