The Horrifying Secret of the Abydos Tombs: Did Some Pharaohs Sacrifice Their Servants?

Skull fractures found in the Abydos cemetery raise the possibility that some courtiers of ancient Egypt were violently killed to accompany the pharaoh after death.

Zomit: Fractured skulls discovered in the Abydos cemetery suggest the possibility that some ancient Egyptian courtiers were violently killed to accompany the pharaoh after death.

The royal cemetery of Umm al-Qaab near Abydos has been the tomb of the first pharaohs of ancient Egypt for five thousand years, and its ancient adobe structures have hidden the bodies of kings and hundreds of secondary tombs in the soil. Among the tombs, there are also courtiers, sealers, inspectors, court ladies and artisans whose contemporaneous association with the deceased rulers has always been a mystery to archaeologists.

By rereading the physical evidence left from the skulls of the Abydos cemetery, researchers have reached a shocking answer about the fate of the servants. According to the Guardian, new research findings show that courtiers of the pharaohs were sacrificed at the same time as their ruler died, in the form of a horrific ritual for eternal service in the afterlife. The research has recorded evidence of fatal injuries on the heads of servants, which changes the conventional hypotheses.

The number of sub-graves was not the same in the period of different rulers. Dr. Roselyn Campbell, a researcher at Purdue University in America, pointed out this difference in the research and said: "Aha, the first ruler of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt, apparently had only a few sub-graves next to his tomb. But his successors left hundreds of graves around their tombs and burial grounds.

In the 1920s, the famous British Egyptologist Flanders Petrie excavated hundreds of associated tombs around the royal tombs. Petrie cites concubine burials as a clear example of human sacrifice, but the lack of injury marks on the remains poses a serious challenge to his theory. He assumed that these people were buried alive, while other researchers believed that the servants died a natural death and after the death of the ruler, their bones were transferred to Abydos and buried again.

Dr. Roselyn Campbell, the author of the study, went to the archived bones after decades of silence. He examined 46 skulls from the Duckworth collection at Cambridge University for detailed pathology; The remains that belonged to the servants around the burial structures of three famous royal figures, namely Shah Djer, Shah Jet and Queen Merneith.

"The question of whether the practice of concubine sacrifice was practiced in Egypt has been disputed for more than a century," says Campbell.

The results of the investigations drew the attention of researchers to 18 skulls. These specimens showed signs of possibly fatal injuries, including fractures. In one of the skulls, there was an injury caused by a blow to the eye area.

The shape of the fractures also revealed another point. According to Campbell, the injuries are unlikely to have been caused by a club blow; The same weapon that is often seen in the hands of the victorious king in ancient Egyptian artworks when striking his enemies. Instead, it is possible that flat objects made of wood or animal horns were the cause of the fractures.

Researchers have also considered the limitation of the number of samples. Campbell cautions that examining 46 skulls is not enough to detect the full range of burial rituals or to ensure that the samples are representative of all the individuals buried. Thus, the findings reinforce the possibility that some individuals are victimized, but do not provide a complete picture of such formality.

The available evidence also shows that the number of secondary graves decreased rapidly; It seems that this custom disappeared with the beginning of the second dynasty of Egypt. If the sacrifice of servants was prevalent in a period of Egyptian history, apparently this ritual did not continue for a long time.

Salima Ekram, a professor at the American University in Cairo, says the hypothesis of the sacrifice of servants is not new, but Campbell's research used more rigorous scientific methods to evaluate human remains. According to Ekram, this custom was short-lived and later small figures took the place of people.

Ikram suggests that some or all of the attendants saw the eternal companionship of a god-like king as an opportunity to continue serving in the afterlife. Of course, some others may have been afraid of this fate, opposed it or tried to escape as well.

Researchers point out that sacrificing people alongside rulers is not limited to ancient Egypt and has occurred in different cultures and historical periods. Also, it should not be assumed that all the people of this cemetery agreed with their fate.

Maybe some courtiers thought that joining the king was a blessing to achieve immortality, but it is not unlikely that a group of people, knowing about the bitter end of their lives, panicked in fear and sought to escape their inevitable fate. The scenes of sacrificing people were probably in a very horrible situation, and the possibility of some people being killed violently is not far from expected.

Finally, the fractured skulls raise an old question: Did some of the entourage of Egypt's first pharaohs die when their ruler died? The new findings provide evidence in support of this possibility, but more evidence is still needed to determine the number of victims, how they died, and the exact role these people played in the burial rituals.