3,000-year-old sword with Biblical origins is discovered in Egypt

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient sword in Egypt that is linked to a Biblical pharaoh.

The bronze blade, thought to be around 3,000 years old, has the markings of Ramesses II, hailed as the most powerful king of ancient Egypt.

Many scholars, as well as Hollywood movies, have suggested that Ramesses was the pharaoh who enslaved the Israelites in the Book of Exodus

As the story goes, Moses freed the group from the pharaoh’s control, then famously parted the Red Sea and delivered the Israelites to the Promise Land.

The sword was uncovered among the ruins of an ancient military fort in Housh Eissa, a city just south of Alexandria, which featured barracks for soldiers and storage rooms for food, weapons and other goods.

Ramesses, who ruled from 1279 to 1213BC, was known for his military power and strategic genius, leading an army of around 100,000 men strong.

The ancient sword likely did not belong to the famous king, but likely to one of his soldiers stationed at the fort, experts said.

Elizabeth Frood, an Oxford University Egyptologist who was not involved in the dig, told The Washington Post: ‘An object to bear the cartouches of Rameses II would suggest to me that it belonged to someone of relatively high rank.

‘To be able to display such an object, even though it would have been presumably in a scabbard, was a marker of status and prestige.’

The sword was uncovered at a site called Tell Al-Abqain, which experts said was ‘a crucial military outpost.’

Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online that the fortress protected ‘Egypt’s northwestern borders from potential invasions by Libyan tribes and Sea Peoples.’

Sea Peoples, groups of aggressive seafarers, were defeated by Ramesses III in 1178 BC when a tribe attempted to invade the country.

Archaeologists with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities also discovered a treasure trove of ancient wonders, including jewelry, scarabs and protective amulets.

‘In addition to the barracks, numerous artifacts and personal items belonging to soldiers were unearthed,’ the tourism ministry added. 

‘[These] artifacts provide insight into the daily lives, religious beliefs, and of the fort’s occupants.’

A pair of limestone blocks were also uncovered, one inscribed with the titles of King Ramses II and the other belonging to an official named ‘Bay.’

Ramesses was known by his successors as the ‘Great Ancestor’ for leading several military expeditions and expanding the Egyptian Empire to stretch from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south.

His most famous battle was the Battle of Kadesh, which occurred in 1247BC against the Hittites in what is now Syria.

Ramesses personally led the charge through the Hittite ranks with about 20,000 soldiers.

But what made the fight famous was that it was one of the world’s largest chariot battles and led to the first recorded peace treaty after the battle ended in a stalemate.

Details of the Battle of Kadesh have found etched in ancient stones, but another record has also been suggested to include the story of Ramesses – the Book of Exodus.

It begins with the Israelites enslaved in Egypt, before the pharaoh – coerced by 10 terrible plagues – agrees to release them after one of the plagues killed his son and Moses leads them across the miraculously-parted Red Sea.  

The weapon was discovered among the ruins of an ancient military fort that featured barracks and storage rooms

The team found other exciting artifacts at the site, including jewelry, scarabs and protective amulets

While no name is tied to the pharaoh in the Bible, scholars point to Exodus 1:11 in their argument.

The passage reads: ‘So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.’

Hollywood also pushed the theory in the 1956 film ‘The 10 Commandments’ by naming the pharaoh after the powerful king.

Regardless, Ramesses has fascinated scientists since his body was discovered in 1881 in a secret royal cache at Deir el-Bahari.

And some experts have used modern-day technology to bring the king’s face back from the dead. 

In 2022, Sahar Saleem of Cairo University and Caroline Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University used a 3D model of his skull, layering it with soft tissue and skin to recreate his look as the ruler of ancient Egypt.

They then reversed the ageing process, turning back the clock almost half a century and revealing what the team said was a ‘very handsome’ ruler.

A more recent facial reconstruction was conducted in June of this year, but see how Ramesses may have looked moments before his death.

Ramesses, who ruled from 1279 to 1213BC , was known for his military power and strategic genius, leading an army of around 100,000 men strong. He commissioned giant statues of himself that stood in Egypt for thousands of years

Ramesses II is also said to be the pharaoh mentioned in the Book of Exodus that tells the story of Moses freeing the Israelites from slavery and delivering them to the promise land

Using the same process as the 2022 research, the team produced a frail, elderly man with a weathered face.

Cicero Moraes, the Brazilian graphics expert behind the new recreation, said: ‘In the present study we carried out a very broad analysis, comparing the reconstructed face with statues of Ramesses. 

 ‘The objective was to understand to what extent the statues are reliable, as many imagine that compatibility would be good. ‘But we saw that this is not the case – the statues indicate good compatibility with the shape of the nose and even, in some situations, with the shape of the face.’

The statues of Ramesses II have a more delicate forehead and lips and a chin that are more pronounced, making the features in the image ‘insufficiently reliable.’

In 2022, researchers reconstrued the face of Ramesses when he ruled Egypt 

A more recent facial reconstruction was conducted in June of this year, but see how Ramesses may have looked moments before his death

‘We also analyzed anthropometric and DNA data from ancient Egyptian populations, and all paths seem to point to a population made up of many elements that are difficult to standardize,’ said Moraes.

The team chose a skin color palette that has been seen in ancient Egyptian art as the true hue is unknown.

The team also used information from a 1976 study of Ramesses’ mummified remains, found in 1881, which restored tissues and created new bandages.

The study also determined that Ramesses II had a pronounced overbite, and his teeth were significantly worn.

The pharaoh also had poor dental and bone health, mainly due to an abscess, which would have caused him a lot of pain.

Despite the king having a long life, his muscles showed signs of memory loss, and he had very pronounced veins on his forehead,’ Moraes and his team shared.

The team wanted to depict the aging alignments in the recreation of the king.

They compiled data from hundreds of modern Egyptians to reveal the likely thickness of the pharaoh’s skin at different places across his skull.

Another technique was anatomical deformation, in which the face and skull of a living donor – who also had a pronounced overbite – was digitally altered to match the mummy’s dimensions.

The end result interpolated these approaches, before ageing it appropriately, and adding subjective elements like clothing. It reveals what Moraes called a ‘wise’ face.