The Egyptians got many things right. Sitting wasn’t one of them

Reckon RSI is a 21st Century problem? Apparently not – even Ancient Egyptians suffered from workplace injuries.

While modern office staff are warned not to spend their days hunched over a desk, it seems early workers had no such health and safety rules in place.

New research has revealed that scribes suffered from hip, spine and shoulder problems from sitting cross-legged with their head bent forwards for hours on end – including deformed knees.

Researchers looked at 4,000-year-old male skeletons to investigate the occupational hazards of the repetitive tasks done by high status men who could write and perform administrative tasks.

It seems the positions the men sat in while working may have led to degenerative skeletal changes – including indentations on both kneecaps and a flattened surface on a bone in the lower part of the right ankle.

Study lead Dr Petra Brukner Havelkova and her colleagues examined the skeletal remains of 69 adult males, 30 of whom were scribes, buried in the necropolis at Abusir, Egypt, between 2700 BCE and 2180 BCE. 

Their findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found degenerative joint changes that were more common among scribes compared to men with other occupations. 

Explaining where the degenerative joint changes were, Dr Havelkova said: ‘These were in 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 where it meets the knee, and throughout the spine, but particularly at the top.’

The research team also identified bone changes that could suggest physical stress caused by repeated use in the humerus and left hip bone, which were more common among scribes than men with other occupations. 

Dr Havelkova, of Charles University, Czech Republic, said: ‘Other skeletal features that were more common among scribes were an indentation on both kneecaps and a flattened surface on a bone in the lower part of the right ankle.’

The researchers suggest that the degenerative changes observed in the spines and shoulders of scribes could result from them sitting for prolonged periods in a cross-legged position with the head bent forwards, the spine flexed, and their arms unsupported. 

‘Changes to knees, hips, and ankles could indicate that scribes may have preferred to sit with the left leg in a kneeling or cross-legged position and the right leg bent with the knee pointing upwards in a squatting or crouching position,’ she said. 

The team say statues and wall decorations in tombs have depicted scribes sitting in both positions, as well as standing, while working. 

‘Degeneration to the jaw joints could have resulted from scribes chewing the ends of rush stems to form brush-like heads they could write with, while degeneration to the right thumb could have been caused by repeatedly pinching their pens,’ Dr Havelkova said.

‘The findings provide greater insight into the lives of scribes in ancient Egypt during the third millennium BC.’