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
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)
Sofia Aziz is an independent researcher on the medicine and mummification procedures of the ancient Egyptians. She holds an MSc in Biomedical Egyptology from the KNH Centre, University of Manchester, a BSc Hons in Human Sciences and a Certificate in Egyptology. She regularly gives talks on biomedical Egyptology and has featured in TV documentaries including Tutankhamun: Waking the Dead on Channel 5 with Bettany Hughes.
- By (author) Sofia Aziz
Other Titles in this Series
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
Body, Cosmos and Eternity
New Trends of Research on Iconography and Symbolism of Ancient Egyptian Coffins
Chronological Developments in the Old Kingdom Tombs in the Necropoleis of Giza, Saqqara and Abusir
Toward an Economic Decline during the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom
Compulsion and Control in Ancient Egypt
Proceedings of the Third Lady Wallis Budge Egyptology Symposium
Egypt 2015: Perspectives of Research
Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference of Egyptologists (2nd-7th June, 2015, Zagreb – Croatia)
Similar Books
The Western Nile Delta
ARCE Fieldwork in the Region of Kom Firin and Naukratis (1977-1983) Revisited
Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos
Vol. 2: Old Kingdom Wall, Papyri, Ostraca, and Leather Remains
The Southern Room of Amun in the Temple of Hatshepsut
Volume 2: Studies on Decoration and Ritual Function
Volume 11
Die Ägyptenworte im Ezechielbuch
Eine literarhistorische und religionsgeschichtliche Analyse von Ez 29–32
Du côté de chez Zeus
Fouilles de la Mission archéologique française du désert Oriental à Abû Qurayya (Dios) et Bi’r Bayza (y inclus O.Dios I 1-67)
Volume 98
La littérature de l’Égypte ancienne. Volume V
Nouvel Empire : XVIIIe dynastie. Eulogies et narrations royales, contes, enseignements et littérature d’idée
Lehrreiche Literatur
Die didaktische Gestaltung von Plutarchs Quaestiones Graecae und Romanae und Gellius' Noctes Atticae
Nouvelles perspectives sur le Traité anonyme du Codex Bruce. New Perspectives on the Untitled Treatise of the Bruce Codex
(Colloque international, Québec, Université Laval, 13 avril 2018)
Volume 11
Ägypten und Levante XXXIV / Egypt and the Levant XXXIV (2024)
Internationale Zeitschrift für ägyptische Archäologie und deren Nachbargebiete / International Journal for Egyptian Archaeology and Related Disciplines
Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries
Highlights from the first century of the Egypt Exploration Society
Volume 8
Archaeological Discoveries at the Temple of Ramesses II in Abydos
Vol. 1: Magazines, Animal Burials, and Miscellanea
Building an 18th Dynasty Tomb at Thebes
Construction Records from Mery's Funerary Complex (TT 95) in Context
Volume 4
Current Research in Egyptology 2024
Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium, Jointly Organised by the University of Liverpool, Swansea University, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2–6 September 2024
From Egypt to the Levant and Beyond
African Individuals and Groupsain Cuneiform Texts from the Late Bronze Age
Volume 133
