We tend to think that tombs in Egypt, that have been discovered, are explored right away. Nothing could be further from the truth. Well I guess I shouldn't say nothing could be further, but let me put it this way. Sometimes tombs that are known, lay undisturbed for quite a while before they are finally opened. Such is the case of the tomb of Elkab's governor. His tomb was discovered in the 19th century, yet it lay undisturbed until recently. Can you imagine this, a known tomb that didn't generate enough interest to be explored. The walls of the tomb were finally cleaned, and lo and behold, it was discovered that Egypt had been attacked. This attack was unknown in history. The only reason the tomb was opened, was that it had begun to deteriorate and archeologists were afraid they would lose a valuable asset. But what country had dared to attack Egypt? It seems it was the Kingdom of Kush. Today Kush is Sudan. Historical records indicate that there was tension between Egypt and Kush but there is no mention of war.

Egypt
Photo Source: PD cd

The inscription on the wall of the tomb, that indicated the attack, might have been missed if it had not been for the work of Egyptian and British Archeologists. When they got inside the tomb the walls were covered with soot and dirt, so they decided to clean the walls in case anything of interest was written on them. It is a lucky thing that they did, because if they hadn't we would have never known about this war. The attack took place during the 17th dynasty which was between 1575-1525 BC. Apparently what happened was Egypt was attacked but they counter attacked and drove the attackers out of Egypt.

A bit of history, King Kamose lived in the 17th dynasty and he was trying to reunite Egypt by continuing the war his father had started against Apophis the foreign Hyksos king. He was successful and pushed Apophis back to his Nile Delta city of Avoris. Apophis had called upon the king of Kush for help but didn't succeed. This may somehow be tied in to the attack on Egypt.

Sphinx
Photo Source: PD cd

The mystery is why are there no other records of the attack besides those inside the wall of the tomb. The Egyptians kept records of everything else, even how much they paid each of their soldiers. When asked about this, an archeologist stated that this was completely unparalleled.

Religious texts were usually found near the body in Egyptian tombs but the inscription about the attack was part of a list of events that the tomb's occupant had experienced in his life time. But why would this inscription appear in this spot? Further investigation turned up a vessel in the Sudan that was a late addition to the tomb. This proved that the tomb was already created and finished by the time of the invasion and it may have been that the area where the inscription was written was the only space left on the walls.

Tomb
Photo Source: PD cd

The inscription served to show that not only were the Hyksos a great enemy of Egypt at the time, but the Kush were also. This has the effect of changing Egyptian history.

When the archeologists entered the tomb they were saddened to find that not only grime soot was all over it, but that bat dung and bee hives were everywhere. Total dedication was need to accomplish this cleaning because even the air was foul and full of bat waste.

All this makes one wonder what other wars were fought on this planet that we now have no idea of. The ancient native people of North America were constantly at war with each other as were the tribes in Africa, Asia, Europe and most everywhere else. Will we come across more records that show ancient wars? It is very possible that this could happen.

Temple
Photo Source: PD cd