New Finding Challenges Long-Held Beliefs About Egyptian Pyramids
A recent study revealed new information which challenges previously held beliefs about the Egyptian pyramids. The report was published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
While the pyramids have long been thought to be the burial place of society's most elite members such as pharaohs and other aristocrats, Dutch and American archaeologists discovered skeletons within the structures which bore signs of bodily wear and tear 'associated with a lifetime of strenuous manual labor.' The researchers posit that the skeletons belong to 'low-status' workers and tradesmen who were buried alongside their society's most powerful leaders.
'Pyramid tombs, once thought to be the final resting place of the most elite, may have also included low-status high-labor staff,' the study reads. 'Across cemetery areas and tomb types, [our analysis] suggests a complex landscape of physically active and less-physically active people.' The recent discovery challenges a 'long-standing assumption in the field of Egyptology.'Archaeologists then analyzed the bones, discovering signs of wear where muscles, ligaments, and tendons were previously attached. This allowed researchers to determine which people had performed significant manual labor in their lives and those who had not. In what they admitted was an unexpected discovery, it was found that nobles were buried alongside those who had worked tirelessly in their name.
'If these hard-working individuals are indeed of lower socioeconomic status, this counters the traditional narrative that the elite were exclusively buried in monumental tombs,' the study continued. 'We are not suggesting that these tombs were designed, built, and funded by these high-labor individuals. Rather, we argue that people of high socioeconomic status and with formal titles, such as Siamun, commissioned these pyramids for themselves, close family members, and servants/functionaries.'
Researchers further explained that the community in which the skeletons were found, formerly known as Tombos, was a peaceful regime where egalitarian ideals may have eventually taken hold. Although they can't say for sure at this point why laborers were buried next to pharaohs, the scientists posit that the way of life in Tombos may have been more even-keeled than previously thought.
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