2,400 B.C. Tomb of Purification Priest

Egyptian archaeologists discovered a 4400-year-old tomb, south of the cemetery of the pyramid builders at Giza, Egypt.

In a statement, Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, said the ancient Egyptian tomb was unearthed during routine excavations supervised by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) near the pyramid builder's necropolis.

The recently discovered tomb belongs to a priest named Rudj-Ka (or Rwd-Ka), and is dated to the 5th Dynasty - between 2465 and 2323 BC.

Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, said that Rudj-Ka had several titles and would have been an important member of the ancient Egyptian court.

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Blood is shed in many ways: in hunting and in war, in the woman’s monthly cycle and in childbirth. Archaic peoples distinguished between these types of blood. Some bleeding results in death. Other types of bleeding result in life. Here the binary distinction between life and death is very evident. We also find a gender distinction between bloods or what has been called the “blood work” of males and females.

The blood work of males pertains to war, hunting, execution and animal sacrifice. The blood work of women pertains to conception and reproduction. The two bloods were to be kept separate so as not to blur the distinction between death and life. Women were not present where animals were sacrificed and men were not present where women gave birth.

Blood shed that leads to the death of another human was to be covered by payment in blood. If the slaying was accidental, an animal could be sacrificed in the place of the killer and the victim’s family compensated in some way (usually by payment of grain, oil or livestock). If the person killed intentionally, he was either banned from the clan/village/tribe or his life was forfeit.

Blood was handled carefully because it was viewed as having the power to bring blessings or curses on those who handled it or were responsible for the shedding of blood. There were priests whose job it was to flay the carcasses of sacrificed animals. They were called “sarki.” (Sarki still exist and can be found from west central Africa to Nepal.) There were castes of priests whose single responsibility was to sacrifice animals, a very bloody business. There were other priests whose work was to purify those who had become contaminated through contact with blood or a corpse. Rudj-Ka was a purification priest.


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