Este cavalo de 3.000 anos de idade tem um enterro de estilo humano

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | April 26, 2018 05:43pm ET

Discovered in 2011, the ancient remains of a chariot-pulling horse were found in a tomb more than five feet underground.

Credit: Schrader et al./Antiquity Journal, doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.239

Há mais de 3.000 anos, no vale do rio Nilo, um corpo foi cuidadosamente preparado para o enterro cerimonial. Foi envolvido em uma mortalha e colocado em uma tumba, cercado por objetos importantes que demonstraram seu status elevado.

Os presentes provavelmente tinham rostos longos ao enviarem seu ente querido para um descanso eterno. Mas o rosto mais longo de todos provavelmente pertencia ao ocupante do túmulo - um cavalo puxador de carruagens, que era importante o suficiente para merecer um enterro ornamentado, normalmente reservado a pessoas de alto escalão. Os cientistas descobriram o cavalo pela primeira vez em 2011 em Tombos, um local localizado no Vale do Nilo, no que é hoje o Sudão. O esqueleto data de cerca de 949 a.C., e acredita-se que seja o esqueleto de cavalo mais competitivo daquele período já encontrado, de acordo com um novo estudo descrevendo a sepultura e seu conteúdo, publicado on-line em 25 de abril no Antiquity Journal.

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Os antigos egípcios estabeleceram Tombos por volta de 1450 a.C. como um posto avançado estrangeiro no reino rival da Núbia. A cidade mais tarde surgiu como uma importante comunidade núbia depois de se retirar do domínio egípcio. Artefatos descobertos em sítios arqueológicos em Tombos revelam muito sobre a influência da cultura egípcia, bem como servem para iluminar aspectos da vida cotidiana que eram nitidamente núbios, escreveram os cientistas no estudo.

When the site was first excavated, archaeologists found a tomb complex with a chapel and pyramid aboveground, and a shaft leading to multiple chambers underground — a design typically associated with "elite" pyramid tombs, according to the study. The four burial chambers contained human remains from around 200 people representing several generations, along with pottery, tools and decorative objects.

However, the tomb held very few animal remains, and finding such a well-preserved horse — in the shaft underneath the chapel, at a depth of about 5 feet (1.6 meters) — surprised the scientists, study co-author Michelle Buzon, a bioarchaeologist in the Department of Anthropology at Purdue University, said in a statement.

"It was clear that the horse was an intentional burial, which was super fascinating," Buzon said.

The tomb holding the horse's skeleton had multiple chambers containing artifacts and additional remains belonging to 200 people.

Credit: Schrader et al./Antiquity Journal, doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.239

Bits of chestnut fur with white markings still clung to the animal's lower hind legs, and the researchers found decayed remnants of a shroud that helped them to date the burial to between 1,005 and 893 B.C., they wrote in the study. The tomb shaft around the skeleton also revealed other artifacts that hinted at the horse's status, including a carved scarab beetle and a piece of iron — likely once part of the animal's bridle — that is the oldest example of iron unearthed in Africa.

After examining the horse's teeth and bones, the scientists determined that the animal was a mare that died when it was between 12 and 15 years old. Further analysis of the skeleton showed that it led an active life, and signs of stress in its ribs and spine hinted that it wore a harness for pulling a chariot. However, its age at the time of death indicates that the animal was cared for and valued by its owner during its lifetime, the study authors reported.

A tomb burial for the horse suggests that the animal probably played a significant role in its owner's household, and was more than a mere beast of burden, while the iron bridle piece found in the tomb — an expensive and rare item that would have been made specifically for the horse — further helps to establish its elevated status, according to the study.

Enquanto os enterros formais para cavalos eram raros na época, eles se tornaram mais comuns na sociedade núbia e egípcia, por volta de 728 a 657 a.C. Mas a atenção aos detalhes neste sepultamento e a reverência mostrada sugerem que os cavalos podem já ter alcançado uma representação simbólica de riqueza e poder para o povo núbio, e poderiam ter desempenhado um papel mais importante na cultura núbia - na vida e na morte - do que suspeitos anteriormente, relataram os pesquisadores.