Here's One Malady You Share With Ancient Egyptian Scribes

Ancient Egyptian scribes held high-status jobs, making up immoderate of the 1% of Egyptians who could work and constitute astatine that time. But the scribes suffered for it: New probe published successful Scientific Reports reveals that the past documentarians suffered from osteoarthritis arsenic a effect of their labors.

The find was made by a squad of archaeologists who studied the remains of 69 big males recovered successful the necropolis astatine Abusir, Egypt, which was utilized betwixt 2700 BCE and 2180 BCE. The squad recovered statistically important differences successful the skeletal traits of the scribes compared to a notation population; those degenerative changes were concentrated successful the joints, spines, and jaws of the scribes.

“Most of these statistically important differences” successful skeletal traits “show a higher prevalence of the observed changes among the scribes (90%), which allows america to deduce that they mightiness beryllium related to scribal activity,” the researchers wrote, though they noted that factors specified arsenic property cannot beryllium ruled retired arsenic a origin of immoderate of the disfigurements.

“Officials with scribal skills belonged to the elite of the clip and formed the backbone of the authorities administration,” Veronika Dulíková, an Egyptologist astatine Charles University and co-author of the study, told LiveScience. Fitting, then, that the scribes’ ain backs would consciousness the value of the kingdom, and transportation grounds of it to the grave.

“In a emblematic scribe’s moving position, the caput had to beryllium forward, and the spine flexed, changing the centre of gravity of the caput and putting accent connected the spine,” the probe squad wrote successful the paper. Over time, the load enactment connected the precocious spine—in peculiar the C7-T1 question segment, the authors note—could origin degenerative effects successful the cervical spine of the Ancient Egyptian scribes.

Another disfigurement identified successful the skeletal remains was to the temporomandibular joint, familiarly known arsenic TMJ. TMJ disorders are liable for jaw symptom successful galore radical today; successful the scribes, the squad wrote, it was apt caused by chewing the brushwood utilized to constitute hieroglyphs (in that regard, the scribes’ information apt differs from astir modern TMJ disorders). Other precocious assemblage disfigurements included osteoarthritis successful the hand, which “probably reflects pinch grip work, specified arsenic predominant gripping of the pen,” the squad noted. Anyone who took a standardized trial with a No. 2 pencil increasing up tin astir apt relate.

In the little body, the researchers recovered a higher incidence of osteoarthritis successful the hip, knee, and ankle, indicating that the scribes whitethorn person preferred a circumstantial sitting presumption “which could besides origin overloading of the lumbar spine.” If you haven’t yet, delight see your ain posture arsenic you work this nonfiction and set it accordingly.

More: Ancient Egyptians Tried to Surgically Treat Cancer, Study Finds