THE disturbing truth behind 12 mutilated hands buried in Ancient Egyptian burial pits has been revealed – and the explanation is drenched in blood.
Scientists have found evidence the grisly find is linked to a violent ritual called the “gold of honour” – which was carried out for a prestigious reward.
It turns out the hands were presented to Pharaohs by Egyptian warriors who had severed them from their enemies.
This was done for a collar of gold beads.
Experts say that the severing was done very carefully, as there was no signs of rough cutting.
French anthropologist Doctor Isabelle Crevecoeur said: “It’s delicate work. That, for me, is a good argument they did it for a ritual.”
The hands were compared to trophies, the team behind the discovery revealed: “After removing any attached forearm parts, the hands were placed in the ground with wide-splayed fingers, mainly on their palmar sides.”
Extensive research was carried out to determine the age and sex of who the 12 hands belonged to.
As male index fingers are known to be longer than their ring fingers, as compared to women’s fingers, 11 of the hands were determined to be male.
It could not be ruled out that the twelfth hand was that of a female, the researchers said.
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They estimated a minimum age at time of each hand’s dismemberment to be somewhere between 14 to 21 years, as the bones were fully formed and post adolescent.
The upper age range was estimated to be under 60, as the hands show no signs of age-related degeneration.
It is still unclear if the hands were taken from living or dead inviduvals, the team explained.
They clarified that they: “Must have been soft and flexible when they were placed into the pit.”
This would have been before rigor mortis set in, therefore the person could have been alive when their hand was removed.
The most likely scenario is they were placed into the pit somewhere between 24 and 48 hours after being removed from the rest of the body.
The find suggests that the ritual which involved presenting Pharaohs with them was actually practised a century earlier than first thought.
They believe that the tomb inscriptions present at the site date back to 1550-1077BC.
But the hands suggest the ritual may have been practiced before then, as they were found at the Hyksos palace.
This was the seat of power for Egypt‘s 15th Dynasty (1640–1530 BC).
It was hypothesized that the ancient Hyksos people had ‘recurring propagandist motives’ for placing the severed hands where they were discovered.
The Hyksos, who ruled Egypt for roughly a century, likely arrived from the eastern Mediterranean.
In the written study, the scientists urged caution, saying that we cannot put our ideas of what the period was like that do not realistically capture the truth.
It reads: “Much information on the lives, habits, and history of the Ancient Egyptians is depicted on temple and tomb walls, as well as recorded on papyri, etc.
“Like today, information can create certain ideas, exert political influence, and also present facts in a different and not necessarily realistic light.
“Unfortunately, in history and even more so in prehistory, we are limited to a few sources, sometimes only to one.”
