Ancient Egypt had far more venomous snakes than the country today, according to our new study of a scroll
Retrieved on:
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think.
Key Points:
- Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think.
- The venomous snakes described in the Brooklyn Papyrus are diverse: 37 species are listed, of which the descriptions for 13 have been lost.
- This has led to much speculation among researchers as to which species are being described.
The four-fanged snake
- For the great snake of Apophis, no reasonable contender currently lives within ancient Egypt’s borders.
- Could the snake of Apophis be an early, detailed description of a boomslang?
- And if so, how did the ancient Egyptians encounter a snake that now lives so far south of their borders?
On the trail of ancient snakes
- Our study shows the much more humid climates of early ancient Egypt would have supported many snakes that don’t live there today.
- These include some of Africa’s most notorious venomous snakes such as the black mamba, puff adder and boomslang.
- We found that nine of our ten species could probably once have lived in ancient Egypt.
- Modelling modern species’ ancient ranges can teach us a lot about how our ancestors’ ecosystems changed as a result of environmental change.