Metal objects found in Nubian graves show that ordinary people once had some access to gold and bronze, but that access shrank sharply as Egyptian rule tightened about 3,500 years ago, according to a new study.
Researchers Matei Tichindelean of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Rennan Lemos of Durham University in Britain reported the findings in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal. They studied the Fadrus cemetery in Debeira, in what is now northern Sudan. The site was excavated before the area flooded after the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s.
Egypt’s early interest in the region centered on controlling desert routes to gold mines in the Eastern Desert. Fadrus is one of the largest and best-excavated burial grounds for non-elite people of the era. Only 102 of about 680 excavated graves held metal, a sign that it was not widely available.
Testing 61 objects shows gold and bronze slipping from Nubian graves
The researchers used a portable X-ray device to test 61 gold, silver, and copper-based objects, along with items from the tomb of Amenemhat, a local chief. Thirty-two of the 61 came from simple graves tied to everyday people.
Before the reign of Hatshepsut, simple graves held a wide mix of metals. Under Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, bronze became far more common, while gold and silver finds in those graves dropped sharply.
Bronze, which requires tin, was hard to get in Nubia. Bronze jewelry appeared mostly in wealthy graves, with only four examples in simple ones, and metal vessels turned up only in wealthy tombs. The researchers said this suggests officials controlled tin and the skills needed to make bronze.
The Nubian graves also show ordinary families working around limits on gold and bronze. One earring was made of lead to look like silver, and some copper earrings were coated in gold. Every gold and silver earring and pendant analyzed came from simple graves, which the researchers said challenges the idea of total official control.
Rare masks and coffins show limits pushed, but only so far
A few people went further. Tomb 185/274 held a mask decorated with a gold, silver, and copper mix, and tomb 185/636 held a coffin with bronze eye outlines.
The researchers linked the later decline to changes under local leaders Djehutyhotep and Amenemhat, who worked with Egyptian authorities. They said it is unclear whether trade problems or deliberate policy caused the shortages.
They also cautioned that the X-ray method reads only an object’s surface, so the results show trends, not exact measurements. In the end, most people’s efforts were not enough to change their low status, the study concluded.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
