Summary: Mysterious cult offerings of more than 2,000 mummified rams’ heads were discovered at the temple of the ancient pharaoh Ramesses II, in Abydos, Egypt. How might these sacrifices shed light on the lands and people of the Bible?
“The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?” says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
– Isaiah 1:11 (NIV)
Sacrificed Rams Installed a Millennia after Ramesses’ Reign
The surprising discovery of over 2,000 ram skulls at the temple of Ramesses II in Abydos, Egypt was announced earlier this spring by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Even veteran Egyptologists were shocked, claiming that the find revealed the great strength of Ramesses’ influence, since the skulls were not put there until a millennium after the pharaoh’s rule. The evidence of thousands of sacrificed rams can help us better understand the religious practices and beliefs of the peoples of the biblical world.
Ramesses II ruled the Egyptian empire for more than 66 years during the New Kingdom’s 19th Dynasty before his death in 1213 BC according to standard dating. The majority of scholars who believe in some type of biblical exodus, favor his reign for Israel’s departure from Egypt. This is largely due to the reference to the Israelite slaves building the store city of Raamses (as it is spelled in the KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB, ASV, & RSV) in Exodus 1:11. However, the pattern highlighted in Patterns of Evidence films, including chronological information in the Bible, point to a time centuries earlier for these events.
The ram heads were “offerings” indicating “a cult to Ramesses II [still] celebrated 1,000 years after his death,” said Dr. Sameh Iskandar, head of the New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW). The preserved heads were discovered about seven miles west of the Nile River in the city of Abydos, located in Upper Egypt some 270 miles south of Cairo. It is one of the oldest cities and richest archaeological sites in Egypt, famous for its temples, tombs and necropolises.
The skulls were found stacked in a storeroom in the northern precinct of the ancient temple, six feet under the current desert’s surface, according to the Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. “We came across some random pieces of skulls first,” Dr. Iskander told CBS News. “We didn’t know what they were, but as we continued our excavation and exploration, all of a sudden we found a whole area filled with ram skulls.”
Some of the ram heads were still mummified, while “others could have been mummified but the wrappings or the covers of mummifications were not there anymore.” Other objects found with the ram skulls included statues, papyrus, leather clothes, shoes and remains of ancient trees. Mummies of dogs, goats, cows, gazelles and mongooses were also uncovered.
The Cult of Ramesses the Great in Egypt
Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, built more and greater monuments than any other king and was the most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom. He famously fought the Hittites at Kadesh with an army of over 20,000 soldiers and 2,000 chariots but eventually signed a peace treaty with them and married at least two of the Hittite king’s daughters.
It is thought that Ramesses II had eight royal wives (and numerous concubines) and fathered more than 100 children. He built a communal tomb in the Valley of the Kings for many of his children. Because he lived to such a great age (between 90 and 96) he outlived many of his sons and he wasn’t replaced on the throne until son number 13, Merneptah, who is famous for the Egyptian monument naming Israel. Abydos, the Ramesseum, Luxor and the Karnak temples were all constructed by Ramesses. Nefertari Meritmut was his favorite wife.
Ramesses II built one of the most impressive structures from ancient Egypt, the huge colossi of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, along with a smaller temple dedicated to his queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. In 1968 the temple complex was dismantled, moved, and reassembled into an artificial concrete hill out of reach of the flooding from the newly constructed Aswan High Dam reservoir.
The large number of skulls found in the same place was “surprising even for Egyptologists,” Iskander said. “We are sure they were all dumped at the same time, so this was not an accumulation of skulls that were brought in over the years, but they came from somewhere else and were dumped into this magazine at some point for some reason which we don’t know yet.”
“It is significant because this place where they ended up is not just any place in the temple, so they were brought there for a reason. They were not just dumped in the desert but were inside this revered domain of the temple,” he added.
“These are obviously offerings that were made to the temple of Ramesses during the Ptolemaic period, which shows even 1,000 years after Ramesses II, he was still revered,” explained Iskander.
Other Abydos Discoveries
A large structure made of mud bricks with walls about 16 feet thick, dating back to Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty, was also uncovered by archeologists. “It is a major structure that will change our concept of the landscape of Abydos. This wall was built for something, it was at least 30 feet high,” Iskander said. “We don’t know exactly what this wall is. It’s possible that this was a wall of the ancient Abydos, which was never found. Could it be something else? Maybe. That’s what we are working on now.”
