The use of surgical techniques in ancient Egyptian medicine has only been suggested indirectly through ancient medical texts and iconography, and there is no evidence of amputation as a means of therapeutic medical treatment. This paper presents four cases of amputation from the archaeological site of Dayr al-Barshā , Egypt. Two of the cases (dated to the First Intermediate and Middle Kingdom periods, respectively) are from individuals that display bilateral amputations of the feet, one through the metatarso-phalangeal joints, the other a transmetatarsal amputation. The exact reason for the amputation, perhaps from trauma or disease, is unknown. The particular healing patterns of the distal ends of the amputations suggest these individuals used foot binding or prosthetic devices. Another case represents a healed amputation of the left ulna near the elbow, dated to the Old Kingdom. The final case represents a perimortem amputation of the distal end of the right humerus. The exact date of this individual is unknown, but most likely pertains to the Old Kingdom or First Intermediate period. This individual seems to have suffered a traumatic incident shortly before death, sustaining many fractures, including a butterfly fracture on the right humerus. Several cut marks were identified on top of the butterfly fracture, indicating amputation of the arm at this point. All four cases support the hypothesis that the ancient Egyptians did use amputation as a therapeutic medical treatment for particular diseases or trauma.
In 2009 the shaft of governor Djehutinakht IV or V at Dayr al-Barshā was re-excavated. This tomb with its well-preserved funerary equipment had been discovered by George Reisner in 1915, and most of its contents are housed at the MFA in Boston. While the primary objective was the documentation of the architecture of the tomb, a deposit was found inside the shaft that had not been touched by Reisner (see Part 1 of this report in JEA 98 (2012), 55–72). Fowl bones, belonging to ducks and cranes, and pottery inside this deposit form the sole surviving remnants of food offerings in the burial of this Middle Kingdom governor. In addition, a number of human remains that had been carefully placed in the eastern side chamber of the shaft may have belonged to the wife of the governor, also named Djehutinakht.
We warmly thank the curators of the Department of Art of the Ancient World at the MFA, Rita Freed, Lawrence Berman, and Denise Doxey, for providing access to the Reisner archives.The excavations that Reisner undertook at Dayr al-Barshā remain largely unpublished, but the catalogue of the recent exhibit 'The Secrets of Tomb A: Egypt ' at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA) provides detailed information about Tomb A,
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