Findings in ancient Egyptian mummies from tomb KV64, Valley of the Kings, Luxor, with evidence of a rheumatic disease

Abstract

Objective

In 2011, a spectacular find was made in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt – a well-known archaeological site, where pharaohs were buried during the New Kingdom (ca. 1500–1100 BCE). A team from the University of Basel’s Kings’ Valley Project discovered a tomb (KV64) containing two mummies that were buried in different time episodes (unidentified elite burial, 18th dynasty, and Nehemesbastet, 22nd dynasty).

Method

Anthropological investigations of the mummies were performed using portable X-ray and photographic documentation.

Results and conclusion

The first burial was an adult individual with bilateral pathological changes at the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), most likely of inflammatory origin, possibly psoriatic arthritis. Investigations of the second burial revealed an intact body of a younger female individual.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the Basel Kings’ Valley Project, which is leading the excavation. We further thank Alexander Barthelmie, MD, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland, for his comments regarding the radiological evaluation of the postcranial skeletons. Thanks to Linda Rüegg, MD, senior doctor at the department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, for the professional discussions. We further thank Abagail Breidenstein, PhD, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Zürich, Switzerland, for proofreading the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was received from SNF project 100011_156046: Diachronic perspectives on a royal necropolis: identity, agency, interaction. Mäxi Foundation, Zürich. The funders had no influence on the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, or on the writing of the report and the decision to submit the work for publication.