Examination Shows Pharaoh Senebkay Was Killed in Battle
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA—The Luxor Times reports that an examination of the skeletal remains of Senebkay, discovered in Abydos last year by Josef Wegner and a team from the University of Pennsylvania, recorded 18 injuries to his bones, including vertical cuts to his feet, ankles, and lower back. It is thought that the king, whose family ruled from 1650 to 1600 B.C., died in battle between the ages of 35 and 49. The wounds to his ankles and feet suggest that he was on horseback when he was attacked from below at close range, and then knocked to the ground and killed with ax wounds to his cranium. The researchers also say that he was mummified long after death, suggesting that he was killed far away from home, perhaps in battle with the Hyksos, who occupied Lower Egypt at the time. To read in-depth about Abydos from the archives of ARCHAEOLOGY, see "Ancient Abydos."
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