J.Anthrop.Soc.

Nippon
97(2):169-187(1989)

External Genital Organs in Male Mummies from

Qurna, Egypt

Iwataro MORIMOTO

Department of Anatomy, St Marianna University

School of Medicine

Abstract The external genital organs were examined in 18 ancient Egyptian

male mummies from the Tombs Nos. 317 and 178 at Qurna, Egypt, dating
from the 18th Dynasty of New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic stage of the
Graeco-Roman period. The penises were kept intact in only three out of 11
adult (27.3%) and in two out of three child mummies (66.7%). The observa-
tions showed that the ritual of circumcision in boys at puberty was widely
prevalent in the ancient Egypt. The penises were totally or partially cut
off in five adult mummies. A model of the penis and scrotum made of resin
gilded was laid just below the true external genital organs kept intact in an
adult mummy. The penises were elongated in three adult and one child
mummies. The elongated penises were often supported or covered with the
scrotum deformed. It was suggested that the treatment of the external male
genital organs with special care and attention in the mummification process
might be derived from the tales of Osiris's body reconstituted by Isis in the
Egyptian mythology.

Keywords Egyptian mummy, Circumcision, Elongated penis, Deformed scro-

tum, Osiris

But the brain was usually extracted through

Introduction the nostrils and never preserved by the em-
The technique of mummification in the balmers who believed the organ to be value-
ancient Egypt was, as well known, in full less. No attempt was also made to preserve
bloom from the 18th to the 21st Dynasty of the mummy's eyes. In the New Kingdom,
the New Kingdom. It greatly affected the the embalmers sometimes began to try to
habits and customs of the Egyptians in those fill the empty orbits with artificial eyes.
days, while it was a genuine and sound Most of the internal organs were usually
reflection of their belief in another life after removed from the abdominal and thoracic
death. They keenly sought to preserve the cavities through the incision made on the
bodies of the dead perfectly and eternally. left anterior abdominal wall, and preserved

Article No. 8820 Received Dec. 15, 1988

 170 I. MORIMOTO

separately in four canopic jars, while special 1983-84, 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons of field
care was taken with the heart, which always work by Waseda Uuiversity team of Japan.
had to be left in place. The internal female Some of the characteristics of these Egyptian
genital organs, such as the uterus, uterine mummies were previously reported by Mo-
tube (of Fallopius) and ovaries, were always RIMOTO (1985) and M0RIM0T0 et al. (1986
removed, although the external genital and 1988).
organs were left intact. For males, accord- The observations of the external genital
ing to LECA (1980), the external genital organs were made by only the naked eye
organs were nearly always left in position. and X-rays without either dissection or
In rare cases such as Seti I and Ramesses unwrapping within the limits permitted by
II, they were cleanly removed with the aid the Egyptian government. Since all the
of a sharp instrument. The penis and tes- mummies examined had been badly hacked
ticles were then separately wrapped and by tomb robbers, it necessarily followed that
preserved inside a statuette of Osiris in the external forms, and sometimes even the
gilded wood which was kept with the body internal structures, of the mummies could
inside the tomb. This seems to indicate be fortunately easy to observe.
that the male genital organs apparently In numbering the mummies, Arabian and
received courteous and preferential treat- Roman numbers less than 200 were used
ment in the process of mummification. singly, or laid after the hyphen, to show
In the preliminary report by the present the mummies from the Tomb No. 317,
author (1985), it was suggested that the whereas the numbers of 300 and more were
external male genital organs had been given to the mummies from the Tomb No.
sometimes removed from the body in the 178. Two kinds of letters ABD and A
ancient Egyptian mummies. This paper is before the hyphen were conveniently used
a faithful record of observations on the at the head of the number given to the
external genital organs of the male mum- mummies from the Tomb No. 317.
mies from the tombs at Qurna, Egypt,
where the organs were treated with special Observations

