Interpreting the ‘Two Brothers’ at Manchester Museum: Science, Knowledge and Display

Abstract

The intact tomb group of the so-called ‘Two Brothers’, dating to around 1850 bce, was found at Deir Rifeh in Middle Egypt. Since its transfer to Manchester Museum in 1907, it has been central to the Museum’s extensive Egyptian collection—and of its celebratory history of Manchester Egyptology. Here, established interpretations of the ‘Brothers’s’ remains—often framed as a pioneering case of innovative scientific investigation in Egyptology—are critically assessed to highlight the contingency of such claims.