2023-11-09 12:00:03
In the sands of time, the secrets of ancient Egypt continue to be revealed under the meticulous brushstrokes of archaeologists. The most recent discovery at the Amarna site is not a treasure trove of precious stones, but a unique biological testimony: a teratoma more than three millennia old, found in a woman’s pelvis. This bony mass, decorated with two teeth, constitutes the oldest known specimen of this type of tumor. in medicine, an increase in…), which usually develops in the ovaries or testicles.
Teratomas, according to specialists, can be benign or malignant. They are composed of various tissues, such as muscle, hair, teeth or bone. These tumors can cause pain and swelling and, if ruptured, cause infection. Nowadays, surgical removal is the most common treatment.
The city of Amarna, the ephemeral capital of the adoration of the sun god (The Sun (Sol in Latin, Helios or Ήλιος) in Greek) is the star…) Aten under the pharaoh Akhenaten, still conceals many mysteries. Abandoned shortly following Akhenaten’s death in 1336 BC. BC, this city (The city (Latin civitas) is a word designating, in Antiquity before the…) was the scene of numerous archaeological discoveries, of which this one adds a dimension (In the sense common, the notion of dimension refers to the size; the dimensions of a…) medical to the history of its inhabitants.
Among the four large cemeteries linked to Amarna, it was in a tomb in the Northern Desert cemetery (North is a cardinal point, opposite the south.) that researchers found the skeleton (The skeleton is a rigid animal frame serving support for the muscles. It is at the…) of the young woman, aged 18 to 21 years. She was buried with various objects, including a ring bearing the effigy of Bes, a divinity associated with childbirth, fertility and protection.
Gretchen Dabbs, a bioarchaeologist at Southern University, Illinois Carbondale, and her team published the discovery on October 30 in the International Journal of Paleopathology. They suggested that the teeth and location of the mass in the woman’s pelvic region indicate that it is an ovarian teratoma.
The Bes ring, found on the deceased’s left hand, might indicate that the teratoma was symptomatic. It may have been used as a “magical-medical” object to invoke Bes’ protection from pain or other symptoms, or to aid in conception and childbirth.
This discovery is significant because teratomas are very rarely identified in archaeology. The Amarna example offers valuable insight into life in ancient Egypt and the possible symbolic importance of the Ring of Bes as a talisman of protection and fertility.
The full analysis of the hundreds of skeletons exhumed last year in Amarna is still underway. Future research will include the study of biological connections between those buried as well as the investigation of other Egyptian burials with potential “magical-medical” objects.
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