4,000-Year-Old Skull Reveals Ancient Egyptians Were Trying to Cure Cancer
The ancient Egyptians are renowned for their extraordinary advancements in medicine, but a recent discovery has unveiled a surprising new facet of their medical knowledge: the attempted treatment of cancer. This groundbreaking finding offers a unique glimpse into how ancient societies grappled with the disease over 4,000 years ago. Researchers made a startling discovery when they examined two ancient skulls housed in the University of Cambridge’s Duckworth Collection. These skulls, dating back to between 2687 and 2345 BCE for one and between 663 and 343 BCE for the other, belonged to a male and female, respectively. The meticulous examination revealed cutmarks around cancerous lesions, suggesting that the ancient Egyptians may have attempted surgical interventions to treat cancerous growths. “When we first observed the cutmarks under the microscope, we could not believe what was in front of us,” said Tatiana Tondini, a researcher at the University of Tübingen and first...
