Discussion: eunuchs and intersex individuals in antiquity Intersex individuals were recognized throughout the ancient world • Akkadian texts recognize third gender individuals: gala/kalû 12 • Eunuchs played important administrative roles in Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian royal courts • Judeo-Christian texts recognize two types of eunuchs 13 : » saris hamma - congenital eunuch » saris adam - castrated eunuch • In Republican Rome congenital intersex individuals seen as bad omens and often killed at birth, but later accepted during the Imperial period 14 • Castration was forbidden in early Roman society, but eunuchs formed an accepted class in the late Imperial court and in cultic religious roles 15 What is the evidence for eunuchs in Ancient Egypt? • Greco-Roman authors describe eunuchs in administrative roles in Ptolemaic court • Prior to Greco-Roman period, evidence for castrated eunuchs is debatable 16 - thought only to have occurred as military punishment of prisoners during war, or as corpse mutilation • Some titles for individuals combine masculine and feminine characteristics - interpreted as evidence for eunuchs (man-made) 17 - but may also refer to congenitally affected individuals • Androgyny/hermaphroditism is represented in ancient Egyptian mythology Conclusions (and further questions) • B21 is distinctive in terms of mortuary treatment (grave orientation & grave goods); may relect societal recognition of this individual’s conspicuous intersex status (pre-pubertal castrate, Klinefelter syndrome, aromatase deiciency?) • B26 is not distinctive in terms of mortuary treatment; perhaps this individual’s condition did not result in visibly ambiguous sexual characteristics (mid-pubertal castration, XYY male?) • Is this related to changing societal attitudes towards intersex individuals over time? » Were intersex individuals rarer or seen as more special during the Ptolemaic Period, while in the subsequent Roman Period such individuals did not attract as much attention? • If both individuals are affected by a rare congenital condition, is there perhaps a familial link between them, given that they are located within a few meters of one another? What are the odds of this occurring?! Ancient Egyptian river god Hapi. Middle Kingdom sarcophagus relief depicting possible eunuch servant. Selection of funerary amulets found in association with the mummy wrappings of GR1019, B21. GR1019, B21: observable skeletal features GR1014, B26: observable skeletal features Diferential diagnosis (1) Sex chromosome abnormalities: Klinefelter syndrome (47XXY or XY/XXY mosaic): • affected individuals are sterile, with eunuchoid habitus. Insuficient production of testosterone results in incompletely developed secondary male sex characteristics. Frequency = 1:500 live births 3 XYY males: • affected individuals are fertile, slightly taller than average, with hypertelorism, clinodactyly and macrocephaly 4 . Frequency = 1:1000 live births XXX females (47XXX): • affected individuals are fertile and experience normal development of sexual traits. Individuals are typically slender and taller than average, with clinodactyly 5 . Frequency = 1:1000 live births (2) Autosomal disorders: • Androgen insensitivity syndrome (complete or partial) 6 » 46XY karyotype but with female phenotype (CAIS), or ambiguous genitalia (PAIS). Frequency = 1:20,000 live births • Aromatase deiciency 7 » above average height due to unfused epiphyses, eunuchoid habitus, reduced bone density - osteopenia/osteoporosis (3) Castration (eunuchism): • Castration before onset of puberty results in tall individuals with broad hips, narrow shoulders, pectus excavatum, gynecomastia, and undeveloped secondary sexual characteristics (lack of beard and unbroken voice) 8,9 • Post-puberty castration: secondary sexual characteristics and body habitus remain unchanged • Osteological studies of known castrati reveal retained epiphyseal lines, tall stature, osteoporotic bones and HFI 10,11 Discussion: The combination of eunuchoid body habitus, unfused epiphyses, osteoporosis, etc., can occur as the result of either genetic or culturally induced endocrine disorders. In the absence of DNA testing, however, it is dificult to establish the aetiology of the skeletal features observed in the affected Quesna individuals with any degree of certainty. Introduction Excavations conducted between 2007 and 2013 at the Ptolemaic-Roman cemetery site at Quesna 1 , located in the western Delta of Egypt, have revealed the skeletal remains of 151 individuals. During these excavations, two individuals with above average stature and completely unfused epiphyses were discovered in separate burials dating to different periods of the site. One individual (B26) was interred in a mudbrick tomb (GR1014) containing additional, non-affected decedents. The other (B21, GR1019) was interred discretely in an unusual position in relation to coeval burials, and with a large number of funerary amulets. GR1019, B21 (adolescent of indeterminate sex) • Ptolemaic-era pit grave oriented north-south (head south) with cartonnage mask and plaster amulets • Most of skull missing as result of robbing activity (wear on loose teeth suggests late adolescent) • Poorly preserved skeleton with numerous completely unfused epiphyses: » metacarpals, metatarsals, phalanges; long bones; sacral