This stone object was discovered in the tomb of Sabu in the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt.Image credit: Alain Guilleux / Alamy
Posted on 09/06/2025 10:59:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
This delicate stone vessel was discovered in 1936 in the tomb of Sabu, an ancient Egyptian official buried in the Saqqara necropolis during the first dynasty period. When it was found, the disk was in pieces. It has since been reconstructed and is in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Sabu's mastaba, a rectangular tomb with sloping walls and a flat roof, was excavated by British Egyptologist Walter Emery. In his publication describing the Saqqara tombs, Emery wrote that the burial chamber had been looted for its jewelry and precious metals. But Sabu's skeleton was intact inside a wooden coffin, and his tomb was filled with dozens of stone and pottery vessels, flint and copper tools, the remains of two oxen, and a unique bowl.
Emery described the Sabu Disk as an ornamental tri-lobed bowl that measured 24 inches (61 centimeters) in diameter and 3.9 inches (10 cm) tall. The bowl was carved out of metasiltstone, a sedimentary rock that has undergone some metamorphism...
The Sabu Disk's unique design has led to numerous theories about the item's purpose, ranging from part of a water turbine to a piece of a hyperdrive from an alien spaceship. One recent theory even suggests the disk was used as a "mash tun," a vessel that holds grain and hot water for making beer.
But the most likely explanation is that the Sabu Disk had a similar purpose as other wide, flat bowls in ancient Egyptian culture: It probably held food or oil. The delicate nature of the metasiltstone and carving, though, suggests that the bowl was not for everyday use and may have been placed in Sabu's tomb as an offering for the afterlife.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha:
The Tri-Lobed Disc in the Tomb of Sabu and the Basins at the Sun Temple Were for Beer | Akio Kato | Kanagawa University | DOI: 10.4236/ad.2022.101002Abstract: We propose that the Tri-Lobed Disc excavated from the Tomb of Prince Sabu (about 3000 BC, First Dynasty) was used in brewing beer as a mash rake to mix and even out the mixture of grains and hot water in a fairly big mash tun. Two observations which support this idea are presented in Section 1, and why the Disc works efficiently in mashing is explained in Section 2. We also propose in Section 3 our idea about how the Tri-Lobed Disc was made, and actually made its metal model to experiment and observe the flow around the Disc. About a would-be big “royal” mash tun of Prince Sabu is discussed in Section 4, and as a by-product of searching for any remains of ancient Egyptian mash tuns, we uncover in Section 5 that the large basins at the Sun Temple of Nyuserre (about 2400 BC, Fifth Dynasty) were such remains for ritual beer brewing. This reinterpretation succeeds in explaining almost all of their functions.
This stone object was discovered in the tomb of Sabu in the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt.Image credit: Alain Guilleux / Alamy
A good test would be to drop it on a hard surface and see if it would break.
Early spinner wheelz?
After all, “We wuz kangs, and could fly!”
Wonder what their version of a grape flavored Phillie blunt was back then?
From one of those chariots of the gods?
It’s a Heisenberg Compensator.
Civ, any thoughts on if a car with combustion engine was looted ?
Looks like an impeller /agitator.
Kinda looks like it’s for making rope
Looks kinda like an Egyptian screw for moving water...
They’re saying it was already broken into pieces and they glued it back together and it’s probably just an ornate bowel.
This seems faked to me.
Well sure, its a hubcap...bet it belonged to his son, Sabu-ru.
It does look like something to twist cord into rope. But is the material strong enough for that purpose
It looks like something that would be used to spread grain or water.
it’s probably just an ornate bowel.
——-
I think you’re full of crap!
That sure looks like metal, to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
