“Execration” of Nubians in Avaris? A Case of Mistaken Ethnic Identity and Hidden Archaeological Theory

Abstract

Abstract Two pits (L1016 and L1055) from the early New Kingdom cemetery in areas H/I and H/III at ʿEzbet Helmi, Tell el-Dabʿa (ancient Avaris), have long been identified as remains of execration rituals in which Nubians were killed. In this paper I will argue that nothing in these two pits suggests execration of Nubians. The racial attribution of the individuals found in these pits can be questioned on both a theoretical and methodological basis. The Nubian pottery and supposedly Nubian arrowheads often associated with these “execration” pits do not come from either the burials in the cemetery nor from the pits. These finds are later than the cemetery and the “execration” pits in H/I and H/III. In the case of Nubians and “execration” pits from Tell el-Dabʿa we are dealing with a case of mistaken identity, an erroneous interpretation based on culture-historical and racial anthropological assumptions—a hidden theory.