New research shows that people who worked for early Egyptian kings may have been killed when the kings died. These workers included ladies, seal-bearers, inspectors, and artisans. They lived near the royal cemetery at Umm el-Qa’ab near Abydos. This cemetery has tombs from the First Dynasty, which started in 3,000BC.
In the 1920s, an English expert named Flinders Petrie studied these graves. He thought the workers might have been buried alive with their kings. This idea was a mystery for a long time. To find the truth, Dr. Roselyn Campbell from Purdue University studied the remains. She looked at 46 skulls from the Duckworth Collections at the University of Cambridge. Salima Ikram, a professor at the American University in Cairo, says this new study uses modern science.
The results were surprising. Out of the 46 skulls, 18 showed signs of violent injury. These injuries were not accidents. Some skulls had breaks, and one person had an injury to the eye. The researchers think people used flat, wide objects made of wood or antler to cause these injuries. This is different from the old idea that they used a heavy mace.
This violent practice stopped when the Second Dynasty began. This shows that Egyptian customs changed over time. Now, scientists understand the deaths of these workers better. The study of the 18 skulls helps us understand the history of the First Dynasty. Modern science is helping us learn the true story of the people who served the first kings of Egypt.