Egypt already had remarkable advances in the field of medicine. Records of that are still being found. In the finding of the Egyptian mummy of an infant something was discovered. There is a bandaged wound on the mummified body. This is the first time this has been found.
Wounded girl
Researchers discovered the wound dressings on the mummy of a little girl. She would have been no more than four years old. And she died about 2,000 years ago. They took CT scans of her. They were published at International Journal of Paleopathology. There it was discovered that the mummy has a bandage on the lower left leg. The wound appeared to have become infected when the girl died. Scans showed traces of pus.
The mummy that was removed from the Tomb of Alina in the Faiyum Oasis. This is southwest of Cairo. It left scientists very surprised. No indication of a bandaged wound was ever seen on a mummy.
“This is how the ancient Egyptians treated such infections or abscesses during their lifetime. It was very exciting because we didn’t expect it. Nothing like this had ever been described before.” explained Albert Zink. He is the director of the Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzona, Italy.
Caring for the corpse
It is possible that specific herbs or ointments were applied to treat inflammation in this area. It could be checked by taking samples from the area. It would reveal what caused the infection and how people treated it at the time.
The finding of the Egyptian mummy of an infant leaves a riddle for researchers. Why were the bandages left in place? They generally do not survive the mummification process. It is believed that this was done intentionally. The ancient Egyptians believed that the mummified body should be as perfect as possible for the afterlife.
“Perhaps they intended in some way to continue the healing process for the afterlife. There are always some surprises when we study mummies,” Zink noted.
