- CAIRO, Egypt (www.nandotimes.com) -- The workmen who built the pyramids
received emergency medical care and even brain surgery, the head of an
Egyptian archaeological team said Monday.
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- Zahi Hawas said the excavation of 20
workers' tombs near the pyramids of Giza has thrown light on the lives
of ordinary Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, which dates back to 4,500 years
ago.
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- "This discovery provides clear evidence
of worker lives, a chance to understand how these people lived," said
Hawas, director of antiquities for Giza.
-
- Archaeologists found six skeletons, and
X-rays revealed that one was operated on for a brain tumor in what may
be the earliest evidence of brain surgery, Hawas said.
-
- The leg of another worker had been amputated,
and he lived for 14 years after the operation. Tests on a third skeleton
showed what could be the earliest evidence of syphilis and the hand of
a fourth skeleton was found in splints, Hawas said.
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- The ancient Egyptians were long believed
to have been capable of performing complex medical procedures, including
brain surgery.
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- Hawas said about 600 skeletons from two
cemeteries for the pyramid builders have been exhumed and tested recently.
A total of 12 skeletons had splints on their hands, which had presumably
been injured by rocks.
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- "These were not slaves who built
the pyramids. They were workers. This much care would not have been afforded
to slaves," he said.
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- The workers were allowed to build small
mud-brick pyramids to place above their own tombs, Hawas said.
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- "The (small) pyramids are like democracy.
They were available for everyone," he said.
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- Some tombs bore inscriptions that gave
the worker's position, such as "Inspector of Pyramid Building"
and "Overseer of West Side of Pyramid."
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