A gastric sarcoma from 3000 years ago: paleopathological diagnosis at the field

Ancient remains tell a lot to those who can solve their mysteries. Mummified remains of individuals have the potential to tell their life stories. Pathological conditions in mummies are identified, commonly, thorough macroscopic inspection and radiological techniques.

In 2017, a hypogeum tomb was excavated close to the courtyard of Djehuty's tomb (TT11) at the archaeological site of the Spanish Djehuty Project in Luxor (Egypt). In Sector 10, a set of at least 10 mummies were recovered. All showed clear signs of plundering and were found scattered at the site. Wrappings and associated goods indicated that the individuals were from the first half of the 20^th dynasty (922 to 888 BCE).

All the individuals were male and from a high social status. Upon removing the individuals for study, two dried stomachs were found. There were clear macroscopic differences. A field histological analysis was performed which revealed that the stomach that showed no alterations, at first glance, presented a pathological pattern that was compatible with gastric sarcoma.

Malignant diseases are seldom described in Paleopathology; to our knowledge, this is the oldest and most unique case of this type of pathology in mummies worldwide.