Grave of the Unknown Soldiers: The First Intermediate Period (Epilogue)

Apr 17, 2014

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A tomb revisited. In 1923 CE, excavations at Luxor revealed the graves of ancient Egyptian soldiers. They bore scars of battle on their bones and flesh; and their story may belong to one of several major conflicts within the Nile Valley, around 2000—1900 BCE. In this episode, we revisit an old topic, and describe the tale anew…

Note: This episode has an extended version on Patreon (link below).

Dates: 1923—1926 CE (excavation); c. 2000—1900 BCE (ancient burial).
Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com.
Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast.
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Music and interludes by Keith Zizza www.keithzizza.net.
Music and interludes by Luke Chaos www.chaosmusick.com.

Select Bibliography:

H. E. Winlock, The Slain Soldiers of Neb-Hepet-Re Mentu-Hotpe (1945). Available in Open Access via MMA.
C. Vogel, ‘Fallen Heroes? Winlock’s “Slain Soldiers” Reconsidered’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89 (2003), 239—245. Access via Academia.edu and JSTOR.org.
P. Chudzik, ‘Middle Kingdom tombs in the North Asasif Necropolis: Field Seasons 2018/2019 and 2020’, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (2020), 177—202. Open Access via Academia.edu.
Wikipedia, ‘MMA 507,’ https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MMA_507&oldid=1151562120.
J. Heath, ‘The Slain Soldiers of Tomb 507: An Egyptological Mystery’, Ancient Egypt: The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley 118 (2020), 28-33. Note: I became aware of this article after publication of this episode, but I include it here as the author reaches similar conclusions to mine.

Artefacts from the tomb at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Archers’ wrist guard.
Folded linen with hieratic text of Sobekhotep Son-of-Imeny. Additional pieces at MMA Collections (objects dated .1961 – 1917 BC).
Skull fragment with arrow in eye (images restricted).
Model weapons of the early Middle Kingdom: shield, spear, quiver.
The tomb of Queen Neferu at Deir el-Bahari: Wikipedia, photos at Flickr.com.

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