Skulls From Abydos Reopen the Case of the First Pharaohs' Retainers

ABYDOS, EGYPT — A reassessment of skulls taken from burials beside the First Dynasty royal tombs at Abydos indicates that members of the royal household may have been deliberately killed after the deaths of their kings, according to a report published on Ancient Pages. The study appears in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.

The question is nearly a century old. Flinders Petrie, who excavated the graves in the 1920s, doubted that so many people buried around a single tomb could have died naturally at the same time. He found, however, no evidence of fatal wounds, and his theory of retainer sacrifice remained unproven.

Dr Roselyn Campbell of Purdue University tracked down 46 skulls that Petrie had kept and sent to Britain, now held in the Duckworth Collection at Cambridge. Eighteen, she reports, show significant cranial trauma, chiefly linear fractures that Petrie appears to have mistaken for natural damage. Modern forensic methods, the article says, identify these as injuries sustained around the time of death. Some skulls also bear sharp-force wounds, including a chopping injury near one individual's eye.

Dr Campbell cautions that the manner of death is unknown. A royal mace, she explains, would have left depressed fractures, and linear fractures usually come from a flat, wide weapon or a fall; a fall of such force would probably have broken other bones, which Petrie's notes and photographs do not show. The fate of the remaining retainers is also unclear. Some may have died naturally, and others by means, such as asphyxiation, that leave no mark on bone.

The graves, according to Dr Campbell, were simple chambers set in rows, some holding coffins and modest goods such as pottery, copper tools and small ivory figures. Surviving markers suggest the occupants were mostly lower- or mid-level officials and artisans. Dr Campbell says she was drawn to these people because they are "mostly relegated to footnotes" in the history of Egypt. She adds that she would like to locate the reburied remains, which Petrie did not keep, and examine them. A book on the subject is forthcoming from Routledge.