Stop, Tomb Thief!

The first known ancient Egyptian bone whistle has been identified in Akhetaten (modern Amarna), the capital city of the pharaoh Akhenaten (reigned ca. 1349–1336 b.c.). Researchers suggest the 2.5-inch-long whistle, which was made from a cow’s toe bone and has a single drilled hole, was used by guards to sound an alert when the situation demanded. Archaeologists unearthed the instrument in a settlement in the desert to the east of the city center called the Stone Village, which is thought to have housed workers who supported construction of tombs in the nearby royal cemetery. “From the village, you can see straight to the entrance of the wadi where the royal tombs for the pharaoh and his family were being built,” says Griffith University archaeologist Michelle Langley of the Amarna Project. “That was a very sacred space, so it was restricted to those who needed to be there.”

The area includes a network of roadways, some of which are thought to have been used by foot patrols monitoring the approach to the royal cemetery. Evidence of police activity in Akhetaten has been found in the tomb of Mahu, the city’s chief of police. Wall paintings show guards stationed along what appear to be roadways similar to those near the Stone Village and outside small structures that may be checkpoints. Archaeologists have found similar stone structures in the vicinity of the Stone Village that may have been guard posts. “They’re just big enough for one or two people to stand in with a very good vantage point,” says Langley. “They look very much like where someone would stand guard.”