Cairo, Egypt-ZME Science Zainab Hashesh of Beni Suef University and her colleagues examined the bones of six individuals who were buried beneath the pyramids of Dahshur about 4,000 years ago, the report said. Four of them were daughters of Pharaoh Amenemhat II, identified as Princesses Ita, Khenemet, Itaweret, and possibly Satathormerit. The other two individuals have been identified as Princess Nub-hotep and King Hor. Records of nineteenth-century excavations show that bows, arrows, maces, and a decorated dagger were recovered from the graves where these remains were found. When Hashesh and his colleagues examined the skeletons with X-rays, they found healed injuries and evidence of repeated archery practice on the bones of several royal women. “Our study strongly suggests that members of the royal family, particularly women, were active participants in skilled, physically demanding activities such as archery and hunting,” Hashesh said. Princess Ita and Princess Itaveret had strong upper body muscles, which may reflect habitual weapon use, he said. And although Princess Khenmet’s bones had become thin at the time of her death, they still retained strong ligament attachments. Analysis of the skeletons of Princess Nub-hotep and King Hor also shows that they engaged in weapons training. Hashesh and colleagues concluded that the weapons found in the women’s graves were likely tools that were actively used, rather than simply symbolic gifts for use in the afterlife. Read the original scholarly article about this research Frontiers in Environmental Archeology. To read about the life of ruler Ahhotep, visit “”first queen of egypt“
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