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Infection in ancient egypt

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Pepe Warngam Anaal

Ancient Egypt provided evidence for many infectious diseases through the preservation of mummies, hieroglyphics, and medical papyri. Diseases like polio, smallpox, tuberculosis, and others left marks on mummified remains. The Egyptians' burial practices helped preserve bodies, allowing for study of paleopathology. Their agricultural system and the flooding of the Nile also facilitated the spread of diseases carried by water and insects. Archaeological and written records provide insight into various illnesses ancient Egyptians suffered from.

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Infection in ancient egypt
* Infectious diseases such as the plague, polio, influenza, smallpox, and others are all believed to have occurred in Ancient Egypt, due to evidence by mummies, hieroglyphics, and papyri. * Ancient Egyptians interest and fascination with medicine and pathology aided in the recovery of numerous hieroglyphics and papyri, which showed evidence of these infectious diseases. One specific papyrus, dating at 1550 BC has numerous examples of Schistosomiasis throughout its text. Other medical texts show evidence for concern of seasonal epidemics involving bacterial or viral epidemics.
* The Egyptians careful and methodical burial ways have preserved mummies, which have evidence of numerous infectious diseases such as polio, smallpox, and tuberculosis. Due to this, it makes an ideal situation to study the paleopathology of Ancient Egypt. The way in which the mummies were studied was by analyzing the soft tissue of the mummy. Some tissue also underwent immunological testing, which showed evidence for malaria, as an example. The overall body and bone shape was also analyzed, which showed possible examples of smallpox, tuberculosis, and polio, among others. Both of these analyses helped provide more evidence for infectious disease in Ancient Egypt.
* Numerous infectious diseases may have spread and/or possibly originated in Ancient Egypt due partly to their agricultural system, which allowed animals and their wastes to mix. Many of the dwellers on the Nile River could also have contracted infectious diseases more rapidly and easier. The Nile River annually overflowed its bank, with stagnant water in its irrigation canals, which is an ideal breeding ground for the mosquito, a vector for malaria.
* The evidence for sickness in ancient Egypt may be divided into three categories: • skeletal and mummified remains • depictions of healing in formal art (rare) • manuscripts written in cursive hieroglyphs or in hieratic (a still more cursive script derived from hieroglyphs)
* From the primary sources (the human remains) and the secondary or mediated sources (depictions and writings, mainly manuscripts), a range of diseases is known from ancient Egypt • eye diseases: prominent in healing manuscripts, as to be expected from the sand and dust of Saharan climate, but not detectable in depictions (note that the blind harpist may be an Egyptological concoction: images of singers with eyes closed may represent closing of eyes during singing, rather than permanent blindness) *
• illness caused by bites of scorpions or serpents: prominent in healing manuscripts, as to be expected in the Sahara; in the first millennium BC Horus stelae were produced to protect against the threat of such creatures • diseases affecting internal organs: difficult to detect even in well-preserved bodies
• other internal diseases: kidney stones have been reported from examination of mummified remains • tuberculosis: several instances of spinal tuberculosis have been reported from human remains from Egypt, see Morse/Brothwell/Ucko 1964 (note that depictions of hump-backed individuals may be result of bad posture, or a disease other than spinal tuberculosis)
• polio: an Amarna Period stela shows a man named Rema with emaciated leg, and leaning on a staff, and this is the principal evidence for the occurrence of polio (poliomyelitis), and Nunn suggests that this may also be the condition causing the abnormalities in the body of king Siptah of Dynasty 19 • parasitic diseases: bilharzia (schistosomiasis), guinea-worm, roundworm, tapeworm
* Some diseases leave no trace even in well-preserved bodies, and some may not have entered Egyptian vocabulary: in combination this creates a gap in the record. Plague may be the disease called in Egyptian healing manuscripts tA-nt-aAmw 'the Asiatic (disease)', but this is disputed; written sources also preserve the terms rnpt iAdt 'year of pestilence' connected with Sekhmet, the goddess who was the incarnation of divine anger. Roman Period manuscripts refer to measures taken by a member of temple staff, the priest of Sekhmet, to check meat and livestock, and to protect against contagion
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Infection in ancient egypt

