Department of Medical HistoryAncient Egyptian prosthesis of the big toe
Introduction
Up to now, there has been mainly indirect evidence from written sources that the ancient Egyptians practised surgery, and none that their medical treatments also included therapeutic replacement of amputated limbs with prostheses. Medical papyri describe treatment of traumatic lesions, but fail specifically to mention the use of surgery. However, findings such as an externally treated fracture of the forearm with wooden splints1 and a 19th dynasty bone (circa 2100 BC) from a presumably posttraumatic amputation of the forearm with subsequent distal synostotic fusion of radius and ulna,2 do imply that surgical treatment took place in ancient Egypt. Furthermore, a new report3 of a skull with a large posttraumatic osseous defect and missing fracture fragment, but intact internal (dura mater) and external (skin) soft tissue layers, argues in favour of some kind of surgical removal of that fragment. During our palaeopathological survey of human remains in the necropolis of Thebes- West, the large cemetery of the capital of ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom and subsequent periods (about 1550-700 BC), we discovered an Egyptian mummy with an intravital amputation of the big toe.
Section snippets
The Thebes-West tomb
During an excavation campaign at the necropolis of Thebes-West (Sheik-Abd-el-Gurna), by the German Institute of Archaeology, Cairo, and the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, we investigated the human remains of burial chamber TT-95, one of the tombs of the nobles. This tomb was built during the 18th dynasty (circa 1550-1300 BC) by a high royal official and, according to archaeological findings, was originally used by members of his family. However, in subsequent periods, the tomb complex
The mummy
In the additional chamber, we found the fragmented, but otherwise well-preserved mummy of a woman (figure 1). The corpse had been broken into several parts, so that the skull, abdominothoracic torso, right thigh, both shins, and both arms were separate, but could easily be reassembled. All parts of the mummy were extensively wrapped in linen bindings and only the embalmed left thigh and both hands were missing. The torso, probably because of grave robberies, was ventrally disrupted and
Discussion
We describe possibly the oldest known intravital limb prosthesis. Up to now, several investigators have reported prosthetic replacements of limbs in ancient Egyptian mummies. However, their findings suggest that the replacements were made to prepare the mummy for its afterlife. For example, a previously found forearm prosthesis of an elderly man from the Ptolemeic period (332-30 BC) revealed attempts by embalmers to complete the mummy for the afterlife.9 Gray10 has detailed further similar
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