care and attention by the embalmers in The external male genital organs in 15
varying ways. adult and three child mummies were ob-
served. Most of them had been unwrapped
Materials and Methods by tomb robbers and exposed, while the
The materials used in the present study rest were still wrapped up in linen cloth.
consisted of the external genital organs in The exposed organs examined had been
both eleven ancient Egyptian mummies from partly damaged and/or broken off by the
Tomb No. 317 and seven mummies from robbers. The findings obtained were given
Tomb No. 178 of the so-called "Tombs of in numerical order as follows.
the Nobles" at Qurna, West Bank of Luxor, [I] On the mummies from the Tomb No.
Egypt, dating approximately from the 18th 317.
Dynasty of New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic 1) No. ABD-IV (adult). The penis was
stage of the Graeco-Roman period, i. e. ca. kept intact, although a part of the dorsal
1550 to 30 B. C., which came to light during portion of the glans was accidentally in
 External Genital
defect. The testicle and scrotum on the
right side were completely left in position,
while those on the left side were broken
off by the tomb robbers and lost. The
prepuce was never found (Fig. 1).
2) No. ABD-V (adult). Only the glans
of the penis had been sharply cut off and
lost, while the root and body of the penis
were left on the pubic bones as they were.
The scrotum was ruptured and the exposed
testes flowed doward (Fig. 2).
3) No. A-5 (child). The external genital
organs were kept intact and left in situ.
It could not be ascertained whether the
prepuce was present or not (Fig. 3).
4) No. A-7 (child). The anterior part of
the pelvis with the external genital organs
had been violently removed from the trunk
of the mummy by the robbers. The elon-
gated penis, which was strongly flexed near
the neck of the glans, was laid on the spatula-
shaped scrotum which was artificially flat-
tened and elongated. It could not be con-
firmed whether the prepuce was present or
not (Fig. 4).
5) No. A-11a (child). The external
genital organs had been violently torn off
from the trunk of the mummy by the tomb
robbers. The organs were, however, left
intact in the mummification process. It was
not clear whether the prepuce existed or
not (Fig. 5).
6) No. A-11b (adult). The penis, which
had been broken off from the trunk of the
mummy by the robbers, was left intact in
the mummification process, whereas the tes-
ticles and scrotum had been lost. The pre-
puce had been removed (Fig. 5).
7) No. A-23 (adult). Only the
with the external genital organs remained.
The penis was sharply cut off in the middle
of the body of the penis. A pair of corpora
Organs in Egyptian Mummies 171
cavernosa could be clearly seen in the cut
surface of the remainder of the penis
(Fig. 6).
8) No. 8 (adult). The external genital
organs were cleanly removed and lost
(Fig. 7).
9) No. 14 (bdult). The glass and body
of the penis were sharply cut off from the
root of the penis and lost. Both corpus
spongiosum and corpora cavernosa of the
penis could be clearly seen in the transverse
cross-section of the root of the penis cut.
The scrotum was wrapped up in the linen
cloth and could not be observed (Fig. 8).
10) No. 17 (adult). The external genital
organs were left intact in position. A small
model or miniature of the penis and scrotum
made of resin gilded was laid just below
the true external genital organs of the
mummy. Since the resin, of which the
model was made, was of not so good quality,
the model was partly broken off or chipped
here and there, resulting in an unsatis-
factory state of preservation. The model
of resin was 37mm in height, 44mm in
breadth, 16mm in thickness, 10g in weight,
and blackish in colour because the gilt was
mostly off (Fig. 9, 10 and 11).
11) No. 127 (adult). Only the anterior
part of the pelvis with the external genital
organs remained. The body of the penis
was violently fractured, while the testicles
and scrotum were safe from the tomb rob-
bers (Fig. 12).
[II] On the mummies from the Tomb
No. 178.
12) No. 302 (adult). The penis was in-
dependently wrapped with the cloth. The
pelvis scrotum veiled by the cloth was not ob-
servable (Fig. 13).
13) No. 307 (adult). Only the bony pelvis
with the penis remained. The penis was
 172 I. MORIMOTO
straightly elongated so as to have a length
of 13.5cm. The interior of the spongy
urethra could be seen, because the dorsal
part of the penis was broken off by the
robbers. The testicles and scrotum were
accidentally lost in this case (Fig. 14).
14) No. 308 (adult). The straightly elon-
gated penis was so covered both with the
thinnly extended scrotum and with a sheet
of linen cloth that the penis, with the ex-
ception of a part of the glans, could be
hardly seen. The length of the penis was
12cm, and the perimeter in the middle of
