Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (12.2000(2001))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

permitting condensing water to penetrate.
Cockchafers from the Tenebrionidae family,
commonly found especially in the upper
parts of the coffins, testify to the
considerable ease with which water and air
penetrated deep below the ground surface
on the komA

The coffins were placed in several layers
(up to four), most often between the walls of
earlier buildings. Some of the burials are
obviously secondary. These are the putative
remains of graves, disturbed during the
digging of newer burial pits and conse-
quently removed to a new spot.

COLLECTIVE BURIAL NOS. 216-217-218

One of the most interesting burials is the
collective grave of three young men (burials
216, 217, 218), who were found wrapped
tightly together in a single mat (Figs. 1, 2).
Like the other burials, this tomb was
oriented north-south, indicating that the
burial of the deceased had followed the
Christian rite.4 5)
Upon closer analysis, it became
apparent that all three had died a violent
death. This is evidenced by the bones of the
skull, the cervical vertebrae, one of the left
bones of the arm and the manubrium of one
of the sterna, all of which bear patent traces
of blows made with a sharp instrument,
a saber in all probability. The edges of the
cut bones indicate beyond all doubt that
the blows were placed with precision and
with a sure hand, not to mention
considerable force. It is quite evident that
one or more of the perpetrators of the blows
were well practiced in the martial arts, and
had most certainly used a saber. A straight
sword would have caused the bones of the
skull to crack. Furthermore, in a few cases
there is evidence of what is called
“twirling”, possible only with a curved
saber.

All three individuals were relatively
young, although adult, aged between 20
and 30, in perfect health and of fairly
slender build. A closer analysis of the traces
on the bones permits a reconstruction of the
events. The prisoners must have been
kneeling tied to a post, while the blows
were inflicted from the top and back.
The first man (no. 226) was hit from
the back. The blow to the occiput was so
strong, that it cut through half the skull
and reached the mandible. A blow from
the top cut the right cheek. Two other
blows were inflicted to the jaw (the
crowns of the teeth were cut off evenly),
and only after that was the head cut off
clean at the point of the third neck
vertebra.
The second individual (no. 227) was
treated no less cruelly. His skull is damaged
to a high extent, having lost most of the
facial part (only fragments have been
preserved). There is also very good evidence
(cut 65 by 35 mm) of a very strong, even
and also somewhat “twirling” blow that
chipped off a fragment of the lower part of
the root of the head (not found in the
grave). The mandible was cut off with

4) Interestingly, the same cockchafers were discovered during a professionally prepared investigation of the chamber of
the solar bark at Giza, carried out with the help of a television micro-camera. It turned out at the time that the chamber —
where scientists had anticipated being able to sample the “ancient” air — had long since stopped being airtight. The wooden
elements of the bark had rotted away, and there were plenty of live cockchafers for the camera to see!
5) In all probability permission was granted after the execution for the corpses to be buried in the cemetery, but without
the proper rites (or else they were buried secretly and in a hurry). It should be emphasized that this is the only collective
grave discovered at the cemetery so far.

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