By: The Scribe on January, 2008
Much of the information that exists about ancient Egypt comes from the burials of ancient pharaohs and the massive structures they commissioned in memorial of themselves – but what about the average person who lived in ancient Egypt? What about the middle class workers, the typical Egyptian who went to work every day to make a living, and came home at night to his family? Historically, very little time and effort has been put into understanding the common people of ancient Egypt, when in reality, it was their work that shaped the nation – no nation prospers without the help of its people, and there were far, far more average citizens than royalty!
An enormous stepping stone toward understanding the lives of the average citizen in ancient Egypt has come in the form of a rare, middle-class tomb found at Abusir, an ancient necropolis used during the 5th and 26th dynasties. The tomb dates back to the Old Kingdom, and perhaps even more shocking – it was fully intact upon discovery, having remained undisturbed for almost 4,500 years.
The man buried inside lived during the 5th dynasty, and according to archaeological observations, was a priest and politician in the Old Kingdom. He was considered “upper middle class” for the time, which placed him below the nobles but higher up in the social scheme than the lower class. The burial chamber was considerably smaller than royal officials or nobles – the room was about 10 meters below ground and had just enough room to pack in the body and a pile of personal effects and offerings: it was 2 meters by 4 meters in total.
Contrary to what many people think of when it comes to ancient Egyptian tombs, this tomb held no gold or silver – but the information gleaned was infinitely more valuable. Located behind a mud-brick wall in an ancient burial shaft, there were dozens of artifacts which are considered “ceremonial”: more than 80 miniature limestone vessels, 10 sealed beer jars, a small jug for perfume, and cups and plates for symbolic food and drink offerings. In addition, four small canopic jars were present – special jars used to hold the ‘important’ organs of the deceased after mummification.
The body rested inside a sarcophagus, but since the burial was done in the Old Kingdom – before the mummification process was perfected – the mummy was in an advanced state of decomposition. However, the same amount of care was given to his preservation: there were hundreds of faience beads inlaid on the burial wrappings, and his 2-meter long, gold-tipped walking stick was buried at his side. In addition, there was a wooden scepter in the sarcophagus that Neferinpu had the right to hold during his lifetime as a symbol of his seniority.
It was a false door to the tomb that revealed who Neferinpu was and why he was buried here. According to the inscriptions, he was part of the administration for two rulers during the 5th dynasty, holding dual posts of both priest and administrative assistant. He was likely responsible for some building projects, as was the custom, but even so would not have been considered part of elite society. During his lifetime, he would have been financially well-off – perhaps even considered “rich” by some – but not in the way that the elite members of society were.
Instead, Neferinpu probably lived comfortably off his salary, but remained part of ancient Egypt’s upper middle class. He was quite apparently loyal to whoever sat on the throne – considering he was able to sit for two administrations without getting deposed or replaced, and as a result, he was probably an individual who was very good at his job. Finding the undisturbed burial has revealed quite a bit about ancient Egypt’s everyday people – something which has, until recently, been a mystery.
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Tomorrow: Greek Goddess of Hygiene!
By: The Scribe on December, 2007
On the banks of the Nile near Amarna, something a little strange and unexpected turned up… although historians have long believed that Egyptians imported their glass during the reign of Akhenaten, an industrial complex and the remains there now show quite the opposite.
The site at Amarna contained a glass-making shop, with a potter’s workshop and specific rooms that were designated as production areas for blue pigment and architectural inlay materials. An ancient furnace next to the site was utilized by researchers to make their own reconstructed version, which they used to make a full-sized glass ingot out of local sand!
The previously held belief was that the Egyptians imported their glass from surrounding countries and integrated it into their own artifacts, in order to create their elaborate art projects which made ancient Egypt such a famous culture in history – but the discovery of a glass workshop such as this suggests that the Egyptians had far more advanced industrial manufacturing capabilities than they were previously given credit for.
At that rate, who knows how many items they were able to make on their own, without relying on outside trade sources? This would have allowed more money and trade goods to flow inside of Egypt, keeping the wealth inside the country and thus contributing to the richness of their ancient culture.
The glass site near Amarna was found close enough to an ancient temple site that it is likely the workshop was used to produce decorative pieces for the temple during its construction. It is entirely possible that materials for other state buildings came from this location as well, but either way, the Egyptians were far more than simply skilled artists – they were highly efficient and advanced producers of industrial materials as well!
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Tomorrow: Anti-Government sentiment in ancient Rome
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
It’s no secret that the ancient Egyptians mummified cats, monkeys, small crocodiles, even things like snakes and birds… but what about larger animals? Say, for example… a lion? Well, it turns out that not only were lions considered sacred in ancient Egypt, but the ancient records that talked about breeding and burying sacred lions weren’t exaggerating! Although no one had previously found a specimen to verify the written record, excavations from a tomb in 2001 certainly changed all that.
A mummified lion – actually one of the largest lions known to the scientific community, and obviously very old when it died in captivity – was found inside the tomb of a woman named Maia, who was the wet nurse to the famed King Tutankhamun. The nurse was buried around 1430 BC at Saqqara in northern Egypt, and was evidently held in very high regard by the royal family.
Analysis on the bones and the teeth of the lion revealed its old age, and that the lion was a captive in the royal household. The association between lions and royalty – particularly the Pharaoh – was nearly as well known as the association between kings and falcons, and plenty of Egyptologists believe that there were probably special animal precincts and sacred cemeteries at various locations in Egypt devoted to the breeding, care, and eventual buried of sacred animals such as lions.
Although none of these ‘sacred lion precincts’ have been found, the ancient Egyptians certainly had a history of setting aside specific areas for animals – for example, the city of Crocodilopolis was specifically devoted to crocodiles and contained a sacred pond for the animals.
The lion inside the Saqqara tomb was found stretched out on a rock, with the body oriented eastward and the head pointing north. Most of the wrappings had been lost, but the positioning and the surrounding context revealed its mummification had been complete at the time of burial – and in terms of the scientific community, the bones represent those of the largest male lion to ever be recorded.
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Tomorrow: Giant Scorpions!
By: The Scribe on November, 2007
The mummy of a child from ancient Egypt caused scientists to do a bit of a double-take when they performed a CT scan on the body – images revealed that a spear-like object was wedged inside the child’s skull and upper spine!
CT scans are commonly performed on mummies so that not all bodies need to be unwrapped for study – in many cases, the mummies are so fragile that unwrapping them might potentially destroy the remains. Instead, X-rays on the body reveal things like how a person was wrapped and buried, the condition of the skeleton, and whether there are any added items inside the wrappings such as jewelry or ornamentation.
The child with a spear in its head was probably between three and five years old when it was buried, and the scan seemed to show that the child had an unusually large head. While scientists haven’t been able to pinpoint the cause of the abnormality, the bone structure of the head and face may result in a facial recreation sometime over the next several years.
However, the primary question still remains – was the spear in the child’s head a cause of death, or did the embalmers insert the spear in order to keep the head and neck steady during the mummification process. Either explanation is entirely plausible, though the former explanation is far more disturbing to consider.
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Tomorrow: Pre-History’s Next Top Model