its body covered with the thinned scrotum
was 7 cm (Fig. 15).
15) No. 309 (adult). The penis was in-
dependently wrapped with the linen cloth.
The penis wrapped was 13.5cm in length.
The scrotum hidden by the cloth could not
be observed (Fig. 16).
16) No. 316 (adult). The anterior half
of the penis was sharply cut off in the
middle of the body of the penis and lost.
The testicles within the scrotum were kept
intact (Fig. 17).
17) No. 321 (adult). The elongated penis
was supported by a plate made of the arti-
ficially flattened and elongated scrotum
which was laid under the penis. The length
of the penis was 9.5cm, whereas that of
the flattened and elongated plate of the
scrotum was 11cm. The somewhat broad-
ened anterior extremity of the deformed
scrotum was thus protruded to a small ex-
tent from the glans which rested on the
plate made of the scrotum. The prepuce
was not found. The posterior part of the
dorsum of the penis was covered with a
sheet of the linen cloth. It could not be
ascertained whether the teticles were
present in the scrotum or not (Fig. 18).
18) No. 323 (adult). The penis was in-
dependently wrapped up in the linen cloth.
The scrotum was also not observable (Fig.
19).
Discussion
The present observations have revealed
that there are a variety of mummifying
techniques of the external male genital
organs in the ancient Egyptian mummies
examined. The penises were independently
wrapped with linen cloth in all the three
adult mummies examined (Nos. 302, 309 and
323). This shows that the adult penis in
situ was always wrapped independently in
the mummification process. Since the ex-
ternal genital organs in these cases were
wrapped up in the cloth, no critical observa-
tions on the organs in question were ob-
tained. Because the penis was, on the other
hand, fractured post mortem in the one
adult specimen (No. 127) by the violence of
tomb robbers, any available findings on the
penis could not be also obtained in this case.
The above three and one cases will be,
therefore, omitted from calculation when
the different methods of treatment of the
external genital organs will be get ratings
for discussion.
The external genital organs were kept
intact in the three adult mummies (Nos.
ABD-IV, A-11b and 17) and in the two
child mummies (Nos. A-5 and A-11a) ex-
amined. In these adult and child mummies,
the penises were always laid on the scrota,
the glans penis being located near the center
of the perineum. As mentioned above, LECA
stated that in the mummifying process the
external male genital organs were nearly
always left in position. In the present
study, however, the penises kept intact
were found in only three out of the 11
adult mummies (27.3%) and in two out of
 External Genital
the three child mummies (66.7%) examined.
The prepuce was cleanly removed from
the glass of the penis in all the adult speci-
mens examined, although this was not con-
firmed in the child mummies. HERODOTUS
in the 5th century B. C. described that the
Egyptians and those who had learnt it from
them were the only people who practised
circumcision. ROWLING (1967) mentioned
that circumcision was practised almost uni-
versally in Egypt, and that the custom
probably dated from Predynastic times.
The practice was, according to him, finally
seen to disappear in Coptic times, when the
salt-preserved bodies of the times show no
evidence of the operation. He was of the
opinion that the circumcision was almost
certainly performed just before puberty. A
famous relief in the tomb of Ankh-ma-Hor
at Sakkara, dating from the VIth Dynasty,
shows the operation being performed. In
this relief, either of two standing candidates
is a youth at puberty and a knife is being
used by a sitting surgeon. CHAGAS (1861)
introduced another ancient Egyptian relief
where the practice of circumcision was also
represented. In this relief, the circumcisor
was kneeling in the act of circumcising
young candidate who was also standing
before him. The results of the present
study showing the absence of the prepuce
in the glans penis of the adult mummies
thus accord with the above ROWLING'S
opinion that the circumcision was performed
just before puberty.
The present observations show that
penises were removed completely in one
(No. 8) and incompletely in four (Nos. ABD-
V, A-23, 14 and 316) out of the 11 adult
mummies examined (five divided by 11
gives 45.5%), whereas they were kept intact
in all the three child mummies (Nos. A-5,
Organs in Egyptian Mummies 173
A-7 and A-11a). The studies of the royal
mummies by SMITH (1912) were, according
to SANDISON and WELLS (1967), frustated
by the fact that tomb robbers sometimes
broke off the phallus, as in the cases of
Ramesses II and Sethes II, by the apparent
removal of the pudenda during embalming
in the cases of Tuthmosis III and the un-
known persons C and E, by pressure of the
