Mummies of ancient children found to have deformed skulls. Common illness is to blame

Scans of ancient Egyptian mummified children revealed that many of them suffered from a common illness that caused physical deformities.

Researchers used CT scans to peer inside 21 mummies and found one-third of them showed signs of anemia, according to a study published in April in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

The findings are unusual as “direct evidence of anemia in human remains from ancient Egypt is rare,” researchers said.

The condition, which is still widespread today, is characterized by a lack of red blood cells in the body, causing reduced oxygen flow and leading to exhaustion and weakness.

Researchers sourced the mummies, which were between the ages of 1 and 14 at the time of their deaths, from museums in Switzerland, Italy and Germany.

Most of them dated to the Roman and Ptolemaic periods, which would make them around 2,000 years old, though the oldest dated to between 2686 and 2160 B.C.

After undergoing the noninvasive scans, seven of them were found to have enlarged cranial vaults — the space in the skull that encases the brain. This type of skull deformity is associated with anemia.

Researchers surmised that the illness was likely a major health concern in ancient Egyptian societies. It was likely brought on by poor nutrition and infectious diseases like tuberculosis or malaria.

One of ancient Egypt’s most famous residents, Pharaoh Tutankhamun — who never made it past adolescence — may have died from sickle cell disease, a type of anemia, researchers said.

Anemia remains prevalent today as around 40% of children between 6 months and 5 years of age live with it, according to the World Health Organization. Nearly one-third of women between 15 and 49 also have the condition.

Researchers made several other observations during their analysis of the 21 ancient mummies.

One individual showed signs of anemia not only in the skull, but in the face and body, a phenomenon not observed in the other mummies.

“The skull was elongated in the form of a tower skull,” and there was “a distinct osseous expansion of the facial bones,” resulting in a rodent-like face, researchers said. Additionally, the mummy’s ribs were expanded and the spine showed signs of scoliosis.

Scans also revealed that one mummy appeared to suffer from thalassemia, a blood disorder that causes a lack of hemoglobin, marking the first time such an illness has been documented in ancient Egyptian children using radiological evidence.

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