Ancient Egyptian scribes’ life works are written on their bones. Arthritis and other damage mark the scribes’ skeletons where the men sat cross-legged or kneeled hunched over papyrus scrolls, ...

69 male skeletons from an Egyptian necropolis reveal that hunching over to write caused just as much pain in ancient times. Reading time 2 minutes Ancient Egyptian scribes held high-status jobs, ...

Desk jobs can take a surprising physical toll on the body. White collar workers complain of stiff necks, sore lower backs and aching joints. It may bring them little relief to find they continue a ...

Tens of thousands of years ago, during a period of Egyptian history known as the Old Kingdom (around 2649–2130 BC), it was rare for people to be able to read and write. From an estimated population of ...

A study of skeletal remains dated to the 3rd millennium B.C. has revealed the occupational hazards that ancient Egyptian scribes may have faced thousands of years ago. The study, published in the ...

Performing administrative tasks in ancient Egypt may not sound physically demanding, but new research has revealed that being a scribe left a mark on the skeletons of the men who held those privileged ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

Repetitive stress injuries are a common feature of modern life, especially for office workers who spend a good chunk of their working days at a desk typing on a computer. Apparently, scribes in ...

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