Archaeologists Finally Solved Egypt’s Hand Mystery

**New Video Out Now: How did the Roman Invasion of Britain destroy the health of local people? Find out here:    • Archaeological Evidence Rewrites The Roman...   ** Why did the Egyptians cut off peoples hands? New archaeological discoveries at Avaris, the Hyksos capital, suggest that scenes once seen in Egyptian art may have been horrifyingly real. Pits full of human hands were carefully buried in palace courtyards, pointing to a brutal wartime system where enemy hands could be exchanged for gold in a process of ‘Gold of Honour’ or ‘Gold of Valour’. In this video, we explore the Hyksos, the foreign rulers of northern Egypt, the evidence for hand burials, and what this reveals about warfare in the ancient world. Gresky, Julia, et al. "First osteological evidence of severed hands in Ancient Egypt." Scientific Reports 13.1 (2023): 5239. Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159... Candelora, Danielle. "Grisly trophies: Severed hands and the egyptian military reward system." Near Eastern Archaeology 84.3 (2021): 192-199. Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/716230 Thanks to Glenn Parry for letting me use some photos. Social Media: Follow me on Twitter/X: https://x.com/DrHughT Follow me on Instagram:   / drhught   #AncientEgypt #Hyksos #Archaeology #History #Egyptology #AncientHistory #BronzeAge #AncientMysteries #digdeeper #HughThomas #DrHughT