DISEASE IN ANCIENT EGYPT: MALARIA, CANCER, THE PLAGUE

DISEASE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

mummy of priest of Ammon with signs of Pott's disease, tuberculosis of the spine

Ancient Egyptians believed that most illnesses originated in the alimentary canal. They often fasted and engaged in other activities which they believed scoured their digestive system. Analysis of preserved mummy tissue suggests that Egyptians had smallpox, polio, kidney disease, black lung, hardening of the arteries and arthritis.

Tuberculosis, schistosomiasis — which today is mostly picked by standing in irrigation ditches or slow-moving river water — and stunted growth (suggesting malnutrition) were also fairly common. Cholera and malaria were more common in Nile area than in the deserts. A CT exam of one mummy indicated that may have had a chronic ear infection, treated today with antibiotics, that spread to the brain causing meningitis.

A 2500-year-old bas-relief revealed a priest with a shriveled leg, one of the most obvious symptoms of polio. Many commoners had arthritis, particularly in the knees and the lumbar region of the vertebrae, and bone deformities at a relatively young age.

Evidence of disease in Ancient Egypt:
1) Skeletal and DNA evidence found in the city of Abydos suggests one in four people may have had tuberculosis
2) The mummy of Ramesses V (circa 1149–1145 BC) has scars indicating smallpox
3) The wives of Mentuhotep II (circa 2000 BC) were buried hastily in a “mass grave”, suggesting a pandemic had occurred
4) the mummies of two pharaohs, Siptah (1197–1191 BC) and Khnum-Nekht (circa 1800 BC), were found with the deformed equinus foot which is characteristic of the viral disease polio. [Source Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University, The Conversation, March 14, 2024]

Websites on Ancient Egypt: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Discovering Egypt discoveringegypt.com; BBC History: Egyptians bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians ; Ancient History Encyclopedia on Egypt ancient.eu/egypt; Digital Egypt for Universities. Scholarly treatment with broad coverage and cross references (internal and external). Artifacts used extensively to illustrate topics. ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt ; British Museum: Ancient Egypt ancientegypt.co.uk; Egypt’s Golden Empire pbs.org/empires/egypt; Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org ; Oriental Institute Ancient Egypt (Egypt and Sudan) Projects ; Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre in Paris louvre.fr/en/departments/egyptian-antiquities; KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt kmtjournal.com; Egypt Exploration Society ees.ac.uk ; Amarna Project amarnaproject.com; Abzu: Guide to Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East etana.org; Egyptology Resources fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

How Evidence of Disease Among Ancient Egyptians Is Found

From mummies and skeletons scientists have found evidence of arthritis, tuberculosis, gout, tooth decay, bladder stones and gallstones. There is also evidence of the disease bilharziasis (schistosomiasis), caused by small, parasitic flatworms, which still exists in Egypt today. There seems to have been no syphilis or rickets based on the fact that evidence of these diseases is visible on skeletons and human remains. [Source: Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com ^^^]

Christina Riggs of the University of East Anglia wrote: “ Medical texts and surviving mummies point to the prevalence of illnesses that would leave a lasting mark on the body, such as trachoma resulting in blindness, poliomyelitis and tuberculosis leading to muscular and skeletal changes, and accidental damage resulting in disfigurement, broken bones, or amputation. Both textual sources and the evidence from mummies attest that such ailments could be treated, and that the people thus afflicted remained members of society to such an extent that they received mummification and burial rites. A man whose skull showed severe hydrocephaly, for instance, would have been very disabled and required care throughout his life . [Source: Christina Riggs, University of East Anglia, UK, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2010, escholarship.org ]

In June 2024, AFP reported: A discovery of 33 ancient tombs in Egypt's southern city of Aswan could reveal "new information on diseases" prevalent at the time, the tourism and antiquities ministry said. The tombs date back to the Ancient Egyptian Late Period and the Greco-Roman Periods, which collectively lasted from the seventh century B.C. until around the fourth century AD. The burials were found by a joint Egyptian-Italian archaeological mission. Ayman Ashmawy, who heads the Supreme Council of Antiquities' Egyptian Antiquities Division, said studies of the mummies "indicate that 30 to 40 percent of those buried died in their youth, as newborns or as adolescents".

