Ancient Egyptians Used Dental Filling, New Study Suggests

Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin
discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor,
Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor, Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
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Ancient Egyptians Used Dental Filling, New Study Suggests

Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin
discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor,
Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.
Archaeologists remove the cover of an ancient painted coffin discovered at al-Asasif Necropolis in the Vally of Kings in Luxor, Egypt October 19, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany.

A recent Greek study that examined an ancient Egyptian mummy from the Ptolemaic age unearthed in "old Panopolis" in the city of Akhmim, southern Egypt, has found that Ancient Egyptians used dental filling.

Archeologists examined the mummy (AIG. 3343) kept at Athens's National Archaeological Museum, and found a porous cavity in the teeth filled with protective materials, which suggests that Ancient Egyptians had used dental filling and were probably the first to use this protective measure.

The study was published in the American Association for Anatomy's the Anatomical Record Journal.

To examine the mummy, archeologists from the Mummy Research Project of the Hellenic Institute of Egyptology, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Athens Medical Center, used the computerized tomography (CT) technique, which provides a full description of teeth.

They were surprised to find low density materials (dental filling) between the first and the second molars in the lower jaw.

According to the archeologists, the unique structure and low density of the discovered material is significantly different from the embalming materials found in different parts of the mummy's skull. The dimensions of the filling were larger than the cavity, which suggests the material was deliberately placed there.

They also found that the material's structure was different from the teeth's shape, and that there were other cavities that are not filled with the material. This suggest that the filling was used as a sort of therapy and not as part of the embalming process.

Although the discovery of the filling was the key result of the study, archeologists managed to determine that the mummy's teeth were weak and tattered in several places. The problems ranged from a mild loss of enamel to a complete loss of tissues in the first molar of the upper right jaw.

The archeologists also found evidence on severe gum infection in many teeth, along with a huge bone loss in different spots.

The study didn't look at the reason behind this mummy's death, but the skull's characteristics suggested it belongs to an adult male who died in his twenties. The mummy didn't show significant degenerative changes in the spine and large joints.



Soviet-Era Spacecraft Is Expected to Plummet to Earth This Weekend after 53 Years

This photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. (J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)
This photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. (J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)
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Soviet-Era Spacecraft Is Expected to Plummet to Earth This Weekend after 53 Years

This photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. (J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)
This photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. (J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)

A half-ton Soviet spacecraft that never made it to Venus 53 years ago is expected to fall back to Earth this weekend.

Built to land on the solar system's hottest planet, the titanium-covered spacecraft may survive its fiery, uncontrolled plunge through Earth's atmosphere, predicted to occur on Saturday. But experts said it likely would come down over water, covering most of the world, or a desolate region.

The odds of it slamming into a populated area are “infinitesimally small,” said University of Colorado Boulder scientist Marcin Pilinski.

“While we can anticipate that most of this object will not burn up in the atmosphere during reentry, it may be severely damaged on impact,” Pilinski said in an email.

By Friday, all indications pointed to a reentry early Saturday morning, US Eastern Time, give or take several hours. While space debris trackers around the world converged in their forecasts, it was still too soon to know exactly when and where the spacecraft known as Kosmos 482 would come down. That uncertainty was due to potential solar activity and the spacecraft’s old condition. Its parachutes were expected to be useless by now and its batteries long dead.

Dutch scientist Marco Langbroek estimated the impact speed at 150 mph (242 kph) if the spacecraft remains intact.

The Soviets launched Kosmos 482 in 1972, intending to send it to Venus to join other spacecraft in their Venera program. But a rocket malfunction left this one stuck in orbit around Earth. Gravity kept tugging on it and was expected to finally cause its doom.

Spherical in shape, the spacecraft — 3-foot (1-meter) across and packing more than 1,000 pounds (495 kilograms) — will be the last piece of Kosmos 482 to fall from the sky. All the other parts plummeted within a decade.

Any surviving wreckage will belong to Russia under a United Nations treaty.