Ancient Egyptian princesses wielded powerful weapons, study finds

Analysis of ancient Egyptian princesses suggests they were more than passive figures; new research indicates some royal women were skilled weapon users. The findings challenge long-held views of gender roles in ancient Egypt.

Princess Ita’s dagger is a striking artifact, adorned with gold and lapis lazuli. The ceremonial blade was discovered in the princess’s tomb at Dahshur, south of Cairo, dating to roughly 1900 B.C.E. Historians previously classified such items as symbolic objects for the afterlife, unlikely to be used as practical tools by women.

However, a new archeological analysis suggests elite royal women may have been physically active and trained in combat. Zeinab Hashesh, lead author of the study and an associate professor at Beni-Suef University, states that the findings reveal a disciplined environment where women were powerful actors. The princesses’ remains were not extensively studied until recently. Jacques de Morgan excavated the tomb in the late 1800s, but Ita and other royal women were largely overlooked for over a century.

Some of these remains were “rediscovered” when they turned up in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2020. Hashesh and her team used this opportunity to reconstruct the women’s lives by analyzing their skeletal remains, a method they refer to as “osteobiographies.”

Physical Evidence of Training

The researchers examined the internal bone structure and muscle attachment sites to determine if the skeletons supported the presence of weapons found beside them. Hashesh notes that the princesses were “active ritual agents” whose lives involved disciplined physical strength. In Princess Ita’s case, her muscle attachments strongly reflect the habitual gripping of weapons like daggers or maces.

Princess Noub-Hotep provided the most definitive evidence for an “archer’s grip.” Her skeleton shows a unique bowing of a hand bone, which Hashesh sees as a clear sign of having to draw a bow. Meanwhile, Princess Itaweret appeared to have survived significant trauma to her ribs and feet bones, indicating a high-risk, active lifestyle.

Practical application of these findings implies that the concept of the “gentle princess” is an oversimplification of ancient life. If the skeletal evidence is accurate, the physical demands placed on these royal women suggest a level of athleticism and martial capability that was previously underestimated. This challenges the assumption that upper-class Egyptian women were strictly sedentary, suggesting instead a rigorous training regimen that would be recognized in modern athletic circles.

Controversy and Skepticism

The study faces skepticism from some in the field. Sébastien Villotte, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), found the analysis “interesting” but argued that the claim of martial involvement remains speculative. He noted that the authors provide limited biomechanical or biomedical evidence to substantiate their conclusions.