pudendum into a leaflike structure against
the perineum as in Tuthmosis I and II and
probable removal of scrotum and subsequent
damage to the penis in the case of Mer-
neptah. LECA, however, explained that the
external genital organs in Ramesses II were
cleanly removed with the aid of a sharp
instrument. It could be said that the view
of SMITH for the removal of the external
genital organs in Ramesses II is different
from that of LECA, in point of whether
the organs had been accidentally removed
by the tomb robbers or intentionally cut off
by the embalmers. In this regard, BARD,
FAURE and MASSARE (1985) offered no ex-
planation for the fact that their radiological
and xeroradiographic investigations of the
mummy of Ramesses II showed an absence
a of images corresponding to the external
genital organs.
The present observations, on the other
hand, showed that the penises were elon-
gated in the three adult (Nos. 307, 308 and
321) and one child (No. A-7) mummies. In
three of them (Nos. 308, 321 and A-7), the
elongated penises were supported or covered
the with the artificially deformed scrota.
The external male genital organs were,
as presented here, treated with special care
and attention in the mummification process.
To sum up, the organs were kept intact in
three out of the 11 adult mummies and in
two of the three child mummies examined.
 174 I. MORIMOTO
The penises were cut off in the five adult
mummies, while it was always left intact
in the child mummies. The penis was elon-
gated in the three adult and one child
mummies, often accompanied with the de-
formed scrota. Finally, the small model of
the penis and scrotum made of resin gilded
was laid just below the true pudendum in
the one adult mummy of which external
genital organs were kept intact.
LECA could not have any hint of the
meanings of the ritual amputation of the
external genital organs in the mummifica-
tion process. Regarding the wide prevalence
of taking such a special care of the external
genital organs, however, the present author
might derive valuable suggestions from the
Egyptian mythology. In the myth, according
to IONS (1982), Isis sought her dead husband
and brother, Osiris, and went to Byblos in
Phoenicia. On her return to Egypt after
gaining the body of Osiris, Isis hid in the Delta
marshes, in order to conceal from her brother
Set both the recovery of Osiris's body and the
fact that she was expecting a child. Set,
however, discovered the coffer by chance.
He recognized the body of his dead brother
Osiris, tore it into fourteen parts and scat-
tered them throughout the kingdom. Isis
patiently began another search for her
hasband's body and, finding the parts one
by one, preserved them carefully. At the
place where each was found she held a
funeral and set up a stela, hoping that Set
would believe that the parts had really been
buried in separate places. She found them
all except the phallus, which Set had cast
into the River Nile, where it had been eaten
by the Nile crab, which for this reason was
accursed. But Isis modelled another and
reconstituted the body of her husband,
anointing it with precious oils. She thus
performed the rites of embalmment for the
first time, and thereby restored Osiris to
eternal life, for it was always considered in
Egypt that eternal life for the soul depended
on the preservation intact of the physical
body. She was assisted in her task by her
sister Nephthys and, according to some ver-
sions, by Anubis, Thoth, Horus and even
the four sons of Horus (Such inconsistencies
were of course due to later accretions and
the growth in importance of Osirian beliefs).
It necessarily followed that the ancient
Egyptians seeking for eternity on the belief
of the mythical tales of Isis and Osiris
might came to treat the external genital
organs with special care and attention in
the mummification process.
Summary
1. To examine the external genital organs
of the ancient Egyptians, 15 adult and three
child mummies from the Tombs Nos. 317
and 178 at Qurna, Egypt, dating from the
18th Dynasty of New Kingdom to the Pto-
lemaic stage of Graeco-Roman period, were
observed.
2. The penises were independently wrap-
ped in situ in three adult mummies, although
the external genital organs in the others
had been unwrapped by tomb robbers. The
penis was broken off by the tomb robbers
in an adult mummy.
3. The external genital organs were kept
intact in only three out of 11 adult mum-
mies (27.3%), whereas they were left intact
in two out of three child mummies (66.7%).
4. The prepuce was completely absent
in the adult penis kept intact, although its
presence was not confirmed in the child
mummies. This seems to indicate that the
ritual of circumcision of a boy at puberty
was widely prevalent in the ancient Egypt-
 External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 175

