A king lies dying. Her courtiers have gathered in the dim-lit chamber where she lies on a hard pallet, her sheath clinging to her clammy skin. Their worry is reflected in their faces and they cast their prayers in the low flames flickering in bronze braziers. Hatshepsut has presided over the world’s most powerful civilization for two decades, opened long-lost trade routes and embarked on an ambitious building program that thrust Egypt into its golden age. Once, she was the living embodiment of a god—one who walked the earth with her enemies etched on the soles of her sandals so she might crush them with every step.
Amid the shuffle of bodies, one stands out. At the back of the room is her stepson, Thutmose. A sun-kissed young man with a clean shaved head, broad shoulders and a latticework of fresh pink scars earned on his last campaign, before he was plucked from the battlefield to attend the dying Pharaoh. His expression is unreadable. No one quite knows what races through his mind as his stepmother hovers between life and death. After all, the throne was rightfully his. But when he came of age, Hatshepsut claimed it for herself. Rumours swirl, and though no one dares breathe a word in his presence, some think he has hastened her demise. Alas, her own teeth will be her downfall.
The high priest of Amun in his flowing white robe leans over a dying Hatshepsut, waving a bronze censer filled with kyphi—a rich-smelling incense that hopefully would’ve masked the stench of rot. Hatshepsut’s breath tastes foul and pain courses through her jaw with each laboured breath. She hasn’t eaten in days. The infection that is slowly killing her will help identify her mummified body more than three millennia later.
The Search for Hatshepsut
In the years after her burial, priests began moving the kings and queens from their final resting places in order to protect their remains. Plundering was a common problem in ancient Egypt, and every royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings (except one—Tutankhamun’s) was looted in antiquity. The mummified kings and queens had amulets and precious gems in their fine linen wrappings, and grave robbers often destroyed them in their quest for riches. The Egyptians believed that a whole body was crucial to be able to enter the next life. Without one, their restless spirits would be doomed to wander the earth for eternity. Unfortunately, when Hatshepsut and many of her descendants moved, they left their names behind.
In 2007, Zahi Hawass of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities embarked on a mission to identify Hatshepsut. As his quest came to an end, he found himself at an impasse with two likely candidates. In life, Hatshepsut wore a false beard and men’s garb. In death, she was just another face. But a curious object—the crown of a molar—in a box bearing Hatshepsut’s name, was a perfect match to the broken root in one of the mummy’s mouths. Mystery solved.
The Pharaoh’s Dental Complications
Even more curious is the fact that the tooth that identified Hatshepsut may have been the same one that killed her. Dental decay is the most prevalent affliction facing mankind, and Hatshepsut—in addition to suffering a whole host of complications—had severe periodontitis. A preliminary glance at her CT scan reveals furcation, extreme bone loss around her lower anteriors and heavy calculus, which is likely what held those teeth in place.
A periapical abscess, identifiable by a shadow around the root of a tooth, also developed before she died. When a cavity spreads from the enamel to the nerve chamber, the tooth dies. The necrotic pulp becomes a smorgasbord for bacteria that accumulates at the apex of the root and eats away at the bone holding it in place. Leukocytes (white blood cells) fight the infection and when they die, pus accumulates. The skin distends over the abscess. The fistula is often hot to touch and appears red and shiny. Today, we would control this kind of infection with antibiotics and treat the tooth with a root canal. Left untreated long enough, the infection can spread to the bloodstream, become septic and result in death. Long story short… if you’ve got a toothache, see your dentist!
Awesome article💕