admin Finding the tomb of an old Egyptian pharaoh is an extraordinary and energizing disclosure. Whereas most tombs are nothing just like the overlaid tomb of Tutankhamun, each revelation sheds more light on what old Egypt was like.
Envision not fair finding a pharaoh’s tomb but finding the tomb of a pharaoh that time and history overlooked. That’s what happened in 2014.
Archeologists from the College of Pennsylvania were uncovering an zone of Egypt for what they expected would be a little modest bunch of king’s tombs. Instep, they found over twenty pharaohs that were rulers of a long misplaced Line.
Most excitingly, the group found the tomb and remains of Woseribe Senebkay, possibly the most punctual pharaoh that we know to have passed on in fight. Who was Senebkay, and what was the misplaced Line he once ruled?
Senebkay and the Abydos Dynasty
Lord Senebkay was a ruler in Egypt around 3,650 a long time back amid the afterward portion of Egypt’s Moment Middle Period (c. 1650-1550 BC). Analysts assessed that he was around 5ft 10in (1.75m) tall, a tallness that was exceptionally tall amid this time of history, and he kicked the bucket when he was 35-40 a long time ancient.
Whereas the world had overlooked Senebkay, researchers accept that his title may have been on a broken segment of the Turin Lord List. This list incorporates the names of lords composed amid Rameses II’s rule in 1200 BC. The harmed segment of the list has two rulers who had the position of authority title “Woser….re” recorded as the head of a bunch of over 20 lords whose names are completely misplaced.
Senebkay’s discovery is the first material proof of a forgotten Egyptian dynasty. This lost dynasty, or the Abydos Dynasty, had been a theory proposed by Danish archeologist Kim Ryholt in 1997.
Numerous specialists did not accept Ryholt’s hypothesis since there was no verification that such a line existed. Still, the tomb and remains of Senebkay were portion of a more broad revelation of a necropolis of regal tombs. Demonstrating there was a misplaced tradition that was ruled by long-forgotten rulers.
The overlooked Abydos Line is accepted to have been an autonomous line that existed amid both the 15th Hyksos Tradition that ruled over Lower (Mediterranean) and Center Egypt from the city of Avaris within the Nile delta, and the 16th Theban Line that ruled over the locale around Thebes in Upper Egypt.
The city of Abydos, where Senebkay was found, is an old city that was found around 300 miles (483 km) south of present-day Cairo. Which places it in a central zone between the Northern and Southern Egyptian kingdoms.
The northern and southern kingdoms were unified a century later in c. 1700 BC. AD, and scholars are struggling to determine the exact role of the Abydos dynasty when it existed. Senebkay’s tomb sheds light on the financial situation of the Abydos dynasty.
The Tomb of Senebkay
Tomb of Senebkay tells archaeologists that a group of later pharaohs about a century and a half after the 13th Dynasty reused elements from the earlier pharaoh Sobekhotep when they built and furnished his tomb. me. This suggests that the kings of the Abydos dynasty may have been in economic trouble.
Senebkay’s tomb is modest and consists of four rooms, and his burial chamber is made of limestone. On the walls of the burial chamber are painted images of goddesses associated with death, magic and rebirth; Selket, Isis, Nephthys and Nut, who have protected her canopic sanctuary. On the walls, archaeologists found inscriptions identifying Senebkay as “king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Woseribre, son of Re, Snebkay”.
There isn’t much else to find in Senebkay’s tomb as it was ravaged by ancient grave robbers. Grave robbers tore up the king’s mummy and took away all the gilding that once lay on the various surfaces of the tomb.
Senebkay’s bones were found scattered amongst the debris of a decaying cedar wood canopic chest that was reused from Sobekhotep. A canopic chest are cases that were used in ancient Egypt to store/contain the internal organs that had been removed during the mummification process. The remains of the canopic chest still had the other pharaoh’s name written on it.
A Warrior King
Archaeologists have determined that King Senebkay was most likely killed in battle by multiple attackers. The skeleton had 18 wounds so deep that they pierced the bone. His body shows that he suffered a very deep wound that nearly severed his right foot, which when wounded would cause massive bleeding.
There were wounds on Senebkay’s hands and knees and several blows to his lower back. The three ax blows were so well preserved in the king’s skull that scientists were able to discern the speculum shape of the blade and the curvature of the blows. They were able to match wounds to the battle axes used during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt.
The wound patterns seem to suggest that Senebkay was attacked while in an “elevated position compared to his attackers.” He may have possibly been on horseback. Osteological analysis of Senebkay’s body found that the remains of muscular attachments on the pelvis and femurs indicate that while alive, Senebkay rode a horse for a considerable amount of time as an adult.
The remains of the body of another king at the site also showed signs of having ridden horses. The Second Intermediate Period kings buried at the necropolis in Abydos were skilled horsemen. Ancient Egyptians had horses, but riding horseback in battle did not become common until after the Bronze Age. The discovery was that Egyptians had “mastered the use of horses during the Second Intermediate Period.”
Horses may have played a role in the military involvement in this era, long before chariots were invented in Egypt, which occurred ca. 1550. It is believed that Senebkay died in a battle that took place a substantial distance away from where he was buried in Abydos.
The remains of the king’s body show that a significant amount of time had passed since his death and the preparation of his body for burial. It remains a mystery where the king was slaughtered or who the assailants were.
Top Image: Senebkay dates from one of the two intermediate periods when Egypt was politically splintered, and is believed to be from a forgotten dynasty. Source: Ivan / Adobe Stock.
