An illustration showing Egyptian women practicing archery and hunting. Credit: AI-generated/ZME Science.

The popular image of an ancient Egyptian princess is one of luxury, ceremony, and courtly life; the pampered life of royalty. Yet bows, arrows, and even daggers have long been found in the tombs of some royal women, raising an intriguing question for archaeologists: were these weapons merely symbols of status, or evidence that the women actually used them?

A new study may have found the answer in the women’s bones. By examining the skeletons of princesses buried nearly 4,000 years ago beneath the pyramids of Dahshur, researchers found evidence of repeated archery practice, as shown by healed injuries and other physical signs consistent with weapon use.

“Our study strongly suggests that members of the royal family, especially the women, were active participants in skilled, physically demanding activities such as archery and hunting,” Zeinab Hashesh, first author of the study and an archaeologist at Beni Suef University, said.

Separating symbolism from real life Caption
(A) Dagger of Princess Ita, courtesy of the Egyptian Museum; (B) Arrows of Princess Noub Hotep, courtesy of Eman Shawky.

Ancient Egyptian royals were famously buried with objects intended to accompany them into the afterlife, including jewelry, food, clothing, and weapons. 

As these grave goods frequently carried religious, political, and symbolic meanings, determining how they related to a person’s actual life has long been a challenge for archaeologists. This is why a weapon buried alongside a princess does not necessarily mean she ever used it. Perhaps a royal female was buried alongside a dagger because the weapon symbolized power or protection in the afterlife, but this doesn’t tell you much more.

To get rid of this confusion, researchers investigated a source of evidence that cannot be easily staged or symbolically embellished: the skeleton itself.

The team reexamined six royal individuals excavated from the Dahshur necropolis in the 1890s and rediscovered during a curation project at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in 2020 after effectively disappearing within museum collections for decades. 

Four of the individuals were daughters of Pharaoh Amenemhat II—Princesses Ita, Khenmet, Itaweret, and a woman provisionally identified as Sathathormeryt. The sisters were buried in matching underground chambers, with Ita next to Khenmet and Itaweret alongside the woman believed to be Sathathormeryt. The group also included Princess Noub-Hotep and King Hor.

Earlier excavations recorded bows, arrows, maces, and an ornate dagger among the grave goods, objects traditionally associated with male elites in ancient Egypt.

Although the mummies’ soft tissues had deteriorated and the princesses’ skulls had been lost more than a century ago, many other bones remained well preserved. 

The researchers combined detailed skeletal examinations with X-ray imaging to estimate age, sex, stature, disease history, injuries, and patterns of physical activity.

They paid particular attention to skeletal features that reveal how muscles and ligaments repeatedly interacted with bone during life. What the researchers found was difficult to reconcile with the image of secluded royal women.

Several of the princesses displayed unusually robust muscle and ligament attachment sites, particularly in their upper limbs. It’s the kind of wear you’d expect from practicing archery.

“We found pronounced development in the upper limbs of these individuals, which correlates to repetitive, high-intensity actions like pulling a bowstring or stabilizing a weapon,” Hashesh said.

The findings suggest these activities were repeated throughout the women’s lives rather than performed occasionally.

For instance, Princess Ita, who died between the ages of 28 and 34, showed strong upper-body muscle attachments that may reflect habitual weapon use. Princess Khenmet, who died in her late 30s or 40s, exhibited thinning bones but retained notably strong ligament attachments. Princess Itaweret, aged between roughly 20 and 34 at death, showed skeletal features associated with skilled archery.

Interestingly, similar skeletal signatures linked to archery were also identified in Princess Noub-Hotep and King Hor, suggesting that weapon training practiced by some royal women may have overlapped with those traditionally associated with elite men.

Taken together, “this directly explains the presence of bows, arrows, and maces in the women’s tombs; these were not just symbolic gifts but tools they actively used,” Hashesh said.

Injuries reveal another side of royal life Pathological lesions and enthesial changes of Ita, (A) porosity and marginal lipping in the left glenoid cavity, lateral view, (B) slight lipping on the right articulation of the twelfth thoracic and the first lumbar vertebrae (C) septal aperture in the right humerus, anterior view, (D) Opponenes digiti mini muscle attachment robustness in Ita left fifth metacarpal, lateral view. (E) abnormal bone formation on the anterior aspect of the left distal femur, anterior view, (F) Costoclavicular ligament robustness in princess Ita right clavicle, inferior view, (G) Interosseous membrane robustness in princess Ita ulnae, lateral view. Credit: Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.

The skeletons also revealed that these women were no strangers to physical hardship. Itaweret survived fractures to both her ribs and foot, while several individuals showed evidence of infections and nutritional stress.

“These injuries were most likely caused by accidents, falls, hard blows, or other impacts linked to an active lifestyle, whether through hunting, military training, or other demanding activities. What is remarkable is that the injuries healed well, which suggests they had access to advanced medical care for their time,” Hashesh added.

Another intriguing finding came from the sisters’ spines. Several shared rare spinal abnormalities, a pattern that is sometimes caused by family interbreeding, which was common within Egypt’s royal families, where marriages between relatives were not unusual.

Rewriting assumptions about royal women

The study does not suggest that all elite Egyptian women were warriors, nor can it prove exactly how each princess used the weapons buried beside her. The loss of the skulls also limits what researchers can learn about the individuals, and future stable isotope analyses may provide additional clues about their diets, health, and upbringing.

Even so, in this case, the evidence indicates that at least some Middle Kingdom royal women were not defined solely by ceremonial or domestic roles. 

Their skeletons point to lives that involved physical training, outdoor activity, and perhaps participation in pursuits long assumed to belong primarily to men.

The researchers hope future studies will reconstruct more complete biographies of the Dahshur royals, combining skeletal evidence with artifacts, historical records, and new analytical techniques. 

For now, the study offers a reminder that some of the most revealing clues about the ancient world may come not from the treasures buried in royal tombs, but from the people themselves.

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.