A unique disk-shaped object, found in an Egyptian tomb 5.000 years old, has puzzled archaeologists for nearly a century.
This delicate stone vessel was discovered in 1936 in the tomb of Sabu, an ancient Egyptian official buried in the necropolis of Saqqara during the First Dynasty period. When it was found, the disk was in pieces. It was later reconstructed and is now in the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Sabu’s mastaba, a rectangular tomb with sloping walls and a flat roof, was excavated by British Egyptologist Walter Emery. In his publication describing the tombs of Saqqara, Emery wrote that the burial chamber had been looted for jewelry and precious metals. But Sabu’s skeleton was intact inside a wooden coffin, and his tomb was filled with dozens of stone and ceramic vessels, flint and copper tools, the remains of two oxen, and the unique object.
Emery described the Sabu disk as a decorative triple bowl with a diameter of 61 centimeters and a height of 10 cm. The object was carved from metasiltstone, a sedimentary rock that had undergone some metamorphism. According to Egyptian archaeologist Ali El-Khouli, flat and wide stone bowls were common in the First to Third Dynasties of ancient Egypt. But this particular bowl found in Sabu’s tomb is unusual because of the three thinly carved and curved wings that rise from the edge of the disk. When viewed from above, this decoration resembles a modern steering wheel, propeller, or hubcap.
The unique design of the Sabu disk has led to numerous theories about the purpose of the object, ranging from being part of a water turbine to a component of a hyperdrive from an alien spacecraft. One recent theory even suggests that the disk was used as a “mash tub,” a vessel containing grain and hot water for making beer.
But the most likely explanation is that Sabu’s disk had a similar purpose to other wide, flat bowls in ancient Egyptian culture: it probably stored food or oil. However, the delicate nature of the metasiltstone and the carvings suggest that the bowl was not for everyday use and may have been placed in Sabu’s tomb as an offering for the afterlife.
