What Scientists Found Analyzing Egyptian Tombs With Advanced Technology
It gives us a small look at the great afterlife industry within Egypt
Technology has colored our view of what “old” truly is. In an age when things are complete with the flip of a switch — and an endless 24-hour news cycle — we’ve lost a certain touch with time.
In fact, my first car is now considered a classic. While that makes me feel ancient, it’s far from old. For instance, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica the discipline of Egyptology began in the early nineteenth century.
So, that’s about two hundred years. In our time, we’d consider that old. But the culture Egyptology studies staggers our present imagination by stretching back over six thousand years.
In other words, as Alexander the Great strolled through Egypt in 332BC, he was likely looking at structures built further back from his time than the conqueror is from us today. Now, that’s “old.” But since we’re this far into the mental exercise, let’s go even further.
As we think of Egypt, usually pyramids occupy our thoughts, or a pharaoh-like figure painted on a wall next to hieroglyphics. All very formal, iconic, and proper. But was it really this way?
A group of researchers recently took some very sophisticated equipment into a couple Egyptian tombs to analyze paintings on the walls, made thousands of years ago. They detailed their findings in an article in Plos One.
What they found challenges current narratives. It also gives us a deeper vision of practices within the Egyptian culture stretching over six thousand years. Namely, what this continuity created in the form of religion, and a sort of death and afterlife industry within the economy.
Our journey begins in the Theban Necropolis.
More Than Just Pharaohs And Kings
According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiques, the necropolis of the ancient city of Thebes was in use throughout the Middle and New Kingdom (about 2,000 to 1,000 BC). But its residents aren’t exactly who we’d expect.
While it was the home to the Valley of the Kings (pharaohs), the researchers explain there was a separate area for high-ranking officials who also sought the afterlife as well. Moreover, these tombs weren’t simple.
They had an underground vault for the mummified official, but also an open chapel for priests and family members to make offerings long after death. They were elaborately decorated too, like a ruler’s tomb. Painted images and hieroglyphics covered the walls.
Two of these tombs (the chapel of Menna and the chapel of Nakhtamun) were the target of the researcher’s study.
The team brought in XRF (X-ray fluorescence) machines. They measure fluorescence, or secondary X-rays emitted when a sample is excited with primary X-rays. This allows you to analyze what materials a sample is made of without damaging what you’re studying. They also used a twenty-four M-Pixel camera for detailed analysis, among other tools.
The researchers point out previously Egyptologists analyzed Egyptian art by studying unfinished pieces to see how they were made. They also brought moveable items into labs. But in this case XRF machines were brought into the tombs themselves.
While many believe the Egyptian art process was always formulaic and conventional, the analysis found something different.
Paint, Change Your Mind, Then Paint Again
The first picture you saw in this article was the wall relief from Menna’s Tomb. You’ll notice he only has two arms. Although a bit of a shadow appears next to his right, and there’s a good reason it does.
The XRF analysis shows for some reason, the artists covered up the original arm and moved it. Furthermore, they did it in a weird way.
The researchers indicate instead of covering up the arm with white background color and starting over again, a new arm was painted out of the old arm. The excess was just covered. However, this did make the double-painted section of the arm darker.
Analysis of the color also shows different mixtures of paint were used in the image. The paper indicates it was originally thought the work was split between “at least four different draughtsman-scribes,” and “the decoration of a tomb was, in general the work of several people working in parallel.” But the chemical analysis tells a different story. The researchers say:
“We observe so many modifications that it is difficult to consider this segmented process was in use. This could suggest that the tomb was indeed constructed and decorated over a prolonged period of time with a significant number of people involved in the process of creating and modifying the wall paintings.”
The team found similar alterations in a painting of Ramesses II in the chapel of the official Nakhtamun. The pharaoh’s scepter, crown piece, and necklace were modified. The team thinks the original artwork was changed to make the accessories look like items from an earlier time.
It could possibly mean Nakhtamun was a servant of Ramesses II after he lived, taking care of his needs and memory in the afterlife. The picture originally reflected the style of the twentieth dynasty, but was retouched to show the accessories of a nineteenth dynasty pharaoh.
Overall, the team admits they only analyzed two tombs, but randomly finding such alterations does point to a different view of Egyptian art. They say:
“Characterized by the Moderns as highly formalized, Egyptian art relied, on the one hand, on a structured workflow while on the other, it is also evident that workshop practices could vary significantly in the framework of this reconstructed and theoretical workflow.”
But I think it points to something even greater — us “Moderns” — with our short time horizons can’t possibly grasp.
The Power Of The Afterlife Industry
“Beneath and above everything in Egypt was religion. We find it in every stage and form, from totemism to theology. We see its influence in literature, government, art, and everything...its gods were almost as numerous as in India.”
— Will Durant, “Heroes of History”
Historian Will Durant explains there was a dual power structure in ancient Egypt. The pharaoh promoted the religious power of priests, who in turn promoted their ruler as being divine. Culturally, this cycle continued for thousands, upon thousands of years.
Well, until Amenhotep IV in 1353BC, who tried to create the first monotheistic culture we know of on the planet. This pharaoh believed all should only worship the god Aten, the sun disk, which gave life to all other things. He even changed his name to Akhenaten, which means “effective for the Aten.”
Now, think of everything we’ve examined. Not only are rulers and priests involved in religious ritual, but countless officials, endless groups of artists, scribes, and architects — many of whom make a living from this.
These groups not only cater to the living, but also the dead, and it feeds their families. Moreover, the entire culture is built around this life and afterlife industry. So, what happens when it’s suddenly changed?
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According to Alastair Sooke’s article in the Guardian, Akhenaten was branded a traitor after his death and the city he created abandoned. His name was also destroyed — removed from official lists of kings, with his sarcophagus defaced.
Oddly, his son Tutankhamun (King Tut) likely led the effort, putting their world back to normal. With this in mind, let’s go back to the scientific analysis.
What The Study With Modern Technology Shows Us
The researchers’ work indicates that Egyptian art could be highly formalized, but there’s something hidden under the paint. Technique and workflow could vary. Furthermore, mistakes might be more common than we imagine.
However, it does also point to an incredible afterlife industry — not only within art — but within everything Egyptian. In fact, it was the basis of their culture. Not on our brief time horizons of hundreds of years, but about six thousand years.
One could only imagine what kind of effect this has on a people. It must seep into everything: architecture, language, art, economy, and ideas. Logically, this helps you understand the reaction to Akhenaten.
It also blows away our current interpretation of “old,” making us rethink the concept as modified by our quick-moving world.
-Originally posted on Medium 7/16/23