bodies; secondary ossiication centers of vertebrae (body endplates, spinous processes); rib heads; os coxae triradiate strip • Fused epihyses: » neural arches fused to vertebral bodies (fuse between 4-6 yrs) • Stature estimate: 162.4cm [cemetery average 161.1cm] (using Raxter et al. 2008 2 male formula) GR1014, B26 (adolescent of indeterminate sex) • One of six individuals found within a Roman-era mudbrick tomb; oriented east-west, with head to west • Most of skull missing as result of robbing activity (wear on loose teeth suggests late adolescent) • Poorly preserved skeleton with numerous completely unfused epihyses: » metacarpals, metatarsals, phalanges; long bones; sacral bodies; secondary ossiication centers of vertebrae (body endplates, spinous processes); rib heads • Fused epihyses: » vertebral neural arches (fuse between 4-6 yrs) » os coxae triradiate strip • Stature estimate: 168.3cm [cemetery average 161.1cm] (using Raxter et al. 2008 2 male formula) Map of Nile Delta region showing location of Quesna in relation to other Ancient Egyptian sites. Plan of Quesna cemetery showing locations of the affected individuals (in red). Two Potential Cases of Eunuchism from a Ptolemaic-Roman Cemetery in the Western Delta of Egypt: Diferential Diagnosis and Social Implications Scott D. Haddow 1 , Sonia Zakrzewski 2 , Joanne Rowland 3 1 PACEA, UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, 2 Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, 3 School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh Footnotes: 1 Rowland, J. 2008.The Ptolemaic-Roman cemetery at the Quesna Archaeological Area. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 94: 69–93. 2 Raxter, MH, Ruff, CB, Azab, A, Erfan, M, Soliman, M, & El-Sawaf, A 2008. Stature estimation in ancient Egyptians: a new technique based on anatomical reconstruction of stature. American Journal of Physical Anthropology136(2):147–55. 3 Smyth CM, Bremner WJ. 1998. Klinefelter Syndrome. Archives of Internal Medicine158(12): 1309-14. 4 Bardsley, MZ, Kowal, K, Levy, C, Gosek, A, Ayari, N,Tartaglia, N, Lahlou, N,Winder & B, Grimes, S. 2013. 47,XYY syndrome: clinical phenotype and timing of ascertainment. Journal of Pediatrics 163(4): 1085-94. 5 Tartaglia, NR, Howell, S, Sutherland, A,Wilson R & Wilson, L. 2010. A review of trisomy X (47,XXX). Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 5(8) doi: 10.1186/1750-1172-5-8 6 Hughes, IA & Evans BAJ. 1987. Androgen insensitivity in 49 patients: classiication based on clinical and androgen receptor phenotypes. Pediatric Endocrinology 28(1): 25-9. 7 Morishima, A, Grumbach, MM, Simpson, ER, Fisher, C., & Qin, K. 1995. Aromatase deiciency in male and female siblings caused by a novel mutation and the physiological role of estrogens. J Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 80: 3689–98. 8 Wilson JD & Roehrborn C. 1999. Commentary: Long-term consequences of castration in men: lessons from the Skoptzy and the eunuchs of the Chinese and Ottoman courts. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 84: 4324–31. Pelvic region showing immature pubic symphysis, unfused sacral bodies, and proximal epiphyses of the femora. Lower leg region showing completely unfused proximal and distal tibial epiphyses. GR1014 showing upper layer of burials with the partially removed skeleton of B26 in the middle. Unfused sacral elements and os coxae triradiate strip. Unfused sternal body segments and vertebrae with unfused body endplates. Left hand and wrist showing completely unfused distal radius epiphysis, metacarpal and phalangeal epiphyses Left wrist showing completely unfused distal epiphyses of the radius and ulna, in addition to the MC1 epihphysis. Moroccan eunuch. Patient with Klinefelter syndrome. Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Neo-Babylonian stele depicting a beardless kalû of Itar-of-Uruk. 9 Eng, JT, Zhang, Q & Zhu, H. 2010. Skeletal effects of castration on two eunuchs of Ming China. Anthropological Science 118(2): 107–16. 10 Belcastro, MG,Todero, A, Fornaciari, G & Mariotti,V. 2011. Hyperostosis frontalis interna (HFI) and castration: the case of the famous singer Farinelli (1705–1782). Journal of Anatomy 219(5): 632-7. 11 Zanatta, A, Zampieri, F, Scattolin, G & Bonati MR. 2016. Occupational markers and pathology of the castrato singer Gaspare Pacchierotti (1740–1821). Scientiic Reports 6. doi:10.1038/srep28463 12 Peled, I, 2016. Masculinities and Third Gender: The Origins and Nature of an Institutionalized Gender Otherness in the Ancient Near East. AOAT 435. Münster: Ugarit-Verlag. 13 Retief, FP, Cilliers, JFG & Riekert, SPJK. 2005. Eunuchs in the Bible. Acta Theologica 26(2), Acta Theologica Supplementum 7. 247-58. 14 Greaves, AM. 2012. Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (Reifenstein’s syndrome) in the Roman world. Classical Quarterly 62(2):888-92. 15 Stevenson,W. 1995.The rise of eunuchs in Greco-Roman Antiquity. Journal of the History of Sexuality 5(4:) 495-51. 16 Jonckheere, F. 1954. L’Eunuque dans l’Egypte pharaonique. Revue d’Histoire des Sciences et de Leurs Applications 7(2): 139-55. 17 DePauw, M. 2003. Notes on transgressing gender boundaries in Ancient Egypt. Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 130: 49–59. Gallus priest of Cybele, 2nd century AD. “The Sleeping Hermaphrodite”, Roman Period,100–200 AD.