During a trip to the Frist Museum in Nashville, Tennessee (USA) with my
daughter, we saw the wonderful _Quest For Immortality: Treasures of Ancient
Egypt_ exhibit.  I was interested especially to see the child's mummy
exhibit.  A 3-D computer reconstruction done at Stanford of the content of
the mummy, using CT scans and other diagnostics, indicated that the mummy
was about 3-4 years old and most likely died of an infectious process.  

The exhibit hypothesized that a prime factor in the child's death may have
been lack of breastfeeding - since Egyptian children of the era were
typically weaned by 3 years old and so many of the infectious diseases of
the day (dysentery, etc) were relatively uncommon, or at least non-fatal, in
breastfed children.

I hope our "highly advanced society" might be able to learn a lesson from
Ancient Egypt.  (If you are in the Nashville area before the exhibit closes
next month, I highly recommend it... see fristcenter.org)

-Suzanne

Suzanne Berman, M.D., FAAP
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Plateau Pediatrics
(931) 707 8700 voice
(931) 456 0802 fax
(931) 484 9511 after hours

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