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Infection in ancient egypt

  • 2. * Infectious diseases such as the plague, polio, influenza, smallpox, and others are all believed to have occurred in Ancient Egypt, due to evidence by mummies, hieroglyphics, and papyri. * Ancient Egyptians interest and fascination with medicine and pathology aided in the recovery of numerous hieroglyphics and papyri, which showed evidence of these infectious diseases. One specific papyrus, dating at 1550 BC has numerous examples of Schistosomiasis throughout its text. Other medical texts show evidence for concern of seasonal epidemics involving bacterial or viral epidemics.
  • 3. * The Egyptians careful and methodical burial ways have preserved mummies, which have evidence of numerous infectious diseases such as polio, smallpox, and tuberculosis. Due to this, it makes an ideal situation to study the paleopathology of Ancient Egypt. The way in which the mummies were studied was by analyzing the soft tissue of the mummy. Some tissue also underwent immunological testing, which showed evidence for malaria, as an example. The overall body and bone shape was also analyzed, which showed possible examples of smallpox, tuberculosis, and polio, among others. Both of these analyses helped provide more evidence for infectious disease in Ancient Egypt.
  • 4. * Numerous infectious diseases may have spread and/or possibly originated in Ancient Egypt due partly to their agricultural system, which allowed animals and their wastes to mix. Many of the dwellers on the Nile River could also have contracted infectious diseases more rapidly and easier. The Nile River annually overflowed its bank, with stagnant water in its irrigation canals, which is an ideal breeding ground for the mosquito, a vector for malaria.
  • 5. * The evidence for sickness in ancient Egypt may be divided into three categories: • skeletal and mummified remains • depictions of healing in formal art (rare) • manuscripts written in cursive hieroglyphs or in hieratic (a still more cursive script derived from hieroglyphs)
  • 6. * From the primary sources (the human remains) and the secondary or mediated sources (depictions and writings, mainly manuscripts), a range of diseases is known from ancient Egypt • eye diseases: prominent in healing manuscripts, as to be expected from the sand and dust of Saharan climate, but not detectable in depictions (note that the blind harpist may be an Egyptological concoction: images of singers with eyes closed may represent closing of eyes during singing, rather than permanent blindness) *
  • 7. • illness caused by bites of scorpions or serpents: prominent in healing manuscripts, as to be expected in the Sahara; in the first millennium BC Horus stelae were produced to protect against the threat of such creatures • diseases affecting internal organs: difficult to detect even in well-preserved bodies
  • 8. • other internal diseases: kidney stones have been reported from examination of mummified remains • tuberculosis: several instances of spinal tuberculosis have been reported from human remains from Egypt, see Morse/Brothwell/Ucko 1964 (note that depictions of hump-backed individuals may be result of bad posture, or a disease other than spinal tuberculosis)
  • 9. • polio: an Amarna Period stela shows a man named Rema with emaciated leg, and leaning on a staff, and this is the principal evidence for the occurrence of polio (poliomyelitis), and Nunn suggests that this may also be the condition causing the abnormalities in the body of king Siptah of Dynasty 19 • parasitic diseases: bilharzia (schistosomiasis), guinea-worm, roundworm, tapeworm
  • 10. * Some diseases leave no trace even in well-preserved bodies, and some may not have entered Egyptian vocabulary: in combination this creates a gap in the record. Plague may be the disease called in Egyptian healing manuscripts tA-nt-aAmw 'the Asiatic (disease)', but this is disputed; written sources also preserve the terms rnpt iAdt 'year of pestilence' connected with Sekhmet, the goddess who was the incarnation of divine anger. Roman Period manuscripts refer to measures taken by a member of temple staff, the priest of Sekhmet, to check meat and livestock, and to protect against contagion
  • 11. *