Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-25wd4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T09:04:19.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Birmingham mummy: the first torticollis in history

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Ahmes L. Pahor  and
John Cole
Ahmes L. Pahor*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham, UK
John Cole
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Dudley Road Hospital, Birmingham, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr Ahmes L. Pahor, M.A., F.R.C.S., D.L.O., D.H.M.S.A., Consultant ENT Surgeon, ENT Department, City Hospital, Dudley Road, Birmingham B18 7QH.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Birmingham Mummy is of a warrior, 25–35 years of age, from the Graeco-Roman period. He was struck from the front by an arrow, which penetrated the soft tissues of the neck to some depth and lodged in the right infratemporal fossa. It is suggested that the wound became infected and that muscle spasm induced the torticollis which was not fully corrected on mummification.

Keywords

MummiesTraumaNeckTorticollis
Type
Historical Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 109 , Issue 4 , April 1995 , pp. 273 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dawson, W. R. (1926–1927) Contributions to the history of mummification. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 20: 832–854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebbell, B. (1937) The Papyrus Ebers, Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
Elliot-Smith, G., Dawson, W. R. (1924) Egyptian Mummies, George Allen & Unwin, London, p 57.Google Scholar
Gabbra, S. (1950) Mummification, Moustafa El-Baaby, El-Halaby & Sons, Cairo (in Arabic), p 7.Google Scholar
Iskander, Z. (1980) The mummification in Ancient Egypt: development, history and techniques. In An X-ray Atlas of the Royal Mummies. (Harris, J. E., Went, E. E, eds.), University of Chicago Press, Chicago, p 1.Google Scholar
Obituary (Arthur, Phillips), Birmingham Post, 4th of 12, 1919.Google Scholar
Pahor, A. L. (1992) Ear, nose and throat in Ancient Egypt: Part III. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 106: 863–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peck, W. H. (1980) Mummies of Ancient Egypt. In Mummies, Diseases and Ancient Cultures. (Cockburn, A., Cockburn, E., eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 11.Google Scholar
Pirsig, W., Parsche, E (1991) Instruments for transnasal brain removal during embalming by the Ancient Egyptians. International Journal of Anthropology 6: 67–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riad, N. (1965) Ancient Egyptian Medicine, Karnak, Cairo (in Arabic), p 65.Google Scholar
Wallis, W., Chamberlain, A. B. (1895) Illustrated Handbook to the Permanent Collection of Industrial Art Subjects, City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, p204.Google Scholar