Egyptian Dreams

kmt_sesh · Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:40 pm Post subject: Grim secrets of Pharaoh's city

I searched the other forums at ED and didn't find this article posted anywhere, unless I missed it. I first saw it on another forum and then in the EEF mailing list. I apologize if it's already been posted somewhere at ED but I found the article interesting and thought some of you folks might like to read it.

The BBC article is about recently discovered human remains belonging to the workmen who built the city of Akhetaten. It's significant because although the site of the workmen's village at Amarna is known and has been excavated, much less is known about the quality of life of the workers who lived there. The article states:

anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

That's interesting information.
I cannot remember where I read it, but there were other excavations that showed that the people at Amarna lived a relatively better life than others.
I wonder if these new finds reflect the working class and the older finds were of a slightly higher class?

The short life span and the many injuries do paint a very "gothic" picture. It must have been a tremendous undertaking to erect a whole city in such a short time and it must have been very hard on the workers.

I was wondering about the nature of the workforce. There were not really slaves like in other areas of the world, but there are records from the time of Amenhotep III for instance that mention large groups of foreign workers (from the levant) who were settled in and near some of his temples where they were put to work.

I wonder if some of these workers may have come from that kind of population. It's rather brutal if you think about these very young people being forced to work under terrible circumstances. Would they just inflict that on Egyptians?

The article does mention:
"But even this backbreaking schedule may not be enough to explain the extreme death pattern at Amarna. "

It would be interesting if they find other evidence of a plague or something like that in these bones. They never really mention how many skeletal remains they are talking about.

I wonder too where exactly they were found. They talk about floods unearthing these remains. There are some cemetaries that they know existed in the vicinity of Amarna. I wonder if these remains come from one of these cemetaries.
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anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

You mind find this interesting:
http://www.amarnaproject.com/pages/recent_projects/excavation/south_tombs_cemetery/2007.shtml

I haven't had time to digest the entire page, but there may be some indication of multiple burials in one grave?
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anneke · Queen of Egypt Joined: 23 Jan 2004 Posts: 9305

Just noticed this part of the text in above mentioned page:

BobManske · Scribe Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 350

I'm not surprised. Hard physical labor (there wasn't any other kind) was probably a leading cause of injury and death in young men. The women avoided that at the cost of repeated pregnancies and death from childbirth complications.

It was a rough age to be alive in. So, yeah, they would inflict this kind of stuff on Egyptians because it was considered a normal part of life. Nothing at all out of the ordinary.

Here's a quote from a book I'm reading "Mummies and Death in Egypt". "Anatomopathological study revealed particles of granite in the lungs. The intestines contained a number of schistosome and tapeworm eggs. The liver was cirrhotic, and the spleen was enlarge. The probable cause of death was thus schistosomiasis. The investigators also found subcutaneous cyst containing a Trichinella spiralis larva, which implied pork consumption." (The underlines are in the original)

The same mummy is reported on in Rosalie David's book Converations with Mummies. "Nakht's bone development was that of someone whose body was still growing...lines on his shin bones hinted at malnutrition or possibly a prolonged illness with high fever... arrested growth...apparently food was scarce in Thebes early in the 20th Dynasty." Later than Akhenaton's time, but probably not unusual, I would think. She continues: "enlarge spleen, bleeding at the time of death, suggested a diagnosis of malaria." Age 15.

Egyptian medical knowledge, in advance of everyone else's, was probably less than any of us have here in ED who have little or no medical training whatsover. They had no knowledge of the causes of disease, infectious or otherwise. They had no clue whatsoever about how the body worked. Remedies were on a trial-and-error basis unless there were prescriptions handed down from earlier times which in some cases at least, were not to be altered. I always make sure to take a book or two on Egyptian medicine along when I visit my doctors. They love reading this stuff and are absolutely amazed.

The situtation was not very different in our own society just a short while ago. When Social Security was started in the U.S. in the 1930's it was expected that the average guy would retire one day and drop dead the next. And yet, at age 65, this was a tremendous improvement over the life expectancy in the 19th century. And that was better than... well, you get the idea.

Enjoy!

Bob

Daughter_Of_SETI · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:49 pm Post subject:

Was this show not aired in the US? It was shown here in the UK a few nights ago under Timewatch and was greatly explained. Very Happy

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In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this - Terry Pratchett.

kmt_sesh · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:34 am Post subject:

anneke wrote:

Daughter_Of_SETI · Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:26 pm Post subject:

Alright, well I'm guessing that the program was only shown in the UK then. Confused

If anyone wants to see the program you can watch it here! (Just click on Television "Last Seven Days" then click on "26 Sat" and on "Timewatch" from the list.) But hurry, because it's only available to watch for the next two days!

Thanks to Dachief for the link. Applause