Patrizia Piacentini, professor of Egyptology and archaeology at the University of Milan, headed the Italian side of the mission. She said preliminary studies on the remains showed that "some suffered from infectious diseases, while others had bone disorders". The remains of several adult women showed signs of pelvic bone trauma. Other mummies indicated "anaemia, malnutrition, chest diseases, tuberculosis and signs of osteoporosis", Piacentini said in a ministry statement. Among the remains found were "an adult, perhaps a woman, and a child who may have died at the age of one or two", said Abdelmoneim Said, General Director of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities.

The Nile — a Breeding Ground for Disease

leishmaniasis lifecycle

In a study published in April 2024 in Advances in Parasitology, University of Cambridge, biological anthropologist Piers Mitchell describes how an investigation of 31 mummies — some dating as deep into history as 2,000 B.C. — revealed the presence of several infectious diseases in Egypt, with the Nile being a key driving behind them. “Despite the low rainfall in most of the region, the river Nile acted as a conduit for tropical water-born parasites that would not normally be found in arid regions,” Mitchell wrote in the study. “The civilizations of ancient Egypt and Nubia could not have existed were it not for the water of the river Nile. However, it was this very river that acted as the key driver of parasitism in the populations who lived there. ” To analyze the mummies, Mitchell used CT scans and light microscopy to investigate diseased tissue, and fragmented DNA offered up additional clues. [Source: Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, April 8, 2024]

Tim Newcomb wrote in Popular Mechanics: Mitchell found that 65 percent of the mummies he studied were positive for schistosomiasis (a parasitic worm), 40 percent had headlice, and 22 percent suffered from falciparum malaria. “Such a disease burden must have had major consequences upon the physical stamina and productivity of a large proportion of the workforce,” he said. The widespread malaria infections were fascilitated by mosquitos breeding in the river’s waters. Sand flies spread visceral leishmaniasis, which was found in 10 percent of the mummies studied, and simply wading in irrigated waters while farming continually “put farmers at risk of infection by schistosomiasis. ”

in his 2023 book Parasites in Past Civilizations and Their Impact upon Health, Mitchell said that ancient Egypt and Nubia appeared to be the civilizations that suffered the most severe health consequences from parasites across the entire globe. “Egypt and Nubia were heavily burdened by the kind of parasites that are likely to kill you or cause a chronic burden of illness,” Mitchell said. “Malaria and schistosomiasis cause anemia, and the reduced number of red blood cells resulted in impaired ability of laborers to do hard work,” he wrote. “Despite this, the Egyptians managed to complete major building projects such as their pyramids, temples, and ornate tombs for kings and nobility. The widespread anemia from parasite infection in ancient Egypt meant they would have struggled to build these monuments using their own diseased workforce alone. They could only build the ancient Egypt we see today using imported labor, such as slaves captured during military campaigns. ”

The presence of the Nile turned an otherwise dry land into a breeding ground for the types of parasites needing still water to fester. But that water may have helped stave off some other maladies like whipworm or roundworm — common among ancient societies that spread human feces on farmland for fertilization. Without the need for this type of fertilization, Mitchell believes that ancient cultures could have avoided at least these two additional parasitical problems.

Malaria in Ancient Egypt

20120216-malaria cdc falciparum.jpg
malaria falciparumIn a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in February 2010, researchers from Egypt, Italy and Germany — using DNA testing, blood type analysis and CT scans — determined that King Tutankhamun mostly likely died of complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria. Genetic testing found that the Pharaoh had been infected with the malaria parasite and his immune system was not in good shape.

The 2010 test results showed that King Tutankhamun suffered from chronic malaria, the result of living near the mosquito-filled Nile marshes. Zahi Hawass wrote in National Geographic: Based on the presence of DNA from several strains of a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum, it was evident that Tutankhamun was infected with malaria — indeed, he had contracted the most severe form of the disease multiple times.

Did malaria kill the king? Perhaps. The disease can trigger a fatal immune response in the body, cause circulatory shock, and lead to hemorrhaging, convulsions, coma, and death. As other scientists have pointed out, however, malaria was probably common in the region at the time, and Tutankhamun may have acquired partial immunity to the disease. On the other hand, it may well have weakened his immune system, leaving him more vulnerable to complications that might have followed the unhealed fracture of his leg we evaluated in 2005. Researchers in Hawass team found evidence of malaria tropica, a particularly nasty form of the mosquito-borne disease, in DNA samples extracted from the Tut mummy. Hawass speculated that the effects of the malaria, combined with a

Thomas Jeffries wrote: Along with Tutankhamun, it’s thought up to 70 percent of the Egyptian population was infected with malaria caused by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite – spread by swarms of mosquitoes occupying the stagnant pools of the Nile delta. [Source Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University, The Conversation, March 14, 2024]

The ancient Chinese and Greeks also are believed to have suffered from malaria. Symptoms of the disease were described by Aristotle, Homer, Socrates and Hippocrates and in Nei Ching, the Chinese canon of medicine, which dates back to 2700 B.C. The decline of some Greek city states and the fall of Rome have been attributed to malaria. Alexander the Great likely died of malaria. It may have stopped the armies of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan.

Plagues of Ancient Egypt

In 2004, plague bacteria was found in 3,500-year-old fossilized fleas in a village formally occupied by the October Egyptian capital of Amman. The discovery was the first evidence of a non-Asian origin of the plague and may explain why Amman was capital for such a short time (form 1350 to 1330 B.C.). Medical papyri from that period describe a disease with symptoms consistent with that of the plague.

First Biblical Plague of Egypt

Dr. Marc Gabolde wrote in for the BBC: “In the Plague Prayers of the Hittite king Mursilli, one of Suppiluliuma's successors, it is recorded that: 'When the Egyptians became frightened, they asked outright for one of his [Suppiluliuma's] sons to [take over] the kingship. But when my father gave them one of his sons, they led him there and they killed him. My father let his anger run away with him, he went to war against Egypt and attacked Egypt. He smote the foot soldiers and the charioteers of the country of Egypt. But when they brought back to the Hatti [Hittite] land, the prisoners which they had taken, a plague broke out among the prisoners and these began to die. When they moved the prisoners to the Hatti land, these prisoners carried the plague into the Hatti land. From that day on people have been dying in the Hatti land. ' [Source: Dr. Marc Gabolde, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“The text implies that a great plague was ravaging the Middle East at the time. The same plague is mentioned in the Amarna Letters EA 11, EA 35, EA 96 and EA 932.Given the scale of this epidemic, it is very possible that the sudden deaths of several members of the royal family could be linked to the plague. The plague may, furthermore, have been felt to be a punishment from the old, neglected, gods, and may have precipitated the end of the cult of the Aten. Indeed, the return to traditional religious practices and the desertion of the palace at Amarna can be clearly dated to the reign of Ankh(et)kheperure Neferneferuaten, alias Merytaten, and not to that of Tutankhamun, as has generally been assumed. |::|

Thomas Jeffries wrote: Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, and ruled from about 1388–1351 B.C. There are several reasons experts think his reign was marked by a devastating disease outbreak. For instance, two separate carvings from this time depict a priest and a royal couple with the polio dropped-foot. Statues of the lion-headed goddess of disease and health, Sekhmet, also increased significantly, suggesting a reliance on divine protection. Another sign of a potential major disease outbreak comes in the form of what may be an early case of quarantine, wherein Amenhotep III moved his palace to the more isolated site of Malqata. This is further supported by the burning of a workers’ cemetery near Thebes. Grave goods also became less extravagant and tombs less complex during this period, which suggests more burials were needed in a shorter time frame. These burials can’t be explained by war since this was an unusually peaceful period. [Source Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University, The Conversation, March 14, 2024]

Some researchers think Akhenaten’s dramatic loss of faith may have been due to the devastating disease he witnessed during his childhood and into his reign, with several of his children and wives having died from disease. But we’ve yet to find clear evidence for the role of disease in shaping his theology. There’s also no direct DNA evidence of an outbreak under his father, Amenhotep III. There are only descriptions of one in letters Amenhotep III and Akhenaten exchanged with the Babylonians.

Cancer in Ancient Egypt?

Various Egyptian writings on papyrus dating from up to 3,000 years ago describe diseases that appear to be cancer: the Edwin Smith Papyrus describes various cancers – including one which seems to have spread through the body and for which there was no treatment. Elsewhere in the Papyrus, surgeons describe cauterising what appear to be tumours with fire sticks. [Source: Rob Waugh, Yahoo News UK, May 30, 2024]

Rosalie David, professor at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom told CNN that the ancient Egyptians produced magical spells used to treat cancer-like illnesses, a few of which are described in papyri. One odd treatment for what may have been cancer of the uterus called for breaking up a stone in water, leaving it overnight, and then pouring it into the vagina. Another remedy described was fumigation: The patient would sit over something that was burning, David told CNN, adding that it’s still not certain that the maladies described were cancer.

Was Cancer Rare in Ancient Egypt?

Before 2010, out of hundreds of ancient Egyptians mummies that have been examined for diseases only one case of cancer has been confirmed:Michael R. Zimmerman of Villanova University in Pennsylvania has conducted experiments on modern mummified tissue and his results suggest that mummification does not destroy evidence of malignancy. in a mummy. [Source: CNN, October 14, 2010]

The one case of cancer, Zimmerman said was a rectal carcinoma found in a mummy dated between A.D. 200 and 400. He confirmed the diagnosis with a microscopic analysis of the tissue — a first, he said, in Egyptian paleopathology. “The fact remains that there are only a minute number of truly ancient mummies and skeletons that show evidence of cancer,” he told the New York Times. “We just don’t find anything like the modern incidence of cancer.”[Source: George Johnson, New York Times, December 27, 2010 ==]

Some experts have suggested that most tumors would have been destroyed by the invasive rituals of Egyptian mummification. But in a study published in 1977, according to the New York Times. “Zimmerman showed it was possible for the evidence to survive. In one experiment, he took the liver from a modern patient who had succumbed to metastatic colon cancer, dried it out in an oven and then rehydrated it — demonstrating, he said, that “the features of cancer are well preserved by mummification and that mummified tumors are actually better preserved than normal tissue.” ==

Evidence of Cancer in Ancient Egypt and Sudan

Durham University researchers, who found evidence of breast cancer in a 3,000-year-old Nubian skeleton in 2014, called the lack of cancer in the archaeological record a possible "illusion" and said that cancer's relative absence in the archaeological record had given "rise to the conclusion that the disease is mainly a product of modern living and increased longevity.” They noted that archaeologists during the 20th century uncovered other ancient remains that may have contained traces of metastatic cancer. But only the skulls were kept, so a full analysis using more modern technology couldn't be completed on them. "Very little is known about the antiquity, epidemiology and evolution of cancer in past human populations," the Durham University researchers wrote. "Nevertheless, ancient medical documents indicate pathological conditions, tentatively identified as cancer, were known both to the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks." [Source: Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, March 24, 2015]

Bones with signs of cancer found in an ancient Egyptian cemetery near the Dakhleh Oasis' from International Journal of Paleopathology)

Daniel Weiss wrote in Archaeology magazine: In a tomb in northern Sudan, archaeologists have discovered the earliest complete skeleton of a human who suffered from metastatic cancer — cancer that has spread throughout the body. The skeleton, which belonged to a young man who died around 1200 B.C., was riddled with lesions caused by cancer of an unknown organ. A team led by Michaela Binder of Durham University analyzed the lesions using X-rays and digital and scanning electron microscopy, and ruled out alternative causes, such as fungal infection or postmortem changes. [Source: Daniel Weiss, Archaeology magazine, July-August 2014]

“Cancer has been thought to be a largely modern disease that results in part from longer life spans, exposure to pollutants and unhealthy food, and lack of physical activity. Also, few ancient skeletons bear evidence of cancer, but this may be because the victims died rapidly, before the disease could leave a mark on their bones. The new find adds to evidence that the disease existed, and may even have been common, in antiquity. The site, called Amara West, has been studied since 2008, with excavations in the ancient town and cemeteries. Researchers hope that an understanding of the surrounding community will offer a window into the causes of cancer in ancient populations.

Rare Cancer with Teeth Discovered in 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Woman

In October 2023, archaeologists excavating a cemetery in Amarna discovered an ovarian tumor in the pelvis of a woman who died more than three millennia ago. The tumor, a bony mass with two teeth, is the oldest known example of a teratoma, a rare type of tumor that typically occurs in ovaries or testicles. A teratoma can be benign or malignant, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and it is usually made up of various tissues, such as muscle, hair, teeth or bone. Teratomas can cause pain and swelling and, if they rupture, can lead to infection. In the present day, removal of the mass is the typical treatment. [Source:Kristina Killgrove, Live Science, November 7, 2023]

Kristina Killgrove wrote in Live Science: Only four archaeological examples of teratomas had previously been found — three in Europe and one in Peru. The recent discovery of a teratoma in in Amarna, both founded around 1345 B.C., is only the fifth archaeological case published, making it the oldest known example of a teratoma and the first ancient case found in Africa. Amarna was a short-lived city on the eastern bank of the Nile River, about halfway between the cities of Cairo and Luxor (ancient Thebes).

Four large cemeteries associated with Amarna have been investigated by archaeologists. In one tomb in the North Desert Cemetery that consisted of a shaft and a burial chamber, researchers found the skeleton of an 18- to 21-year-old woman wrapped in a plant fiber mat. She was buried with a number of grave goods, including a ring decorated with the figure of Bes, a deity often associated with childbirth, fertility and protection. Gretchen Dabbs, a bioarchaeologist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and colleagues published the discovery of this tumor online in the International Journal of Paleopathology. Ruling out other diagnoses, they suggested that the presence of teeth and the location within the woman's pelvic region indicated it was an ovarian teratoma.

The Bes ring may hint that the teratoma was symptomatic, as the possible "magico-medical" object was placed on the woman's left hand, which was folded across her lap above the teratoma. This may mean the woman "was attempting to invoke Bes to protect her from pain or other symptoms, or aid in her attempts to conceive and birth a child," they wrote in their study.

"By 18-21 years, this individual probably would have been someone's wife," Dabbs told Live Science, but there is also "little doubt she was working in some fashion. " Previous research at Amarna has suggested that women this age were engaging in a range of trades, which might have included working on state-level building projects, brewing beer, or tending to household gardens and livestock.

carrying the sick

Oldest Evidence of Breast Cancer Found in Egyptian Skeleton

In 2015, A team from the University of Jaen in Spain announced that it had discovered what Egyptian authorities called the world's oldest evidence of breast cancer in the 4,200-year-old skeleton of an adult woman. Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty said the bones of the woman, who lived at the end of the 6th Pharaonic Dynasty, showed "an extraordinary deterioration". "The study of her remains shows the typical destructive damage provoked by the extension of a breast cancer as a metastasis," he said in a statement on Tuesday. [Source: Reuters, March 24, 2015]

The Spanish researchers said the Egyptian woman was an aristocrat from Elephantine, the Egypt’s southernmost town. Her remains were discovered in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa, west of the southern city of Aswan, the ministry said.

In 2014, British researchers form Durham University said they found metastatic cancer in a 3,000-year-old skeleton found in a tomb in modern Sudan. Publishing their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers scanned the skeleton they found in a tomb and detected traces of lesions on bones, including cancer metastases on the man's collar bones, shoulder blades, upper arms and ribs. [Source: Elahe Izadi, Washington Post, March 24, 2015]

Signs of Cancer Found Behind a 'Pregnant' Mummy’s Eye Socket

In July 2022, scientists using 3D animation to examine a the pregnant mummy's skull said they found evidence of a tumor — a tumor shaped hole — behind her left eye socket. Harry Baker wrote in Live Science: The unusual mummy, who has been dubbed the "Mysterious Lady," likely came from the ancient Egyptian city Thebes (modern-day Luxor). It dates to around the first century B.C. but was found sealed in the sarcophagus of a male priest. After recently opening the sarcophagus for the first time, researchers with the Warsaw Mummy Project in Poland, were surprised to find the remains of an unknown female inside. They soon began analyzing the body for clues as to why she had been sealed in someone else's coffin. [Source: Harry Baker, Live Science, July 22, 2022]

In April 2021, researchers from the project released a study claiming that CT scans of the Mysterious Lady had revealed the remains of a fetus inside her womb, making her the world's first known pregnant mummy. The team estimated that the woman had died at around the 28th week of pregnancy. In January 2022, a follow-up paper from the Polish team described how the fetus had pickled like an egg inside the mummy. However, some experts have questioned whether the mummy was even pregnant at all and have suggested that the fossilized fetus may actually be a warped embalming pack, which was placed in the body to replace removed organs during the mummification process.

Now, the same research team has announced that the Mysterious Lady likely had nasopharynx cancer, which affects the mouth, nasal cavity and trachea, according to a blog post by researchers with the Warsaw Mummy Project. The new claims are based on deformities found in the mummy's skull, but the findings have not yet been peer reviewed or confirmed by chemical tests.

The researchers first became aware of the potential cancer after a recent 3D reconstruction of the Mysterious Lady's skull, which revealed a 0.27-inch (7 millimeters) hole behind the left eye socket. This unusual gap suggests that a tumor or lesion had grown there and forced the surrounding bone away from the rest of the socket, Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, an archaeologist and anthropologist at the Medical University of Warsaw and co-director of the Warsaw Mummy Project, told Live Science.

Alternatively, the hole may have been left by a cyst or caused by cribra orbitalia, a condition caused by anemia, or a lack of iron (which is common in pregnant people), which canchange the surface of the eye sockets, Ożarek-Szilke said. However, additional small deformities to bones in the nasal cavity, jaw and sinuses make cancer the most likely cause, she added.

Normally, it would be impossible to tell exactly what caused such deformities from a skull this old. But because the Mysterious Lady was so well preserved, traces of soft tissue still cling to her bones. This tissue will allow the researchers to carry out histopathological tests, similar to those used to test for cancer today, to determine if the Mysterious Lady had cancer. Similar studies have revealed evidence of other types of cancer in mummies, Ożarek-Szilke said. The team expects to have a definitive result by the end of the year.

shistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis Fairly Common in 1,500-Year-Old Nubian Mummies

Evidence of schistosomiasis was found to be prevalent in a study of more than 200 ancient Nubian mummies published in the June 2011 issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. The species of Schistosoma worm, called S. mansoni, was previously thought of as relatively modern agent of disease, linked to urban life and stagnant water in irrigation ditches. "It is the one most prevalent in the delta region of Egypt now, and researchers have always assumed that it was a more recent pathogen, but now we show that goes back thousands of years," study researcher George Armelagos of Emory University in Atlanta said. [Source: Jennifer Welsh, Live Science, June 8, 2011 +++]

Schistosomiasis is contracted through the skin when a person comes into contact with worm-infested waters. The disease infects over 200 million people worldwide a year; once contracted, the disease causes a rash, followed by fever, chills, cough and muscle aches. If infection goes untreated, it can damage the liver, intestines, lungs and bladder. [Source: Jennifer Welsh, Live Science, June 8, 2011]

Jennifer Welsh wrote in Live Science: “Although Armelagos and his colleagues weren't able to discern how bad the infections were in these Nubians, they said those who were infected would have felt run down — which would have affected their work (mostly farming). Previous research showed that mummies from the Nile River region had been infected by Schistosoma worms, though new techniques are allowing researchers to determine which species. +++

“The team tested tissue from mummies from two Nubian populations (in the area now known as Sudan), dating from 1,200 and 1,500 years ago, respectively. The earlier population, the Kulubnarti, lived at a time when their civilization's lifeblood, the Nile River, was at a high point, and there is little evidence of irrigation. They "probably weren't practicing irrigation; they were allowing the annual floods of the Nile to fertilize the soil," Armelagos told LiveScience. The later population, the Wadi Halfa, lived a little farther south along the river and at a time when the water levels were lower; archaeological evidence indicates canal irrigation was in use to water crops. +++

“The researchers expected each population would have shown signs of distinct species of Schistosomiasis; for example, S. mansoni thrives in stagnant water, while Schistosoma haematobium, another species that can infect humans, lives in flowing waters. (The team specifically looked for the antigens, proteins associated with the parasite, as well as the body's response molecules, antibodies.) +++

“Here's what they found: About 25 percent of the 46 Wadi Halfa mummies tested were infected with S. mansoni, while only 9 percent of the Kulubnarti (191 individuals tested) were. "In the past everyone has assumed S. haematobium was the source of the infection, and this study shows it was S. mansoni," Armelagos said. The two populations also probably were infected with S. haematobium, said the researchers, who didn't test for its presence. The irrigation canals built by the Wadi Halfa are the most likely source of the S. mansoni parasite, the researchers said. The Wadi Halfa probably contracted the disease when they used the canals to wash their clothes as well as flood the fields.” +++

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, The Louvre, The British Museum, The Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated August 2024