Archaeologists have made quite some exciting discoveries at the site of Tombos. This site near Jebel Barkal, Sudan, is located at the third cataract of the Nile River. This finding uncovers emerging burial traditions that link the elite and non-elite social classes in pyramid tombs. It’s making scholars rethink what we thought we knew about social hierarchy in ancient Nubian society. Unlike their famous counterparts at Giza and Saqqara, the pyramids at Tombos were constructed for nonroyal people. This very specialized and detailed construction demonstrates the intricate social hierarchies in Egypt as it colonized into Nubia around 1400 B.C.
After marching through Nubia in their military conquest, the Egyptians immediately set up Tombos. This development positioned it as a key strategic colonial outpost in the center of predominately Nubian territory. The pyramids at Tombos served the non-royal elite class. They were never meant to be built for pharaohs or queens. The scientists examined over 110 skeletons housed within the pyramid tombs. First, their findings indicate that these magnificent burial sites were available to those with high status rather than royalty alone.
The study shows that elite and non-elite people were interred in the pyramid tombs. This points to a much more inclusive practice of burial rite than we had realized. This new research indicates that elites intentionally created non-elites who pleased them by adding slightly more complexity. This ritualized behavior served to mirror the hierarchy in life, as well as in death.
"Our thinking is that elites surrounded themselves with the non-elites who worked in some capacity for them, effectively replicating the social order with burials in and around their funerary monuments," said Stuart Tyson Smith.
Furthermore, the act of interring non-elites with elites would have worked in both parties’ favor. Non-elites might have wished to acquire status, magical safeguards and advantages from connections with their higher-status employers.
"May have hoped to benefit from associations with their employers in terms of status, magical protections, and the funerary cult," added Stuart Tyson Smith.
This burial practice may have been promoted by elite actors to buttress a stratified social order. While exploring the exhibit, Sarah Schrader noted that the setup might best represent the dreams of individuals from lesser socioeconomic status. They want to be interred in the same graveyards with people of elevated economic rank.
"It could've also been that people of lower social economic status may have wanted to be buried next to people of higher economic status," remarked Sarah Schrader.
The paper upends classic assumptions about which individuals were deserving of such elaborate pyramid tombs. It suggests that even hard-working members of the community, who were not part of the elite, might be associated with these visible monuments.
"We can no longer assume that individuals buried in grandiose [pyramid] tombs are the elite. Indeed, the hardest working members of the communities are associated with the most visible monuments," stated an unnamed source.
Tombos was used as a colonial outpost. It probably supported an elite class that was trained in a martial and athletic tradition, adding complexity to its social milieu.
"The fact that Tombos was a colonial outpost might particularly mean that the elite had military and physical training," explained Aidan Dodson.
The findings at Tombos provide a significant contribution to our understanding of ancient Nubian society and its intricate social structures. This new study illuminates transformative changes in the treatment of the dead. Though it is an impressive engineering feat, it has the capacity of ruining future archaeological excavations and interpretations.
"All in all, this is a great study that will have an impact on future interpretations of new and old excavations and data," praised Julia Budka.
