Ancient Egyptian Child Mummified 2,000 Years Ago Discovered with Bandaged Leg, Gives Insights to Old-Fashioned Medical Practices

A child mummy extracted from the rubbles of ancient Egypt had a strange physical appearance. The 2,000-year-old kid had a bandaged wound in their leg. The experts believe it is an unusual treatment during the burial ceremony.

The ancient Egyptian child was estimated to be between 2.5 to 4 years upon burial. The remains of the kid were the first to show a different approach to the burial mummification process in the history of Egyptian archaeology.

Illness and Treatments in Ancient Egypt

The nameless infant was first unearthed in 1892 from the depths of the "Tomb of Aline," located in Hawara archaeological site. The grave of the child dates back to 24 AD. The most interesting find front the excavation is that three out of the eight mummified remains alongside the subject were decorated with a detailed portrait of the kid.

The infant, believed to be a female, was painted in each of the three coffins complete with ringlets and simple jewelry pieces. The tomb itself was theorized to be constructed for Aline herself, an ancient Egyptian belonging to a middle or upper-class family. Inscriptions extracted from the burial site revealed that Aline was 35 when she passed away.

All of the eight mummified occupants of the Tomb of Aline were examined via X-ray along with 20 other individuals. The main interest of the study over the group of ancient Egyptians was to have information on the illnesses and treatments present during the height of their civilization. The study was led by Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Murnau Department of Radiology expert Stephanie Panzer and their colleagues.

Ancient Egypt, like other civilizations, was struck by various infections and widescale epidemics throughout its reign. The authors said that most of these illnesses caused a massive death toll during their age.

However, the evidence of the illnesses is few, taking a larger part of the medicinal and physiological history away from ancient Egyptian studies. Although some were recorded from adult mummies, the health data from the remains of vulnerable infants remains lacking.

Healing of Mummified Children Upon Burial

Panzer and other scholars CT (computerized tomography) scanned the extracted subjects. The people, which are now kept safe at museums in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, included remains of children. According to a report by DailyMail, 11 of the mummified kids were male, eight were female, and two have unidentified gender.

The analysis revealed that three out of the 21 mummies had signs of pus-bearing or purulent infections. There are speculation that the girl was the daughter of Aline. She had a bandage-like treatment on her left leg. The authors believe that it is the original ancient Egyptian dressing for skin lesion giving them an overview of the Egypitan medicine.

The wrappings were seemingly administered over the girl's tissue that was abundant with dried pus. It suggests that the infant had an abscess or purulent cellulitis. The unusual placement of the dressing over the child's wound is also theorized to be part of a burial ceremony where the person must be decorated properly for their travel across life and death.

Institute for Mummy Studies expert and author of the study Albert Zink said in a Business Insider report that wound treatment may have been intended to continue healing the dead for the afterlife.

Dried pus was also evident in Aline's other daughter, who was estimated to be around two to three years of age upon burial. Experts suspect that the wound, located at the right hip joint of the kids, was caused by septic arthritis.

The third child, estimated between 9 to 11 years old, was suspected to have suffered from purulent sinusitis. The dried masses from the kid were found in his lower cheeks. The pus-filled abscess originated either from the kid's upper throat or back of the mouth.

The study was the first to collect radiological evidence of well-preserved dried pus in mummified ancient Egyptians. The authors hope that their new findings could anchor future paleopathological studies. The whole coverage was published in the International Journal of Paleopathology, titled "Radiological evidence of purulent infections in ancient Egyptian child mummies."

Check out more news and information on Archaeology in Science Times.