Ancient Egyptian scribes had deformed joints due to their ‘office’ jobs

While your typical office job is pretty safe compared to physically demanding outdoor occupations like construction work, it’s not without its hazards. Prolonged sitting in fixed, constrained, and awkward postures while performing repetitive and forceful hand movements can damage the musculoskeletal system. Working a desk job and having neck, shoulder, and back pain is the norm, not the exception.

You may be surprised to learn that the occupational hazards of desk work aren’t solely a modern malady. Anthropologists at Charles University in Prague found that ancient Egyptian scribes shared many skeletal changes with their modern, office-working counterparts.

The Occupational Hazards Faced by Ancient Egyptian Scribes

The researchers analyzed the skeletal remains of 69 adult males — 30 of whom belonged to scribes — from the Old Kingdom necropolis at Abusir (2700-2180 BC). They found many degenerative joint malformations that were present among scribes but not among the men of other occupations.

These skeletal changes included damage to the joints connecting the lower jaw to the skull, the right collarbone, the top of the right humerus (where it meets the shoulder), the first metacarpal bone in the right thumb, the bottom of the thigh bone (where it meets the knee), and throughout the spine, especially at the top.

Additionally, the researchers found physical stress indicators in the humerus and left hip bone, more common among scribes. Other notable skeletal features included indentations on kneecaps and flattened surfaces on bones in the lower right ankle.

Ancient Egyptian scribes held a prestigious position in their society, acting as the keepers of knowledge and culture. These skilled individuals mastered the complex system of hieroglyphics, which required years of training. Scribes were crucial to the administration, as they were responsible for recording everything from tax collections to religious texts. Only about 1% of the population was literate. Their expertise extended beyond mere writing; they were also adept in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, making them indispensable in various facets of Egyptian life.

Various scribal titles are attested from the Old Kingdom, such as “scribe of treasury,” “scribe of the crews,” and “overseer of the scribes of the crew.” Some high-ranking scribes, such as the “inspector of the scribes of royal documents in the presence,” were even buried with their scribal tools.

High-ranking scribes were buried in large stone-built mastabas or rock-cut tombs with decorated funerary chapels. Their bodies were often placed in spacious burial chambers within stone sarcophagi. In contrast, lower-ranking individuals were buried in simpler mud-brick tombs​

The training of a scribe began at a young age, often within temple schools where boys learned to write on shards of pottery or limestone flakes. As they progressed, they graduated to papyrus scrolls, some of which have lasted to the present day. Scribes enjoyed a high social status, exempt from manual labor, and were rewarded with respect and privileges — yet the new study reveals that their profession came with physical costs.

These scribes typically adopted a distinctive posture while writing their texts. They often sat cross-legged on the ground or on low stools, holding a palette in one hand and a reed brush in the other. Their writing surfaces, which included papyrus scrolls or limestone flakes, were placed on their laps or on a flat surface in front of them. Their heads bent forward and their spines flexed.

This posture could explain the degeneration observed in their spines and shoulders. The changes in their knees, hips, and ankles imply that scribes sometimes sat with their left leg kneeling or crossed and their right leg bent with the knee pointing upwards.

Historical depictions, such as statues and wall decorations in tombs, often show scribes in these seated positions, as well as standing while working. The jaw joint degeneration likely resulted from chewing rush stems to create brush-like heads for writing, while thumb degeneration could have been caused by pinching their pens repeatedly.

The findings provide a new perspective on the lives of ancient Egyptian scribes and opens avenues for further research into the occupational health of historical populations.

The new study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.