A Trade Older than the PyramidsNot a single great pyramid escaped the attentions of the tomb-robbers. Soon after their burial the tomb-robbers went to work. However, the trade was already over a thousand years old by the time Khufu built his Great Pyramid at Giza. As Egyptian society became more complex and ruling elites arose, creating separate cemeteries for themselves at places such as Abydos, Hierakonpolis, and Naqada, so the opportunity and temptation arose to make a fast buck. Many tombs from the Naqada II period, c. 3,650 BC, have been found plundered at these famous early sites. The robbers often showed complete contempt for the individuals interred, ripping their bodies to bits to get to the glittering jewels that once adorned their bodies. The tombs of the first kings of Egypt at Umm el-Qa’ab, Abydos were not only robbed but show signs of burning. The great tombs of the First Dynasty high officials at Saqqara were also systematically robbed. Even in the provinces, at such sites as Kafr Hassan Dawood, one of the two great tombs was found with a robbers’ trench in the exact location where the local ruler’s body once lay.
by Geoffrey Tassie
I could support making the St. Louis Art Museum return the mask to Egypt. They can try to recover the purchase price.
most interesting!