Archaeologists Discover 4,100-Year-Old Tomb With Burials of Egyptian Doctor Who 'Treated the Pharaoh Himself'

In Saqqara, Egypt, archaeologists have discovered an impressive, 4,100-year-old tomb of a royal physician, named Tetinebefou, who "treated the pharaoh himself," according to Live Science. This grave was found by a Swiss-French archaeological mission, and it yields quite extensive and fascinating information on both ancient Egyptian medicine and royal court life.

The hieroglyphic inscriptions on this tomb depict an extraordinary medical practitioner with several prestigious titles. "He was certainly the main physician at the royal court, so he would have treated the pharaoh himself," said Philippe Collombert, head of the Swiss-French team and an Egyptologist at the University of Geneva. The most fascinating of Tetinebefou's titles, however, was "conjurer of the goddess Serqet," a specialist in poisonous bites and stings. This role was very important in the setting of ancient Egyptian medicine since the goddess Serqet was traditionally associated with protection against scorpions.

What really puts this find into a class of its own, however, is the fact that Tetinebefou was the "director of medicinal plants," a title which has only one other recorded instance in the annals of ancient Egyptian history. The physician was also "chief dentist," another rare title that has piqued the interest of researchers. This greyness is emphasized by Roger Forshaw, from the University of Manchester, when he avows, "evidence for ancient Egyptian 'dentists' is exceedingly scarce." The wall paintings of this tomb have their own tale to tell, which has outlived millennia. There are colorful paintings inside with several containers, jars, and vases that were probably used for medicinal preparations. The Swiss-French team was astonished by the state of its preservation and commented that "the walls are entirely decorated with paintings in bright, fresh colors! It's easy to forget that they are 4,000 years old!"

Tetinebefou likely served during a pivotal period in Egyptian history, possibly under Pharaoh Pepi II, who ruled from about 2246 to 2152 B.C. This was the era that constituted the twilight of Egypt's Old Kingdom before the country plunged into the First Intermediate Period, in which political power began shifting from the pharaoh to regional governors. Despite its historical importance, archaeologists found no remains inside the tomb. Time and ancient grave robbers had taken most of the artifacts, leaving only the painted walls and inscriptions to narrate the life of Tetinebefou. Yet even these remnants give valuable insights into the sophisticated medical practices of ancient Egypt, where the art of healing combined practical knowledge with divine protection.

The discovery only adds to Saqqara's reputation as probably the most crucial archaeological site in all of Egypt—an ancient burial ground about 25 miles southwest of Cairo that keeps yielding important findings to shed new light on different areas of Egyptian civilization. The digging started in 2022 in a sector where some of the king's state workers had Pepi II and his women were laid to rest, as per The Daily Mail. This sets up the significant role and meaning of the discovery of the Tetinebefou tomb toward providing insight into some of the Old Kingdom practices within ancient medical care and civil organizations.