THREE CASES OF CONCHA BULLOSA IN ANCIENT EGYPT (LUXOR, CA. OVER 2000 YEARS AGO)

The purpose of this study is to underline the importance of Concha Bullosa (CB), a pathological condition frequently missed in the analysis of human remains in archeological studies. We studied three cases from the Ancient Egyptian necropolis of Dra Abu-el Naga, located on Luxor's (Ancient Thebes) West Bank of the Nile. The sample object of this study belongs to different chronologies, but all were over 2,000 years old. The analysis included both macroscopic and radiological examinations of three skulls, all of adult males, showing different degrees of involvement of the middle turbinate. One presented with extensive bilateral CB without deviation of the nasal septum. The others showed unilaterally without affecting and deviating the nasal septum. The maxillary sinuses were not affected. The embalming technique varied throughout Ancient Egyptian history, with brain extraction first practiced among elites and then spreading across all social classes. This removal of the brain, if carried out through the nose, involved the destruction of the nasal bones. That may be the reason for the paucity of the described cases in the high number of individuals examined, added to the lack offamiliarity of the investigators with this entity. These three new cases add to the body of existing evidence on CB and stresses the importance of not missing its identification during paleopathological studies.