CAIRO, EGYPT—The 4,100-year-old tomb of a pharaoh’s doctor named “Tetinebefou” has been discovered in Saqqara, according to a Live Science report. Tetinebefou may have served Pepi II, who reigned from about 2246 to 2152 B.C., and perhaps one or two additional pharaohs who ruled after him. Wall paintings and inscriptions in the tomb show a variety of containers, and state that the doctor held the title of “conjurer of the goddess Serqet,” who was associated with protection from scorpion stings. Team leader Philippe Collombert of the University of Geneva said that Tetinebefou was therefore likely to have been a specialist in poisonous bites. The tomb’s inscriptions also state that he was “director of medicinal plants” and “chief dentist,” titles that have been rarely found in Egypt, Collombert added. “He was certainly the main physician at the royal court, so he would have treated the pharaoh himself,” he explained. Unknown looters removed any artifacts or human remains from the chamber. To read about a Saqqara tomb for Ramesses II's economic minister, go to "The Treasurer's Tomb."
