History’s First Gay Couple

They lived, died and were buried together as early as 2400 B.C in Egypt

Niankhkhum and Khnumhotep
Source: Public domain

When Egyptologists discovered the tomb at Saqqara, Egypt in 1964, they were surprised. This was the first and only tomb in the necropolis where a same-sex couple was buried together.

With most of the history getting lost in translation, Egyptologists have extrapolated from the evidence in their tomb that Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum are history’s first documented gay couples. The claim of a first recorded same-sex couple has met considerable debate across academians.

Hieroglyphs adorned across the tomb depict them as holding hands, face to face with their noses touching, embracing in a way that depicts a married couple.

The Tomb

The entrance to their tomb is inscribed with Niankhkhnum on the left and Khnumhotep on the right. Also, inscribed are their names which form a linguistic reference to their togetherness:

Niankhkhnum means ‘joined to life’ and Khnumhotep means ‘joined to the blessed state of the dead’. Together the names can be translated as ‘joined in life and joined in death’.