In 1964 in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, Egyptian
archaeologist Mounir Basta discovered a series of rock-cut passages into the
escarpment facing the causeway to the pyramid of Unas. Crawling on his hands
and knees through the passages, Basta came upon an Old Kingdom offering
chamber. He was impressed with its unique scenes of two men in an intimate
embrace.
Archaeologists working on the restoration of the causeway
discovered that some of the stone blocks that had been used to build the
causeway had been appropriated in ancient times from a dismantled mastaba (a
type of ancient Egyptian tomb) that had originally served as the entrance to
the tomb. The archaeologists reconstructed the mastaba using the blocks found
in the substructure of the causeway. It was revealed that this tomb had been
built for two men to cohabit and that both shared identical titles under the
Pharaoh Niuserre of the Fifth Dynasty: "Overseer of the Manicurists in the
Palace of the King."
In April 1997 Greg Reeder presented a paper before the
annual meeting of The American Research Center In Egypt held that year in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. The paper was entitled "The Tomb of Niankhkhnum and
Khnumhotep: New Perspectives." In it he compared how husband and wife were
portrayed in tombs of the 4th, 5th and 6th Dynasties to how Niankhkhnum and
Khnumhotep were paired in their tomb. The iconographic evidence indicating that
the two manicurists had a very intimate and special relationship with each
other that compared most favourably with that of mixed gendered couples.
Reeder's presentation was well received.
This interpretation has proved controversial. Some critics
argue that, as both men appear to have been married and had children, they were
probably brothers rather than loves. However, it is not unknown in some
cultures (though, I confess I am unsure if this applies to Ancient Egyptian
culture) for men (most history tells us about men rather than women) to marry
to continue the family line, while at the same time having loving relationships
with other men.
Sources:
Se considerarmos o gay como sendo uma mente feminina que nasceu num corpo masculino...
ReplyDeleteE já que sexualidade depende da mente...
Por que deveria ser proibido que o ateu tenha relações sexuais com alguma mente feminina, que estaria sendo obrigado viver dentro de um corpo masculino?