Ancient Egyptian Forum

Ramsekh · Gods/Goddesses Joined: 03 Aug 2004 Posts: 746

This may be an odd thing to wonder, but oh well.

Does anyone know how the Egyptians dealt with people who were deformed and such?
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Merytre-Hatshepsut · Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:59 pm Post subject:

I get the impression that they would take care of anyone who was different. I don't know about "deformed".

I don't think of dwarfs as deformed but they do look decidedly different. These people seem to have risen to high positions at court. There are sone stelas showing that these 'short people' would find a position at court, marry and be highly respected.

The only other story that comes to mind is one of the attendants of a king (New Kingdom) who gets a captive from the battle field as a slave and trains him in his household and later marries him to his blind niece. This couple also are made his heirs.

I have no idea what a peasant could do for a handicapped family member though. They didn't exactly have it rich and I have no idea what would happen in those cases. I presume the family would try to take care of them? You have to wonder if people with handicaps would not be more susceptible to illnesses and they may have had a drastically shorter life-span?

Ramsekh · Gods/Goddesses Joined: 03 Aug 2004 Posts: 746

That'a pretty good explanation, Merytre-Hatshepsut. Thank you!

This interests me because I met this really cool 14-year-old last Friday who is handicapped. And I was just interested in how the handicapped/disabled people were treated then in Egypt compared to now in the US.
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chiaraal · Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 6:25 pm Post subject:

I know about Siptah...

http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/sites/browse_tombimages_849_100.html

Look at the third image in the second line of photos...

Bye

Chiara Shocked

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Sorry! Not too good in english!

A.Z.

Hatshepsut76 · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 8:47 am Post subject:

WOW Chiara! You're great!! Wink

It's interesting to really notice the effects of polio... I had no idea of what they could be... Your link has been very interesting.

chiaraal · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:29 pm Post subject:

And....Remember the debate about Tutankhamen who used the sticks...Nobody knows if he udes those in order to underline his strenght or because of a phisical problem...

Ciao

Chiara Shocked

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Sorry! Not too good in english!

A.Z.

Osiris II · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:58 pm Post subject:

In the CT scan just done on Tutankhamen, there was no evidence of anything that would have made Tut use a crutch or a cane.
Maybe he just liked to collect them!
Also, it was considered a sign of great status to the Egyptians.

tnrees · Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:16 am Post subject:

I read somewhere that dwarfs were prefered for positions where they dealt with valubles as they could not run away very fast.

Ramsekh · Gods/Goddesses Joined: 03 Aug 2004 Posts: 746

Hahaha I love that!
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nileqt87 · Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:18 pm Post subject:

akhenaten very possibly had marfan's syndrome which causes exactly the deformities he had. many of his relatives and offspring also had this, since there is a 50% chance of it being passed on.

the elongated heads of the amarna period weren't artistic license. it was fact. the mummies of certain members including tutankhamen show marfan's.