The Human Brain in Ancient Egypt
A Medical and Historical Re-evaluation of Its Function and Importance
By (author) Sofia Aziz
Paperback (Published)
(June 2023)
ISBN: 9781803274775
6.1 x 9.25 inches
Price: $28.00
In stock
This volume provides a medical and historical re-evaluation of the function and importance of the human brain in ancient Egypt. The study evaluates whether treatment of the brain during anthropogenic mummification was linked to medical concepts of the brain.
The Human Brain in Ancient Egypt provides a medical and historical re-evaluation of the function and importance of the human brain in ancient Egypt. The study evaluates whether treatment of the brain during anthropogenic mummification was linked to medical concepts of the brain. The notion that excerebration was carried out to rid the body of the brain continues to dominate the literature, and the assumption that the functions of the brain were assigned to the heart and therefore the brain was not needed in the afterlife persists. To assess the validity of these claims the study combines three investigations: a radiological survey of 33 subjects using the IMPACT mummy database to determine treatment of the cranium; an examination of the medical papyri for references to the human brain; and an inspection of the palaeopathological records to look for evidence of cranial injuries and ensuing medical treatments. The results refute long held claims regarding the importance of the human brain in ancient Egypt. Many accepted facets of mummification can no longer hold up to scrutiny. Mummification served a religious ideology in which the deceased was transformed and preserved for eternity. Treatment of the brain was not determined to be significantly different from the visceral organs, and the notion that the brain was extracted because it served no purpose in the afterlife was found to be unsubstantiated.
Chronology Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: A re-evaluation of mummification and treatment of the brain Chapter 4: Trauma care and neurosurgery in Ancient Egypt Chapter 5: Palaeopathological evidence of cranial surgery Chapter 6: Conclusion Appendix A Appendix B: Book of the Dead: Spell 30b (Faulkner, 2010) Appendix C: Book of the Dead: Spell 166: Spell for a headrest (Faulkner, 2010) Appendix D Bibliography, Chronology ;
Chapter 1: Introduction ;
Chapter 2: Literature review ;
Chapter 3: A re-evaluation of mummification and treatment of the brain ;
Chapter 4: Trauma care and neurosurgery in Ancient Egypt ;
Chapter 5: Palaeopathological evidence of cranial surgery ;
Chapter 6: Conclusion ;
Appendix A ;
Appendix B: Book of the Dead: Spell 30b (Faulkner, 2010)(Faulkner, 2010)
- By (author) Sofia Aziz
Other Titles in this Series
Rise of the Hyksos
Egypt and the Levant from the Middle Kingdom to the Early Second Intermediate Period
I templi del Fayyum di epoca tolemaico-romana: tra fonti scritte e contesti archeologici
Per una classificazione degli edifici sacri nell’Egitto tolemaico e romano
The Family of Pa-di-Amun-neb-nesut-tawy from Thebes (TT 414) Revisited
The Case Study of Kalutj/Nes-Khonsu (G108 + G137)
The Production, Use and Importance of Flint Tools in the Archaic Period and the Old Kingdom in Egypt
Religious Practice and Cultural Construction of Animal Worship in Egypt from the Early Dynastic to the New Kingdom
Ritual Forms, Material Display, Historical Development
‘Blood Is Thicker Than Water’ – Non-Royal Consanguineous Marriage in Ancient Egypt
An Exploration of Economic and Biological Outcomes
Australasian Egyptology Conference 4
Papers from the Fourth Australasian Egyptology Conference Dedicated to Gillian E. Bowen
Studies on the Vignettes from Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead
I: The Image of mś.w Bdšt in Ancient Egyptian Mythology
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