Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Several severed hands have been discovered in three pits within a courtyard in front of the throne room of a 15th Dynasty (c.1640–1530 BC) Hyksos palace at Avaris/Tell el-Dab‘a in north-eastern Egypt.

The severed right hands belonging to 12 individuals have been analyzed osteologically for the first time ever. Scientists hope the study results can provide insight into this unusual ancient Egyptian practice.

Archaeological evidence of severed hands in Hyksos Period Tell el-Dab‘a, Northern Egypt (images ÖAI, M. Bietak): (A) Nile Delta, Northern Egypt (Apple maps) and position of the site Tell el-Dab‘a/Avaris in the Nile Delta. This map has been modified from Fig. 1 (drawn by Nicola Math, modified by Dominik Fill, Austrian Academy of Sciences) in: Manfred Bietak, “Hyksos” in “Hyksos,” R. Bagnell, et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Ancient History, vol. 6, 1st edition, Malden, MA- Oxford 2013: Wiley-Blackwell, 3356–3362. To publish the map under a CC BY open access license is permitted by the copyright holder Manfred Bietak. (B) Northern part of the Hyksos Palace at Tell el-Dab‘a, Phase E1-D3 (after Bietak et al. 2012/13). Red arrow indicating Pit L1542 and 1543, blue arrow indicating Pit L1777. (C) Overview of the area of Pit L1542 and 1543 (red circle), the excavation layer closely beneath the modern surface in the agricultural area. (D) South wall of a later added broad-room building built against the western enclosure wall of the palace’s forecourt. Pit L 1777 in front of the throne room (indicated by the arrow). (E) Overview of the 11 right hands in the Pits L1542 and L1543. (F) Single right hand on its palmar surface with wide-splayed fingers. Credit: Nature

“Although this kind of practice is known from tomb or temple inscriptions and reliefs from the New Kingdom onwards, this is the first time that physical evidence has been used to learn more about the procedure and the individuals whose hands were taken.

It is unclear if the hands were taken from ᴅᴇᴀᴅ or living individuals. After removing any attached parts of the forearm, the hands were placed in the ground with wide-splayed fingers, mainly on their palmar sides. The osteological analysis not only supports the archaeological interpretation of this evidence but also adds more detail regarding trophy-taking practices in Ancient Egypt,” scientists write in their study.

Understanding the motives behind this practice by studying scenes in ancient tomb walls is difficult because these images from the past are open to interpretation.

“Like today, information can create certain ideas, exert political influence, and also present facts in a different and not necessarily realistic light. Iconographic and literary sources from Ancient Egypt depict and praise the pharaoh as a victorious military leader.

A recurring propagandist motives refers to soldiers presenting the severed right hands of foes to the Pharaoh in order to garner the “gold of honour”, a prestigious reward, primarily in the form of a collar of golden beads4. Until now, this practice is known only from tomb inscriptions of prominent warriors and from inscriptions and temple reliefs, all dating from the start of the New Kingdom (18th–20th Dynasties) onwards,” the research team explains.

According to scientists, the taphonomic and biological analyses carried out on the bones reveal information regarding the act of mutilation and preparation of these body parts and about the individuals to whom they originally belonged.

In their study, researchers explain that although the hands cannot be attributed to a specific ethnic or cultural group, the custom of severing the right hands of foes appears to have been introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos. The Egyptians adopted this custom at the latest in King Ahmose’s reign, as shown by a relief of a pile of hands at his temple in Abydos.

The idea that the custom of severing enemy hands originated in the Near East may be supported linguistically9. During the early 18th Dynasty, a specific new hieroglyph appears with the first inscriptional mention of the cutting of hands in warfare in the inscription of Ahmose, son of Ibana.

Evidence shows that severed hands were prepared and arranged for presentation in a public ceremony in the pharaoh’s palace. “In this politically structured frame, the severed hands served as symbolic currency for status acquisition, within a system of values celebrating warfare and dominance, as argued by other bioarchaeological studies in geographically diverse contexts.

Iconographic sources from several archaeological sites in Egypt deliver a large corpus of evidence for the practice of body dismemberment and mutilation, particularly related to war contexts.

The representation of piles of severed heads, ears and genitals follows codified and publicly recognisable ethics of violence as it ultimately conveys a message of political stability: the pharaoh, representation and personification of the gods, maintains the universal order by defeating the forces of chaos, personified by the enemies. The public enactment was the necessary step to deliver this message.

Here, the act of dominance is conveyed by maiming defeated enemies, depriving them of their right hands, hampering their capacity to carry out future attacks and essential daily-life activities. The likelihood that hands were taken from captives is low, since this would limit their potential as future slaves.

Iconographic evidence of severed hands: inscription in the tomb of Ahmose at El-Kab depicting a very realistic representation of an outstretched palm, showing five spread fingers (Courtesy of William Vivian Davies, Oxford). Publishing this figure under a CC BY open access license is permitted by the copyright holder Vivian Davies.

Because corporeal integrity was vital for survival in the Ancient Egyptian view of the afterlife, the victim’s impairment adds a deeper dimension to this act of dominance,” the scientists explain in their study.

Scientists conclude the severed hands were offered as trophies as part of a public event that took place in the palace. They belonged to at least eleven males and possibly one female, which may indicate that women and warfare were not worlds apart.

The research team emphasizes this is the first direct bioarchaeological evidence for the ‘gold of honor’ ceremony performed in front of the king’s palace, and it contributes significantly to the debate over the reconstruction of this ceremony.

The study was published in Nature

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer