Mummy autopsy of an evolved culture in ancient Egypt

Mummy autopsy of an evolved culture in ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt depicted the pharaoh as an ideal god who had hoped to live a young life of beauty and freedom from disease. The evidence from human remains has not been distorted or altered to make art or literary sources integrated with Egyptian and historical ideas Egyptian mummies are important and can greatly increase our knowledge of the evolution of disease One reason is that unlike other cultures they have only skeletal remains In religious art human remains provide an opportunity to study the physical evidence of mummified remains indicating that even the elite were subject to a variety of illnesses and disabilities Disease diet population movement in ancient populations and lifestyles and family relationships in the past.

The ruins of Ramesseum the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II are shown in the image along with Osiris pillars carved with images of the Pharaoh holding symbols of power.

The mummy tissues preserved in the remains also provide an unparalleled opportunity to compare the mummy evidence with modern medical data and to trace the evolution and pattern of disease over thousands of years Since the earliest mummies were unwrapped only facilities for anatomical examination and the study of bandages and associated insects have been available The study of disease in ancient remains paleontology the study of disease in mummies from ancient remains

has progressed with significant developments in medical technology and science and technology has often been applied to the examination of mummies the creation of teams of skilled professionals and the development of non-invasive methods of examination with a particular emphasis on the use of industrial endoscopes in two key steps in archaeological pathology allowing the study of wrapped mummies to be carried out without surgery as much as possible. 

These projects have added to the specific knowledge of mummification procedures and the accounts of classical writers. A pioneering team in 1901 began a detailed study of bodies discovered in southern Egypt paying particular attention to mummification procedures and bone measurements Examining some 6,000 mummies recovered by the Nubian Archaeological Survey a project established to explore Nubia's archaeological heritage most of them were destroyed as a result of the construction of the first dam at Aswan in the early 20th century

The second coffin of Pharaoh Tutankhamun was discovered by the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. It is one of three nested coffins found inside his tomb in the Valley of the Kings Egypt.

An important autopsy was also performed on a set of mummies in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia. The Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Canada a multidisciplinary team conducted several autopsies to collect tissue and bone samples for further analysis. A project was established in 1973 to develop a methodology for examining mummies. In 1974 mummified bodies were a cheaper method of mummification. This autopsy generated much interest and discussion and revealed the wide range of scientific research that could be done on mummies

Ongoing research into the evidence obtained from these autopsies resulted in extensive interdisciplinary research However since mummies are a limited irreplaceable and valuable resource in 1975 the autopsy of mummies involved the removal and dissection of abnormal anatomy The overall condition of the body was observed for evidence of disease diet living conditions and burial traditions During this process many artifacts were found related to the body which also contained evidence of Guinea worm disease a disease that originated in mummies and could lead to death.

The ancient Egyptian mummy of Pachery or Nenu has a separate mask fragment placed underneath, which was originally used to cover the face over a woven linen overlay. The linen was intricately woven and wrapped in geometric or square patterns.

One such technology was radiology which was once the first step in the investigation but autopsies proved that unwrapping and surgery could provide information that could not be obtained from Xrays alone. After the 1975 autopsy a team in Manchester pioneered the use of the endoscope as a virtually non-invasive technique Although this method has its limitations and the results of this minimally invasive method do not provide as complete information as an autopsy these disadvantages are more than offset by the losses incurred by the destructive methods of autopsy. Further research is needed to use non-invasive and minimally invasive techniques and some of these are still being sought and developed