Cairo - “From the ancient pyramids to World War I, the prosthetic field has morphed into a sophisticated example of man's determination to do better.” – Kim M. Norton (a freelance writer, author of A Brief History of Prosthetics). The evolution of prosthetics is a long and storied history, from its primitive beginnings to its sophisticated present, to the exciting visions of the future. As in the development of any other field, some ideas and inventions have worked and been expanded upon, such as the fixed-position foot, while others have fallen by the wayside or become obsolete, such as the use of iron in a prosthesis. The following are four landmarks in the long history of prosthetics: *As early as 4000BC, The Egyptians were early pioneers of prosthetic technology, with limbs made of fiber. *In 3500BC, the first written document about prosthetics was discovered. It consisted of a poem in Rig-Veda (an ancient Indian sacred collection of Sanskrit hymns) about a queen who lost her leg in battle and had an iron prosthesis made to replace her limb. *In 500BC, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a Persian seer who was condemned to death but escaped by amputating his own foot and making a wooden filler to walk 30 miles to the next town. *In 200BC, archeologists discovered a bronze peg which served as a prosthetic leg. However, the long and winding road to the computerised leg had practically begun about 1500BC and has been evolving ever since. There have been many refinements to the first peg legs and hand hooks that have led to the highly individualised fitting and casting of today's devices. To appreciate how far the prosthetics field has come, we must first look to the ancient Egyptians who had been the early pioneers of prosthetic technology. Their rudimentary, prosthetic limbs were made of fiber and it is believed that they were worn more for a sense of ‘wholeness' than function. However, scientists recently discovered what is said to be the world's first prosthetic toe from an Egyptian mummy and it appears to have been functional. An artificial leg dating to about 300BC was unearthed at Capua, Italy, in 1858. It was made of bronze and iron, with a wooden core, apparently for a below-knee amputee. Dear Egyptian Mail readers, Your comments and/or contributions are welcome. We promise to publish whatever is deemed publishable at the end of each series of articles. sami.elshahed@yahoo.com
