Volume 4 (2021)

First page of the paper.

Special issue on mummification

Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) in a Mummy from the Theban Necropolis

Stark, Robert J.; Bács, Tamás A.

Abstract:

The vertebral pathological condition known as Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) has infre­quently been reported convincingly in ancient Egyptian human remains. Here we describe and illustrate a near textbook example in a partial adult torso identified as Mummy 10 from the forecourt of TT 66–Saff Tomb 1, with a proba­ble date in the Third Intermediate Period (TIP). It was found during excavations on the hill of Sheikh  ͑Abd  ͗el-Qurna, in the elite necropolis of the New Kingdom, in close proximity to the Temple of Hāt–shepsūt at Deir  ͗el-Bahri, across the Nile from Luxor, Egypt. Utilising macroscopic observation, the individu­al in question exhibits a flowing «melted wax» type ossification along the right anterolateral side of the ver­tebral column extending from the second through the eleventh thoracic vertebrae (T2-T11). Gross observation suggests open interver­tebral disc spaces with no sign of syndesmophytes. Such pathological changes ap­pear consistent with the ske­letal manifestations of DISH and rule out Ankylosing Spondylitis as a possible aetiology.

Citation:

Stark, R.J., Bács, T.A. 2021. «Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) in a Mummy from the Theban Necropolis», JHIE 4: 115–122

DOI:

10.5281/zenodo.5775572

Language: en

Submitted on 2021-10-22; accepted on 2021-12-28

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