Ancient Egyptian pit of severed hands 'could be evidence of battle ritual’

A pile of severed right hands found buried beneath an ancient Egyptian palace may be evidence of a grisly ancient battle ritual, researchers have said.

The hands were found in three pits dating from 1640–1530 BC in Avaris/Tell el-Dab‘a in north-eastern Egypt.

The hands belong to 12 adults – 11 males and possibly one female – and it’s unclear whether they were removed when the owners were dead or alive.

Hand-severing was known from tomb or temple inscriptions and reliefs, but the new study analysed the bones to try and understand more of the practice.

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The researchers believe that the hands may have been thrown in the pits as part of a post-battle ritual where dead foes were mutilated.

The arms have been carefully severed, they added.

Existing texts refer 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 beads,” the researchers explained.

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The researchers say, “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 pits containing the hands were located in the palace’s forecourt, in front of the throne room. Their position points to the widespread visibility conferred by the practice that generated the deposits as part of a public ceremony.”

The paper, First osteological evidence of severed hands in Ancient Egypt, was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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