Coverage dated October 5, 2026

Skulls of Civilians Buried Around Egypt's First Kings Reveal Evidence of Human Sacrifice 5,000 Years Ago

Headline from Science Alert

You might have read somewhere that in ancient Egypt, royalty were often buried with people...

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Reports & sources

3 articles, oldest first.

  1. Phys

    Modern forensics reveals human sacrifice in ancient Egypt's royal burials (opens Phys)

    Published

    Phys's feed description

    Over 500 years before the building of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, First Dynasty kings were buried in a tomb surrounded by many burials of household officials and artisans—many of which seem to have taken place at the same time, a suspiciously high number of simultaneous deaths.

  2. Science Alert

    Skulls of Civilians Buried Around Egypt's First Kings Reveal Evidence of Human Sacrifice 5,000 Years Ago (opens Science Alert)

    Published

    Science Alert's feed description

    You might have read somewhere that in ancient Egypt, royalty were often buried with people...

  3. Gizmodo

    Skulls Reveal Evidence of Human Sacrifice in Egypt 5,000 Years Ago (opens Gizmodo)

    Published

    Gizmodo's feed description

    Royal tombs at Abydos were surrounded by numerous other burials. In the 1920s, an Egyptologist questioned whether all those people could have died naturally at the same time.

Skulls of Civilians Buried Around Egypt's First Kings Reveal Evidence of Human Sacrifice 5,000 Years Ago | Since Then