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Emerging Infectious Diseases * Volume 2 * Number 4 * October-December 1996
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Letters

AIDS and [AAA] in Egypt?

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To the Editor: A recent letter concerning Egyptian hieroglyphs on the
disease [AAA] asks if this disease could be AIDS or an HIV-associated
condition prevalent in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs (1). We
believe this possibility is highly unlikely. Aside from conflicts with
current thought on the origin and evolution of lentiviruses, there is a
problem of linguistic interpretation. The initial hieroglyph in the series
of hieroglyphs comprising the word [AAA], a picture of a discharging
phallus, is a "determinative," indicating the class or category to which
the word belongs. Although scholars once took this determinative to
indicate a phallic connection with disease, even suggesting that [AAA]
meant hematuria, consistent with schistosomiasis (2,3), it was later
proposed that the determinative meant semen or poison, reflecting the
Egyptian concept that diseases may be transmitted by an evil spirit in the
form of an incubus, impregnating a victim with poisonous semen. This
interpretation is now generally accepted (4,5). The phallus-with-discharge
thus came to indicate a deadly disease, and [AAA] a poisonous
disease-causing substance introduced into the body by magic. The word [AAA]
is used elsewhere in the Egyptian medical papyri in other contexts, such as
"[AAA] of the heart" and "[AAA] of the belly and heart," and is not known
to have been used in connection with the bladder or genitalia. While the
determinative meaning may not be absolutely established, it is clear from
its usage in other contexts that the phallus-with-discharge determinative
can indicate fatal or serious illness. The notion that the
phallus-with-discharge determinative refers to sexually transmitted disease
is not consistent with its usage. To further argue that [AAA] represents
AIDS or HIV disease is not justified by the linguistic evidence. Without
further archaeologic or inscriptional evidence, we would doubt that HIV
circulated in ancient Egypt.

Robert J. Littman and David M. Morens
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii

References

  1. Ablin RJ. Déjà vu in ancient Egypt? Emerging Infectious Diseases
     1996;2:242.
  2. Ebbell B. The Papyrus Ebers. London: Oxford University Press, 1937.
  3. Jonckheere F. Une Maladie Égyptienne, l'Hématurie Parasitaire.
     Bruxelles: Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élizabeth, 1944.
  4. von Deines H, Westendorf W. Wörterbuch der medizinischen Texte. Erste
     Hälfte. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1961;7(Part 1):129.
  5. Nunn JF. Chapter 3. Concepts of anatomy, physiology and pathology.
     Chapter 4. The pattern of disease. Chapter 5. Magic and religion in
     medicine. In: Nunn JF: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. London: British
     Museum Press, 1966:42-63,64-95,96-112.

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