16 papers explore the subject of palaeopathology in Egypt and Nubia from its beginnings in the early 1900s through to current research themes and the impact of technological development in the field.

This volume explores how ancient plant, animal, and human remains from Ancient Egypt should be studied, and how, when they are integrated with texts, images, and artefacts, they can contribute to our understanding of the history, environment, and culture of ancient Egypt in a holistic manner.

This updated and expanded annotated bibliography presents and describes over 1,200 books, dissertations, excavation reports, and articles relevant to the paleopathology of the ancient Egyptians from the fields of Egyptology, physical anthropology, archaeology, and medicine, making it possible for scholars in these different fields to keep current with the latest finds and results. Each source has a short annotation explaining its relevant pathological information, so that scholars can ascertain whether or not any particular source is germane to their own research, and see what is being studied and published by others. In particular, this bibliography will be an immense help to scholars outside the field of Egyptology who want to know about the newest excavations with human remains. It will be indispensable to scholars as well as non-specialists who are intrigued by this area of study, particularly forensic pathologists, medical researchers, historians of medicine, and mummy enthusiasts.

The cultures of Nubia built the earliest cities, states, and empires of inner Africa, but they remain relatively poorly known outside their modern descendants and the community of archaeologists, historians, and art historians researching them. The earliest archaeological work in Nubia was motivated by the region's role as neighbor, trade partner, and enemy of ancient Egypt. Increasingly, however, ancient Nile-based Nubian cultures are recognized in their own right as the earliest complex societies in inner Africa. As agro-pastoral cultures, Nubian settlement, economy, political organization, and religious ideologies were often organized differently from those of the urban, bureaucratic, and predominantly agricultural states of Egypt and the ancient Near East. Nubian societies are thus of great interest in comparative study, and are also recognized for their broader impact on the histories of the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East. The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia brings together chapters by an international group of scholars on a wide variety of topics that relate to the history and archaeology of the region. After important introductory chapters on the history of research in Nubia and on its climate and physical environment, the largest part of the volume focuses on the sequence of cultures that lead almost to the present day. Several cross-cutting themes are woven through these chapters, including essays on desert cultures and on Nubians in Egypt. Eleven final chapters synthesize subjects across all historical phases, including gender and the body, economy and trade, landscape archaeology, iron working, and stone quarrying.

The study of paleopathology has two very different constituencies, the medical scientist and the zoologist/paleontologist/anthropologist. Their investigative procedures and professional jargon are different, sometimes to the point of mutual incomprehensibility. Paleontologists/anthropologists/zoologists have a limited data base for the characterization and interpretation of pathology. This must come from the human and veterinary medical experience. What, beyond intellectual satisfaction, can the health care community expect from this relationship? The past history of the appearance and dispersal of infectious disease and cancer is of considerable theoretical importance and leads to new insights on the nature and transmission of diseases that are otherwise ambiguous. The discovery of rheumatoid arthritis in pre-Columbian North America exemplifies insights gained. The current effort delineates osseous impact of disease (as manifest in clinical populations diagnosed in life), representation in the zoologic, paleontologic and anthropologic record, and assessment techniques that can be confidently applied. The chapters form “columns” that provide the foundation for scientific critical thinking. The actual integration of the information is in its application. Our purpose is to provide a data base and atlas of actually documented skeletal impact of diseases (as population phenomenon), an initial data base of reported skeletal pathology, and a methodology for expanding this to new arenas. The first section of the book examines the scientific basis of paleopathology, its transition from speculation-based musings, resolution of misconceptions and the denouement of paleo-epidemiology. The second section provides holistic analysis of the gamut of pathology/diseases with significant skeletal impact, with a validated archeologic/zoological/paleontological record. The third section provides a glossary to resolve the semantic challenges inherent to interdisciplinary efforts. The fourth section provides an atlas of pathology representation in the fossil record. Ultimately, this book intends to present a scientifically-validated approach to recognition of disease in the archeological, zoological and paleontological record, superseding previous speculation-based offerings.

Owing to their unique state of preservation, mummies provide us with significant historical and scientific knowledge of humankind’s past. This handbook, written by prominent international experts in mummy studies, offers readers a comprehensive guide to new understandings of the field’s most recent trends and developments. It provides invaluable information on the health states and pathologies of historic populations and civilizations, as well as their socio-cultural and religious characteristics. Addressing the developments in mummy studies that have taken place over the past two decades – which have been neglected for as long a time – the authors excavate the ground-breaking research that has transformed scientific and cultural knowledge of our ancient predecessors. The handbook investigates the many new biotechnological tools that are routinely applied in mummy studies, ranging from morphological inspection and endoscopy to minimally invasive radiological techniques that are used to assess states of preservation. It also looks at the paleoparasitological and pathological approaches that have been employed to reconstruct the lifestyles and pathologic conditions of ancient populations, and considers the techniques that have been applied to enhance biomedical knowledge, such as craniofacial reconstruction, chemical analysis, stable isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis. This interdisciplinary handbook will appeal to academics in historical, anthropological, archaeological and biological sciences, and will serve as an indispensable companion to researchers and students interested in worldwide mummy studies.