Here was rather irrefutable evidence of what could only be construed as gay life in ancient Egypt.

It was the tomb of Ni-ankh-khnum and Khnum-hotep, palace functionaries and royal confidants, and the underground crypt was designed to be shared by both of them.

The two men press their faces together, nose to nose, one’s arm around the other’s back in intimate embrace usually depicted as between man and wife. There are seven such scenes of them up close and personal. Even their names have been written together to read “joined in life, joined in death.”

It’s fascinating and unlike anything yet discovered beneath the sands of Egypt. In their beautiful, colored-splashed tomb, these guys have been together for more than 4,000 years. Their lapidary embraces give new meaning to long-term relationship.