Mysterious Egyptian Tomb May Be From Lost “Abydos” Dynasty

It never rains but it pours when it comes to the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, said nobody ever, but the metaphor certainly seems appropriate at the moment. A month ago we reported on the first discovery of an Egyptian Royal tomb (from a period of united Egypt) in a century, then a hoped-for second a week later. And now there’s a third tomb.

This one is a little different, though. The first two discoveries are thought to be associated with Pharaoh Thutmose II, an eighteenth dynasty who ruled during the so called New Kingdom (still very old) of ancient Egypt, during the 15th century BC.

The New Kingdom was ancient Egypt’s last golden age, a time of monolithic monuments, walls covered in hieroglyphs, and lots and lots of depictions of people in profile. But the new find, as reported by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, was from an altogether murkier period of Egyptian history.

It is generally agreed that Egyptian history can be split into sections: three periods of a united Egypt, the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, separated by two “intermediate” periods of dynastic infighting, fractured loyalties, rival pharaohs and general skullduggery.

This new find is believed to be from one of the most interesting moments of the Second Intermediate Period, which ran from 1700 to 1550 BC. During this time Egypt split into multiple rival states, with the upper (southern) Nile lost to the Kush and the fifteenth and sixteenth dynasties vying for control over the northern stretch of the river and the Nile Delta.

Two rival dynasties, or maybe three. Since the 1990s a theory has been floating around that there may have been a third dynasty, contemporaneous with the other two for about a century. This mysterious dynasty from a time of few records is known now as the “Abydos Dynasty” for the disappointingly prosaic reason that these pharaohs lived and died in Abydos. And it is in Abydos, in the Mount Anubis Acropolis, that the new “royal” tomb has been found.

Dr. Joseph Wagner, head of the Egyptian-American mission working in Abydos, describes the tomb: “the royal tomb was found at a depth of approximately 7 meters below ground level. It consists of a limestone burial chamber covered with mudbrick vaults originally reaching a height of approximately 5 meters. Remains of inscriptions are found on either side of the entrance leading to the burial chamber for the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, along with yellow inscription bands that once bore the king’s name in hieroglyphs.”

Is this an Abydos pharaoh? Is it proof that the Abydos pharaohs were even real, a question which remains far from answered? And if not, why is there the tomb of a pharaoh in Abydos?

Actually, this is the second royal tomb found here. In 2014 the tomb of Pharaoh Senebkay, also believed to be an Abydos pharaoh, was found at Mount Anubis, as were a further eight tombs belonging to the royal family. But the tomb of Senebkay and the others were relatively modest, whereas this new discovery is much larger and more grand.

Not everyone is convinced that Senebkay is an Abydos pharaoh, just as not everyone is convinced that the Abydos pharaohs existed at all. But this new, much grander discovery seriously strengthens the likelihood that the Abydos pharaohs were real.

We don’t have an authoritative list of pharaohs of the Abydos dynasty, obviously, but there are several fragmentary sources which may provide us with a partial list of names. It has been theorized that Senebkay was one of the earlier pharaohs of this line, but the only thing we can say about the pharaoh of the newly discovered tomb is that he came even earlier.

It is hoped that, as more details come to light from this new discovery, we may learn more about this lost but powerful pharaoh, and that maybe we will definitively solve the mystery of the Abydos pharaohs.

Header Image: The excavated royal tomb at Abydos, and (inset) the burial chamber). Source: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.