The Lost Civilizations That Pioneered Skull Surgery

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The Lost Civilizations That Pioneered Skull Surgery

People have been punching holes in each other's skulls, for medicinal purposes or magic, since at least the middle part of the Stone Age. Now, researchers have found what may be the first evidence this complex surgical operation took place in the lost civilizations in the Sahara and Nubia, too.


The surgical procedure known as trepanation is arguably the oldest known medical operation in history, with the earliest known evidence for it found dating to about 12,000 BC in Morocco. A portion of the skull was removed for therapy or thaumaturgy — for instance, to reduce pressure within the skull, or to release evil spirits.

Scientists now reveal the Garamantians — a lost civilization in what is now southwest Libya — apparently practiced trepanation, the first time the operation has been seen in the Sahara. The Garamantians, named after their capital, Garama, flourished in the harsh central Sahara for nearly 1,500 years between 1,000 BC and 700 AD. They introduced key innovations to the region, including cities, irrigated farming, trade across the Sahara and a hierarchical, probably slave-owning society.

Archaeologists digging near Garama found three male skulls with signs of trepanning, dating from approximately 1 to 700 AD. The regular shape of all these holes suggests they were made intentionally, as do scrape marks seen in certain cases. The location of most of these marks on the left side suggest they might have been caused as the result of violence with right-handed opponents.

All these patients appeared to have survived the surgery, given the presence of newly formed bone in these holes. This suggests the Garamantians had "knowledge of complex surgical procedures," researchers said in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

Archaeologists have also discovered trepanation in the ancient Nubian kingdom of Kerma. The ancient Nubians have long been thought of as rivals to the more prominent Egyptians who lay to the north of their ever changing borders. The close proximity and interaction of these two civilizations have led to the notion that Nubians copied the traditions of the ancient Egyptians, but this new find suggests the Nubians may have surpassed the Egyptians in some areas of technology and medicine.

The Kerma civilization, which dated between 2,500 and 1,500 BC, was located in what is considered to be the most fertile area along the Nile River south of Thebes. It served as the major middleman for trade between Nubian lands and the Egyptian empire.

One skull from Kerma, probably dating to between 1750 and 1550 BC, had a dime-sized circular hole with clear evidence of healing along its inside edge, the first confirmed Nubian case of trepanation to date. Similar holes have been seen on pyramids from the Egyptian Old Kingdom, suggesting a drill was used here, of the kind to hollow out stone sarcophagi.

"If this is true, it would mean that the Nubians had taken an architectural tool, which was probably introduced to them by the Egyptians years before, and adapted it for a much more sophisticated purpose. This would then imply extremely innovative capabilities and an outstanding intellect on the part of the Nubians," the researchers wrote in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.

Image: D. C. Martin, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.


Note-
Civilizations in both libya and nubia are not lost,the basic cultures still existed today,but the were changes over time like anywhere else.




Link below.
http://io9.com/hole-in-the-head/

[kenndo]

Edited-



NUBIAN PHARAOHS AND MEROITIC KINGS: THE KINGDOM OF KUSH Necia Desiree
Harkless has completed her odyssey of 24 years initiated by a poem
that emerged in the odd moments of early morning and her studies as a
Donovan Scholar at the University of Kentucky with Dr. William Y.
Adams, the leading Nubiologist of the world. The awesome result is
her
attempt to map the cultural, social, political history of Nubia "as a
single people as actors on the world stage as they act out their
destinies in the cradle of civilization". The underlying purpose of
her book "is to reconstruct the collective efforts of the past and
present Nubian campaigns and their collaborative scholarship so that
the African American as well as all Americans can begin to understand
the contributions of the civilization of Africa and Asia as a
continuous historical entity". The history of the Kingdom of Kush
begins with its earliest kingdom of Kerma in 2500 BC. It
continues
with the conquest of Egypt by the Nubian Pharaohs in 750 BC,
reluctantly recognized as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egyptian
Pharaohs. They ruled as black pharaohs from their Kingdom at Napatan
until they were forced one hundred years later to retreat to Napata by
the Assyrians who assumed control of the Egyptians. It was at Meroe,
the last empire of the Kush, that forty generations of Meroitic kings
and queens continued the Kingdom of Kush reaching monumental and
dynastic heights. Their symbiotic relationship with Egypt was over,
allowing them to develop their own indigenous culture with a language
and script of their own. Their architecture, arts , politics ,
material and spiritual culture in the minds of many scholars surpassed
that of Egypt. Over two hundred pyramids have been investigated. It is
an epic that will be long remembered. The dawn of Christianity in the
Kingdom of Kush has been found in the treasure cove of the Frescoes of
Faras.
____________________________________________________________
Now my reply.

Nubian civilization is older MUCH OLDER THEN 2500 b.c. but the kerma period(kush)
began at AROUND that time.

If you read the book to it says that modern nubians and egyptians are
a admixture of african and mediterranean types.
True to a point.

The writer was trying to compare african american to modern nubians and
egyptians in race admixture,of course some african americans do not
have admixture,some are questioning if most have admixture at ALL.
Some are saying most do not.

Most nubians do not have admixture,and alot of the admixtue is in
egypt and even now a slight majority do not have admixture in egypt.

Most did however in the 60's and 70's but in recent times many nubians have
come from sudan to live in egypt so now most in egypt do not have
admixture.

One point however, even if most now do have admixture in egypt,it will be a slight majority.

Let's put this way a large number have admixture and a large number do not
so certain scholars or normal folks would say either one,but what i have READ recently SAYS A slight majority do not have admixture.

Egyptians today has whole is another story and the author will be right to say most would have race admixture from outside africa ,and she may have had them more on her mind when she wrote about admixture since she includes them.

ANYWAY a few years ago i called the author and told her that most modern
nubians do not have admixture if you count the nubians in other
places in sudan and africa.

She agreed with me since her info was old and outdated.
Her study about modern nubians and admixture seems to be from a book that is outdated,and i read that book a few years ago has well.

Most nubians overall in the nile valley if you put egypt and sudan together do not have admixture either.

Recent dna test confirms this.some OF test in the past
confirm too,but more so now.

We have to careful when we talk about modern nubians
because it seems most of the studies in the mainstream seems to focus on nubians in egypt and not has much sudan.

Alot of times nubians outside of the the nile valley in sudan is not even counted and nubians outside sudan and egypt are not counted in some studies has well.



Keep in mind a few nubians are white looking today and they counted has Nubians just like some blacks are counted has hispanics are counted today.