Ancient Egyptian skulls show signs of violent deaths
New forensic work on century-old remains from Abydos suggests royal attendants of Egypt's First Dynasty may have been killed around the time of the kings' burials.
Key points
- Forensic review of 46 skulls from Abydos found signs of head trauma in 18
- The skulls date to Egypt's First Dynasty, roughly 5,000 years ago
- Researchers say the injuries were likely perimortem, around the time of death
- The findings support the theory that retainer sacrifice occurred
- Some deaths remain unexplained, as most skeletons were reburied long ago
Fresh forensic analysis of ancient skulls from Abydos, Egypt, suggests that many people buried near the country’s first kings may have been killed deliberately. According to ScienceDaily, Dr. Roselyn Campbell of Purdue University led a team that identified head injuries which could have been fatal in 18 of the 46 crania examined. That is roughly 39 percent of the individuals studied.
The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology. It adds weight to a long-running idea that human sacrifice formed part of royal burial customs in early Egypt.
Burials Around the First Kings
Around 3000 BCE, the earliest rulers of a unified Egypt built large burial complexes at Abydos. These included royal tombs, extra burial chambers and enclosed areas that were likely used for funeral rites. Many smaller graves were arranged in rows around the main structures.
Some royal sites were surrounded by hundreds of these subsidiary burials. Most of the people interred there had only a few possessions, including pottery vessels, copper implements or tiny ivory statuettes. A few grave markers recovered by Flinders Petrie in the 1920s gave names and sometimes official titles. The titles appear to refer mostly to lower or mid-level officials and artisans.
The sheer number of graves led Petrie to propose that these people were retainers who had been killed when their ruler died. He could not, however, find clear evidence of fatal injuries. The question stayed open for almost a century.
What the Forensic Review Found
Petrie reburied most of the human remains but kept a selection of skulls. Some were later sent to the United Kingdom. Campbell tracked down 46 of these crania held at Cambridge University’s Duckworth Collection, then analysed them with present-day forensic methods.
Eighteen of the skulls bore considerable head damage, mostly in the form of straight-line cracks. Petrie had seemingly put these cracks down to natural damage. The modern analysis instead classed them as perimortem injuries, meaning they happened around the time of death. Some of the same 18 crania also bore cuts from a blade, and one showed a chopping wound near the eye.
Campbell said cracks of this kind would probably have led to rapid loss of consciousness, bleeding inside the skull and death. The study therefore suggests that at least 39 percent of those examined may have been deliberately killed.
Limits of the Evidence
The exact circumstances of the deaths are still uncertain. Egyptian art often shows kings striking enemies with maces. Campbell noted, however, that the attendants at Abydos were not enemy fighters. The injuries also do not match mace damage, which usually produces depressed fractures rather than linear ones.
Accidental falls cannot be fully ruled out. Yet a fall strong enough to break the skull would probably have left injuries elsewhere on the skeleton, and none were recorded in Petrie’s notes or photographs. The cause of death for the remaining people is unknown: a few might have passed away from natural causes, whereas others may have been killed in ways that left no mark on bone, for example by suffocation.
Most of the skeletons were buried again over a century ago, which limits what further study can show. Campbell said that locating the remaining remains would be valuable. She added that the work shows how old collections can still yield new answers when examined with updated knowledge.
Frequently asked questions
What did the researchers find in the ancient Egyptian skulls?
According to ScienceDaily, signs of potentially deadly head trauma were found in 18 of 46 skulls, about 39 percent of those studied. The injuries were mainly linear fractures that likely occurred around the time of death.
Where were the skulls found?
The skulls were recovered near royal tombs at Abydos, Egypt, where First Dynasty members were buried roughly 5,000 years ago. Flinders Petrie excavated the graves in the 1920s.
Does the study prove human sacrifice?
The study provides new support for the theory of retainer sacrifice, but the exact causes of death remain uncertain. Some individuals may have died naturally, and the full skeletons are no longer available for examination.
Sources
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