Mummy analysis reveals pharaoh was 'brutally killed in battle'

A new study has reconstructed the final moments in the life of Pharaoh Senebkay, an early king in the Abydos Dynasty from 1650 to 1600 B.C.E. The results aren't pretty.

Woseribre Senebkay was "brutally killed in battle" more than 3,600 years ago, Discovery News reports. Before last year, historians didn't know about Senebkay's existence, but a University of Pennsylvania expedition found Senebkay's remains in a tomb in Egypt's Sohag province. Now, scientists have been able to reconstruct the king's dying moments, "blow by blow."

Researchers found 18 wounds on Senebkay's bones, and the forensic analysis indicates that he "suffered a shocking number of wounds before he died in a vicious assault from multiple assailants," according to Discovery News. The skeleton indicated "major cuts to his feet, ankles, and lower back," as well as multiple blows to the skull, in the shape of battle axes from Egypt's Second Intermediate Period, Josef Wegner, who led the expedition, told Discovery News.

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The analysis also revealed that Senebkay was elevated, likely on horseback or in a chariot, when he was killed. The researchers believe Senebkay was the earliest Egyptian pharoah to die in battle.