i ans.

5. The penises were cut off in five
(clearly cut in one and partially cut in four)
out of 11 adult mummies (45.5%), whereas
they were always left intact in three child
mummies.
6. The penises were elongated in three ,1983
out of 11 adult mummies (27.3%) and in 1986 3 ,
one out of three child mummies (33.3%).

Of the four elongated penises, two in both 317 178

adult and child mummies were supported 18( 15 3)

18
with the deformed scrota, while one in
, 155030
another adult mummy was covered with the
B.C. ,
thinned scrotum.
,
7. A small model of the penis and ,
scrotum made of resin gilded was laid just 18 , 3
below the true external genital organs left ,
intact in an adult mummy.
8. It was suggested that the treatment 1
of the external male genital organs with 14 , 11 3
special care and attention in the mummifica- (26.3%), 3 2(66.7%)

tion process might be derived from the tales LECA (1980)

of Osiris restored to eternal life when his

,
body was reconstituted by Isis in the Epypt-

ian mythology.
,
3 HERODOTUS
Acknowledgements
( 5 ) , `7
The author wishes to express his hearty ,
thanks to the Epyptian Antiquities Organiza-
tion, Cairo, for courtesy and permission of 5 1
using materials in the present study. He is , 4
also much indepted to Professor Kiyohiko 3 1
SAKURAI and Associate Professor Sakuji 2( 1 1)

YOSHIMURA of Waseda University, Tokyo,

as well as to Professor Yoshiatsu NAITO of , 1

Nagasaki University, for their active in-
1
terest, valuable advice and constant en-
( )
couragement. His thanks are due to Dr.

Kazuaki HIRATA of St. Marianna University
and Dr. Tetsuaki WAKEBE of Nagasaki ,LECA
University for their practical assistance in , ,
facilitating the work.
176 I MORIMOTO

Legend of Figures 119

Fig. 1. Antero-inferior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. ABD-IV The
penis was kept intact, while the left testicle was broken off and lost.
Fig. 2. Right antero-inferior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. ABD-V.
The glans of the penis was removed. The white arrow indicates the cut surface in the middle
of the body of the penis. The scrotum was ruptured and the exposed testes (black arrows)
flowed downward.
Fig. 3. Anterior view of the external genital organs in the child mummy No. A-5. The penis
and the scrotum including the testes were left intact
Fig. 4. Right antero-lateral view of the external genital organs in the supine child mummy No.
A-7. The elongated penis, which was strongly flexed near the neck of the glans, was laid on
the scrotum deformed.
Fig. 5. Dorsal view of the penises of the child mummy No. A-ha (a) and the adult mummy No.
A-11b (b). Each penis was kept intact.
Fig. 6. Antero-inferior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. A-23 The
anterior part of the penis was removed. The arrow indicates the cross-section of the tunica
albuginea of the corpora cavernosa of the penis cut.
Fig. 7. Antero-inferior view of the anterior part of the pelvis and perineum in the adult mummy
No. 8. The external genital organs were cleanly removed.
Fig. 8. Antero-inferior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 14. The
anterior part of the penis was removed. The arrow indicates the cross-section of the tunica
albuginea of both corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum of the penis cut.
Fig. 9. Right superior view of the external genital organs in the supine adult mummy No. 17. A
small model of the penis and scrotum made of resin gilded (arrow) was laid just below the true
external genital organs kept intact.
Fig. 10. Right lateral view of the model of the penis and scrotum made of resin gilded which was
laid just below the true external genital organs in the mummy No. 17.
Fig. 11. Diagram showing the model of the penis and scrotum as shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 12. Right infero-lateral view of the external genital organ in the adult mummy No. 127. The
body of the penis was fractured by tomb robbers. The arrow indicates the fracture surface in
the middle of the body of the penis
Fig. 13. Anterior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 302. The penis
was independently wrapped with the linen cloth.
Fig. 14. Antero-inferior view of the straightly elongated penis in the adult mummy No. 307. The
dorsum of the penis was so broken and moved to the right side of the penis proper that the
interior of the spongy urethra can be seen.
Fig. 15. Left lateral view of the external genital organs in the supine adult mummy No. 308. The
straightly elongated penis was mostly covered with both the scrotum deformed and a sheet of
linen cloth.
Fig. 16. Anterior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 309. The penis
was independently wrapped with the linen cloth.
Fig. 17. Right antero-lateral view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 316.
The anterior part of the penis was sharply cut off. The arrow indicates the cut surface in the
middle of the body of the penis.
Fig. 18. Left supero-lateral view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 321. The
elongated penis was supported with the scrotum deformed.
Fig. 19. Anterior view of the external genital organs in the adult mummy No. 323. The penis
was independently wrapped with the linen cloth
External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 177

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.
178 I. MORIMOTO

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.
External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 179

Fig, 5.

Fig. 6.
180 I. ORIMOTO

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.
External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 181

Fig. 9.
182

Flge 10.

Fig. 11.
External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 183
184 I. MORIMOTO
External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 185
186 I, M0RIMOTO
 External Genital Organs in Egyptian Mummies 187

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venir Press, London.

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( } ) 2 : 1-11.
MORIMOTO, I., Y. NAITO, K. HIRATA and T.
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2
213 2-16-1

Iwataro MORIMOTO Department of Anatomy, St Marianna University

School of Medicine
2-16-1, Sugao, Miyamae, Kawasaki 213, Japan