The history of an amazing prosthesis from ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians were masters not only in construction. It turns out that ancient Egyptian doctors used prostheses created with a full understanding of human anatomy. This was recently discovered by scientists who studied the world's oldest prosthesis - a wooden finger, which is 3000 years old.

Prosthetist artist

The prosthesis found in the female burial site of the necropolis of Sheikh Abd al-Qurn belonged to the daughter of a priest. Using modern microscopy, X-ray technology and computed tomography, scientists learned that a wooden finger was rebuilt several times under the leg of its owner. We can say that the creator of the prosthesis was a master of his craft. He knew the peculiarities of human anatomy very well and was able to develop a mobile prosthesis that moved with the rest of the leg and had a solid belt structure.

Photo: University of Basel, LHTT

In addition to convenience and accuracy, the prosthesis is distinguished by grace. It can be seen that the master paid a lot of attention to the aesthetics and external naturalness of the artificial finger - obviously, his work cost a lot of money. Priests in ancient Egypt definitely lived well.

Biography of things

An early Iron Age prosthesis was discovered in a plundered tomb, hollowed out in an older, long-standing inactive chapel on the funerary hill of the Sheikh Abd al-Qurn necropolis west of Luxor, which is also called the "Valley of Nobility." This chapel belongs to the group of monumental rock tombs of the late 15th century BC, which were built for the close family of the pharaohs.

In the photo: Necropolis of Sheikh Abd al-Qurn

Since the end of 2015, the University of Basel has been studying this ancient Egyptian elite cemetery. Microanalytical scientific methods and the latest technologies help scientists in this. By studying archaeological finds from the material culture of Ancient Egypt, researchers get an idea of the history of their creation. So, biographies of household items can tell a lot of interesting things about production methods, customs, personal skills, habits and preferences of the people to whom these items belonged.