Skulls dating back around 5,000 years have been examined by archaeologists who believe they show that royal servants were bludgeoned to death. Around 50 skulls were found at a cemetery in southern Egypt, with 18 showing signs of severe head injuries inflicted at or around their time of death.
It is believed the skulls suggest servants in Ancient Egypt were murdered to accompany their pharaohs into the next world. The 46 skulls, from the cemetery of Umm el-Qa'ab, near Abydos, were examined by Roselyn Campbell, an Egyptologist and bioarchaeologist at Purdue University.
Fatal blows in a majority of skulls
According to findings published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, at least 39% of those studied were struck down with fatal blows. Ritual killings, known as "retainer sacrifice", accompanied royal burials during the First Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Historians have long debated whether servants and officials buried in subsidiary graves around early pharaohs were deliberately killed. The recent re-examination of the skulls, which were excavated a century ago by archaeologist Flinders Petrie, is believed to provide the most definitive physical evidence to date that these individuals were sacrificed.
Evidence of forceful blows
They suffered severe cranial trauma, often killed with a forceful and rapid blow to the head using a flat, wide weapon. The victims were not enemies, but rather members of the royal household. They are thought to range from mid-to-low-level officials to guards and artisans.
The belief behind retainer sacrifice was that the pharaoh was a living god and servants should die alongside their ruler to continue providing an afterlife of luxury for their king. Some may have been forced, while others volunteered to be killed to guarantee life in the next world.
Fractures contradict mace strikes
Dr Campbell said: "The injuries on the preserved crania are generally linear fractures, which would likely cause rapid unconsciousness, internal bleeding and death." The study showed that the fractures did not match mace strikes, a weapon used in ancient Egypt for killing state enemies.
As the injuries suggested the victims were hit with broad and flat instruments, they are likely to have been servants and killed for human sacrifice. Dr Campbell added: "Retainer sacrifice is a type of human sacrifice where those close to a ruler are killed when the ruler dies.
"In many cultures, retainer sacrifice is practised because of beliefs that the sacrificed individuals will continue to serve the ruler in some kind of afterlife, but retainer sacrifice can also be a visceral display of the ruler's power."
Practice confined to the First Dynasty
Professor Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo said the practice of retainer sacrifice was short-lived and confined to the First Dynasty. This period stretched from roughly 3100 BC to 2890 BC.
She explained: "Possibly some or all retainers felt that this was a boon and that they would enjoy an eternal life in the service of the god-king, though they might also have resented it, been terrified, and tried to escape this fate."
