In a gruesome exchange about 3,600 years ago, the severed right hands of at least 12 individuals were traded for gold and then buried in a royal palace in ancient Egypt, a new study finds.
At the time the hands were deposited, the Hyksos, a group of people who originated from Asia, controlled part of Egypt and ruled during the 15th dynasty from Avaris. These severed remains were likely seen as trophies and handed over during a public event at the palace, the researchers said. They theorized that the Hyksos may have introduced the practice to Egypt and that other Egyptian rulers later adopted it. There are no Egyptian records of this practice occurring prior to the Hyksos period, the researchers noted in the paper.
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