{"id":62833,"date":"2026-07-17T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2579773-auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T04:00:00","slug":"ancient-egyptian-princesses-buried-with-weapons-may-have-been-fighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2026\/07\/17\/ancient-egyptian-princesses-buried-with-weapons-may-have-been-fighters\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Egyptian princesses buried with weapons may have been fighters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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The dagger buried with Princess Ita<\/div>
Sameh Abdel Mohsen<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ancient Egyptian princesses were probably trained in using bows and daggers and put themselves at risk of serious injury. Rediscovering mummies from about 3800 years ago has revealed that some of these women had enlarged bones in their arms and bowing of the bones in their palms, which suggests they were active users of the weapons they were often buried with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey carried their bows and daggers into the afterlife not just as ornaments, but as testaments to the active, resilient and powerful lives they led,\u201d says Zeinab Hashesh<\/a> at the University of Beni-Suef in Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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Archaeologists are unearthing the most powerful women who ever lived<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Weapons have been found buried with women from many cultures<\/a> throughout history. But there has been much debate about whether this was symbolic or meant the women used them.<\/p>\n

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