One other very small object caught the archaeologist’s eye. “We also found a small bronze bell in excellent condition with the clapper, so we can hear the same sound of the ancient time. I was very happy to find it,” Iskandar said. “It was probably used to mark a herd.”
Sacrifices in the Bible and in Ancient Times
Sacrifices and offerings were a major part of the ancient world and the Bible. As early as the third chapter of Genesis, the idea and language of sacrifice is introduced in the Bible with the animal skins provided to cover Adam and Eve by God after they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis chapter 3). The next chapter records the account of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel and how Cain’s wrong-hearted offering led to the first murder. Noah offered sacrifices of clean animals after the great flood abated. From the very beginning, animal sacrifice was a provision created by God in order to allow rebellious people to be put in a right relationship with himself.
The pages of Scripture are filled with examples of presumptuous worshippers who crafted their own styles and approaches to God. This sometimes entailed worshiping the right God in the wrong way or worshiping the wrong god altogether. Worshippers must come to God on his terms, otherwise the offerings are worthless and wasted, as were the thousands of ram heads found.
When humans try to approach God their own way things often go terribly wrong. Besides the ram heads discovered, there are signs at Abydos of human sacrifice. Evidence shows that in the early third millennium BC human sacrifice became systematic and substantial as part of elite funerary proceedings performed in chambers attached to the king or queen’s tomb. The Bible and archaeological evidence show that this practice had spread among the Canaanites, across north Africa and around the world.
In the Book of Jeremiah God says, they “have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind (19:5).
The Israelites were constantly warned against taking up the idol worship of the nations around them, and they frequently ignored the warnings – even to the point of sacrificing their own children at times. Yet religious reformers such as King Josiah tore down these places and made them unfit for use, “And [Josiah] defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech,” (2 Kings 23:10).
The offering of sacrifices was inaugurated by God because of the seriousness of sin, with its deadly and alienating consequences. The Torah’s instructions help better understand God’s thinking related to sacrifices. In Leviticus, we learn that the consequences of sin are serious, and a sacrifice is required to effectively take away guilt.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” – Leviticus 17:11 (ESV)
The principle of a life for a life is expressed elsewhere in the Torah; as is the just penalty of sin being death.
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” – Genesis 2:17 (ESV)
Isaiah also speaks of the consequences of sin.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. – Isaiah 59:2 (ESV)
New Testament theology portrays the Old Testament sacrifice system as a pointer to the greater and perfect sacrifice of Jesus to come, whose blood could permanently solve the problem of sin and death.
Perhaps those who offered these animals to Ramesses believed they would follow him into the afterlife. The reality of so many rams being sacrificed at one time shows what the Egyptians thought was appropriate for a king who was believed to be a deity – even a thousand years after his death. This brings to mind the instructions given to Israel regarding sacrifices. Many have wondered if the multiple thousands of sheep offerings that would result in a single day is realistic. However, now it can be seen that such realities were not unheard of.
It is fascinating to consider that nearly every example of ancient religion contained some aspect of sacrifice. These practices quickly deviated from their original intent as people tried to gain favor or appease the wrath of capricious gods. But no matter how far their ideas strayed, cultures across the ages from every continent on earth retained a strong sense that they were obligated to give offerings to a higher power. This appears to be a powerful pattern of evidence for the validity of the Bible’s account of history.
Conclusion
More research is still needed to explain the latest discoveries at Abydos. Iskandar’s team has worked there since 2008 but he said that, “Every year we have lots of finds and we come back very happy, but we also come back with a huge sack full of questions.”
“I hate to keep saying ‘we don’t know,’ but this is the nature of archaeology. We keep working on findings that might lead to something, or not,” said Iskandar, adding that he and his team may even need to “leave it to the next generation. They may have a better idea or other discoveries.”
The thousands of rams sacrificed to Ramesses found at Abydos could not fill the gap that humans instinctively know and feel between themselves and God. With more than 580 references in the Hebrew Bible to the justified wrath of God, it is clear that he is opposed to evil in all of its forms. But because of God’s love and kindness he created a way for sinners to be forgiven and their guilt removed.
Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: A mummified ram’s head, discovered in a storeroom in the ancient temple of Ramesses II in Abydos, Egypt. (credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)
