Qar (doctor)

For the pharaoh of the 16th Dynasty, see Qar (pharaoh).

Qar was a doctor during the Sixth dynasty of Egypt, which lasted from about 2350 to 2180 BC. He was the royal physician.[1]

Qar tomb

Adil Hussein discovered his tomb north of the pyramid of Sekhemkhet in 2001.[1] He died at the age of fifty years[2] and his mummified remains were discovered by archaeologists in December 2006 in his mastaba at Saqqara, Egypt.[3] As were many other tombs in Saqqara, his tomb was re-used several times.[4]

Tomb contents

Beside his mummy in the limestone sarcophagus, there were metal (bronze[4] or copper[5][6]) model tools that were entombed alongside his remains. In press reports following the discovery of the tomb and in several publications they are regarded as surgical instruments.[7] It was stated that they might be the oldest surgical tools in the world.[5] They are now preserved in Imhotep museum.[6][8] However, these types of model tools are common in many Old Kingdom burials of officials with different functions. They are not surgical instruments. They are model tools.[9]

Also 22 bronze statues were unearthed representing different deities in various shapes and sizes including Ptah, Horus-the- child (also known as Harpocrates) and Isis. A statuette of Imhotep[10] the physician, the great engineer and builder of Djoser's pyramid complex, was also among the statuettes found by the team.[4]

Legacy in museums

His mummy and findings from his tomb are preserved in the Imhotep Museum at Saqqara.[6]

References


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