The people of Deir El-Medineh: a preliminary paleopathology study - Sabbahy - 2010

The New Kingdom worker's village at Deir el-Medineh on the West Bank of Thebes is one of the most important archaeological sites from ancient Egypt. The village, its religious chapels, and nearby cemeteries have all been excavated, and have yielded vast amounts of artifacts and written documents. This material has been widely published and studied, but what has been virtually ignored are the human remains of these people. Only a handful of the mummies from Deir le-Medineh have been studied, the most recognized, those of the couple Kha and Merit in the Turin Museum, have both been X-rayed and CT-scanned. The knowledge about diet, diseases, family relationships, physical activities and life span that that could be learned from the mummies of Deir el-Medineh, have the potential to complete our understanding of this ancient community.

Keywords

Egypt − Deir el-Medineh − Mummies − Paleopathology

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