Entre Nefertiti vieja y falsa y el rey Escorpion borrachín…algo pasa en Egipto…

El Cairo. Egipto. DPA.-

Se cree que gobernó en la época anterior a las dinastías, hace unos 5.100 años, sobre un territorio que cubre gran parte del Egipto actual. En el sitio arqueológico al norte del lago Qarun se hallaron asimismo coloridos brazaletes de vidrio que se estima proceden de la misma época.

Maza del rey Escorpion

Entre los objetos más antiguos hay puntas de flecha, así como adornos y agujas hechos con huesos de animales. También se descubrieron cuevas y viviendas sencillas en las que se cree habitaban los humanos prehistóricos. El jefe del Consejo, Zahi Hawass, dijo que las cuevas fueron reutilizadas también más tarde.

Además se encontraron monedas y pesas de la época greco-romana, así como restos de telas bordadas y platos de la época del califa Al Zhafer (1149-1154).

Pero….¿Existió el rey Escorpión?….

Hablar del rey Escorpión es hablar sobre un verdadero enigma. ¿Existió realmente este personaje? Entre 1896 y 1898 se descubrió una maza de piedra con una curiosa decoración. En ella se podía ver claramente la figura de un hombre portando la corona del Alto Egipto, en lo que parece una ceremonia de apertura de un canal de riego.Frente al rostro del rey se puede observar la imagen de un escorpión.

Five-thousand-year-old vessels rest in the tomb of Egypt’s Pharaoh Scorpion I. An April 2009 study of residues in wine containers from the tomb uncovered traces of medicinal herbs.

Pues parece que SI existió…..Al menos bebía vino con hierbas medicinales….

Archaeochemist Patrick McGovern and colleagues found chemical residues of herbs, tree resins, and other natural substances inside wine jars from the tomb, the previously discovered resting place of one of Egypt’s first pharaohs (ancient Egypt time line).

While the additives may have been flavorful, they were picked for their medical benefits, said McGovern, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The early Egyptians “were living in a world without modern synthetic medicines, and they were very aware of the benefits that natural additives can have—especially if dissolved into an alcoholic medium, like wine or beer,” which breaks down plant alkaloids.

Papyrus records from as long ago as 1850 B.C. detail how such medicinal tipples were made to treat a range of ailments.

“Now this chemical evidence pushes that date back another 1,500 years,” McGovern said.

(Related: “‘Antibiotic’ Beer Gave Ancient Africans Health Buzz.”)

Modern Potential?

Scorpion I’s wines predate the advent of Egyptian vineyards and were imports from the Jordan River valley.

The wines suggest that imports from the southeastern Mediterranean contributed to the Egyptian pharmacopoeia, which laid the groundwork for Greek and Roman medical traditions.

The wine find is just one of several from ancient Egypt, China, and elsewhere that document ancient medicinal mixology.

“Over thousands of years, humans were searching their environment and trying to find natural medicinal materials,” McGovern said. “They were tested empirically over generations, but then many were lost.”

Now, collaborating with researchers at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, McGovern’s team is using biomolecular analysis to uncover the ancient wine-medicine recipes and hopefully put them to the test.

“We’re trying to rediscover why ancient people thought these particular herbs were medically useful,” he said, “and seeing if they are effective for the treatment of cancer or other modern diseases.”

Findings to be published in tomorrow’s issue of the journal PNAS.

Es decir: Que el rey Escorpión era un borrachito….( was a lush…)