Book Review

The Mummy's Tale: The Scientific and Medical Investigation of Natsef-Amun, Priest in the Temple at Karnak

N Engl J Med 1993; 329:1511-1512November 11, 1993

Article

The Mummy's Tale: The Scientific and Medical Investigation of Natsef-Amun, Priest in the Temple at Karnak
Edited by A.R. David and E. Tapp. 176 pp., illustrated. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1992. $24.95. ISBN: 0-312-09061-7

Despite our current preoccupation with dinosaurs, we have not lost our fascination with the mummies of ancient Egypt. Books, articles, cartoons, films, and museum displays continue to bring us the stories and remains of pharaohs, princesses, and priests, forever preserved in colorful coffins. The authors of The Mummy's Tale trace the mummy's appeal to the early 19th century, when Egyptian mummies became standard artifacts acquired by museums and private collectors. Their artistic value was limited to coffin inscriptions and decorations, as well as to a few adornments placed in the wrappings. The human remains posed a variety of challenges, especially to the archaeologists and physicians who were interested in the physical condition of the bodies and the ancient techniques of mummification. In 1828, the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society undertook what is considered the earliest recorded autopsy of an Egyptian mummy in modern times.

The tale of Natsef-Amun, a priest from the Amun temple at Karnak who lived around 1200 B.C. in Luxor, is spellbinding. This book about him will appeal to physicians interested in the antiquity of disease and the modern scientific methods employed in its detection. It begins with background chapters on the history and geography of ancient Egypt, the history of mummification, and a reconstruction of Natsef-Amun's life as a priest during the turbulent reign of Ramses XI. Subsequent sections describe the traffic in mummies between Egypt and Europe and tell how some specimens came to rest in British museums.

In 1973, the Manchester Museum, which houses one of the most important collections of Egyptian antiquities in Britain, assembled an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, physicians, radiologists, laboratory chemists, orthodontists, and photographers. The goal of the Mummy Research Project was to advance our knowledge of “paleopathology,” a word coined early in the 20th century by Armand Ruffer, professor of bacteriology in Cairo and author of the first textbook on the topic. Aided by the technological revolution in biomedicine, notable advances have been made in paleopathology in recent decades. Several chapters in The Mummy's Tale recount the results of computed tomography, dental and histologic examinations, determinations of blood groups, and noninvasive endoscopy. Finally, with the help of medical artists, a facial reconstruction of Natsef-Amun was made. Newer techniques, including chromosomal and DNA analysis of human tissues as well as their parasites and bacteria, were not attempted and presumably must await further studies.

This book is written like a medical detective story, with the culprit -- disease -- making its appearance at the end. Natsef-Amun suffered from filariasis and had marked arteriosclerosis of the femoral arteries. Since the early 1900s, approximately 30,000 Egyptian mummies have been examined. Before the advent of sophisticated diagnostic techniques, most of the attention was devoted to the analysis of bones. Nevertheless, one can confidently postulate that the majority of ancient Egyptians suffered from infectious and degenerative diseases not unlike the illnesses found today in similar environments. Detailed examinations of Nakht, a near contemporary of Natsef-Amun, performed by a team at the Academy of Medicine in Toronto, also revealed parasitic disease -- namely, schistosomiasis. An international register of paleopathologic findings will allow statistical analyses of representative samples. Data from new paleopathologic studies, such as those exemplified by the Manchester Mummy Research Project, will immeasurably aid historians of disease and medicine in their reconstruction of the past.

Guenter B. Risse, M.D., Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143