Archaeologists found a bone whistle used by ancient Egyptian guards to warn of grave robbers, shedding light on how royal tombs were protected.
The whistle made from a cow’s toe bone was recovered from an archaeological site of the 18th Dynasty city of Akhenaten in Middle Egypt, dating from 1350-1330BC.
Although excavations at the site have been underway since the 1970s, recent digs have uncovered two isolated settlements of the dynasty.
The settlements likely housed the stonecutters and labourers who built the rock-cut tombs of the nearby royal cemetery.
These areas and their connecting roadway circuits appear to have been policed heavily.
In one of these roadways, archaeologists found what might once have been a storage building or a place for the guards to sleep.
Here, they recovered an ancient perforated cow toe bone.
“This object fits with ideas that this community was heavily policed because of their proximity to the royal cemetery and likely connection to work on the royal tombs,” researchers said.
While ancient cultures across the world made use of cow bones to create ornaments and dice for different board games, the one found at the guard building didn’t seem to fit into any of these categories.
An experimental recreation of the artefact revealed the bone might serve as a whistle, capable of producing a loud screeching tone that could be heard a long distance away.
Researchers suspect the whistle may have been used to signal or warn other guards. It also adds to the understanding of the “soundscape” of ancient Egypt, scientists said.
While previous research on the tombs, paintings, and other ancient works has revealed various musical instruments popularly used during the time, this could be the first finding of a whistle from the time.
“Significantly, this object is the first of its kind identified in a dynastic context and demonstrates the potential insights that wait to be gained from intensive examination of Egypt's osseous technologies,” researchers wrote.
However, the exact use of the toe bone artefact remains unclear as most ancient texts from Egypt are about the lives of royals and elites, with the everyday lives of common folk understudied and underpublished.
“Despite over 200 years of intensive academic interest in Pharaonic Egypt, little focus has been given to understanding the production, use, and diversity of the osseous material culture created by this enigmatic culture,” researchers wrote.
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