Probable fatal mastoiditis by the around 2300 year old Heidelberg's Egyptian mummy Djed-Hor - 16/03/24

Doi : 10.1016/j.anorl.2023.02.006

R. Sokiranski ^a, D. Faltings ^b, S. Sokiranski ^c, W. Pirsig ^d, A. Mudry ^e,^⁎
^a Medical University-Varna, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ul. “Professor-Marin-Drinov” 55, 9002 Varna Center, Bulgaria
^b University of Heidelberg HCCH, Institute of Egyptology, Marstallstraße 6, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
^c Department of Neurology, Asklepios Klinikum Wandsbek, Alphonsstraße 14, 22043 Hamburg, Germany
^d Ulm University, Emeritus, Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Prittwitzstraße 43, 89075 Ulm, Germany
^e Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 801, Welch road, Stanford, CA 94305-5739, United States

^⁎Corresponding author.

Abstract

The universal use of computed tomography (CT) has opened up new possibilities in the noninvasive examination of human mummies, and particularly the detailed study of the fine structures of the temporal bone. The aim of this study was to describe the morphological changes, as seen on CT, found in the right temporal bone of Djed-Hor, an around 2300 year old Heidelberg's Egyptian mummy, and to discuss their possible causal relation to his death. Here we showed the presence of a compress on the auricle, and of probable pus in the mastoid, middle ear, and external ear with erosion of the tegmen tympani probably related to a fatal acute mastoiditis. These typical morphological changes of such a disease were demonstrated in the same way as in living patients of today. This would be the first depiction of a compress on an auricle associated with pus in the ear of an Egyptian mummy.

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Keywords : Mastoiditis, Egyptian, Mummy, Compress, Pus