Nazlet Khater Man
Object or Group Name
Nazlet Khater Man
Case Summary
Belgium returned this 35,000 year-old skeleton to Egypt in August 2015.
"Nazlet Khater Man" was one of two skeletons excavated from the Nazlet Khater 2 site (Boulder Hill) near Sohag, Egypt during the 1980 excavation season of the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project (BMEPP) administered by the Catholic University of Leuven. The project began in 1976 by Prof. Dr. Pierre Vermeersch, who ran it until 2003, after which its affiliation moved to Leiden University, The Netherlands, under Dr. Philip Van Peer.
The project's original goal was to understand the occupational and geomorphological history of the Lower Nile Valley during prehistory, focusing on the then-poorly known Paleolithic period in Middle Egypt. Over the years, surveys were extended along the Nile into Upper Egypt and the thematic focus became Paleolithic hunters and gatherers and the landscape in which their rock shelters are found. This included the discovery of Nazlet Khater Man in 1980.
Nazlet Khater Man’s skeleton is that of a young male interred with an axe and is one of the oldest yet recovered from Egypt. Numerous morphological analyses of this individual's cranium, mandible, and other bones have been conducted to understand evolutionary relationships between the two Nazlet Khater skeletons and other individuals dating to the Upper Paleolithic.
Leuven University retained the skeleton until diplomatic efforts by the Egyptian government convinced Belgium and Leuven University to voluntarily return Nazlet Khater Man back to Egypt in 2015. This was after the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project authorized a group of Brazilian forensic anthropologists to take measurements and create a facial reconstruction of this individual. The study was completed in 2023, published in Nature and picked up in international media. The results, however, have been criticized as inaccurate by Egyptian authorities and others.
The case illustrates how ancient human remains, even from official excavations, are not without political controversy.
"Nazlet Khater Man" was one of two skeletons excavated from the Nazlet Khater 2 site (Boulder Hill) near Sohag, Egypt during the 1980 excavation season of the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project (BMEPP) administered by the Catholic University of Leuven. The project began in 1976 by Prof. Dr. Pierre Vermeersch, who ran it until 2003, after which its affiliation moved to Leiden University, The Netherlands, under Dr. Philip Van Peer.
The project's original goal was to understand the occupational and geomorphological history of the Lower Nile Valley during prehistory, focusing on the then-poorly known Paleolithic period in Middle Egypt. Over the years, surveys were extended along the Nile into Upper Egypt and the thematic focus became Paleolithic hunters and gatherers and the landscape in which their rock shelters are found. This included the discovery of Nazlet Khater Man in 1980.
Nazlet Khater Man’s skeleton is that of a young male interred with an axe and is one of the oldest yet recovered from Egypt. Numerous morphological analyses of this individual's cranium, mandible, and other bones have been conducted to understand evolutionary relationships between the two Nazlet Khater skeletons and other individuals dating to the Upper Paleolithic.
Leuven University retained the skeleton until diplomatic efforts by the Egyptian government convinced Belgium and Leuven University to voluntarily return Nazlet Khater Man back to Egypt in 2015. This was after the Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project authorized a group of Brazilian forensic anthropologists to take measurements and create a facial reconstruction of this individual. The study was completed in 2023, published in Nature and picked up in international media. The results, however, have been criticized as inaccurate by Egyptian authorities and others.
The case illustrates how ancient human remains, even from official excavations, are not without political controversy.
Number of Objects
1
Object Type
Human Remains
Culture
Paleolithic Period
Receiving Country
Egypt
Sources
Reclaimed History: 9 Repatriated Egyptian Antiquities
http://www.livescience.com/53100-reclaimed-egyptian-antiquities.html
‘Real face’ of ancient Egyptian man: Ministry comments on latest research
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2286736/middle-east
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2286736/middle-east
Oldest human ever found in Egypt brought to life in stunning new facial approximation
https://www.livescience.com/see-the-oldest-human-ever-found-in-egypt-in-stunning-new-facial-approximation
https://www.livescience.com/see-the-oldest-human-ever-found-in-egypt-in-stunning-new-facial-approximation
Nazlet Khater Man returns to Egypt. Leuven University agreed to hand the skeleton over.
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2015/01/20/nazlet-khater-man-returns-egypt/
https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/2015/01/20/nazlet-khater-man-returns-egypt/
Crevecoeur, I. 2012. The Upper Paleolithic Human Remains of Nazlet Khater 2 (Egypt) and Past Modern Human Diversity
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-2929-2_14
Bouchneb, L. and Crevecoeur, I. 2009. The inner ear of Nazlet Khater 2 (Upper Paleolithic, Egypt)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004724840800242X
Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/nvic/research/archaeology--egyptology/ongoing-projects/the-belgian-middle-egypt-prehistoric-project
MOLA Contributor(s)
Damien Huffer
Peer Reviewed By
Jason Felch
Citation
“Nazlet Khater Man,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed October 9, 2024, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/2048.