Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing on particular objects, ideas, and
Speaker 1: moments in time. Prosthetics are true testaments to not only
Speaker 1: human craftsmanship and ingenuity, but also to the plasticity of
Speaker 1: the human brain. With skill, practice and rehabilitation, materials crafted
Speaker 1: in the likeness of a human limb can replace it,
Speaker 1: and our technological ability to do this continues to improve,
Speaker 1: benefiting from high tech haptic technology, three D printing, and
Speaker 1: much more. But of course, the idea of artificial limbs
Speaker 1: is an ancient one, and we see it reflected in
Speaker 1: the myths and legends of various places around the world.
Speaker 1: In Irish mythology, the first ruler of the Duara Da
Speaker 1: Dan and King Nuada loses a hand or an arm
Speaker 1: in battle and replaces it with a silver prosthesis, and
Speaker 1: as that god has Catlipoca, lord of the Smoking Mirror,
Speaker 1: is said to have lost his right foot in a
Speaker 1: battle against the Earth Monster. As such, he is often
Speaker 1: depicted with a prosthesis of gleaming obsidian that may resemble
Speaker 1: a serpent, but as far as actual archaeological evidence is concerned,
Speaker 1: the oldest prosthetic device is likely the Cairo toe at
Speaker 1: three thousand year old wooden toe from ancient Egypt, retrieved
Speaker 1: from the foot of a priest's daughter entombed in an
Speaker 1: acropolis near lux Or, Egypt. It is a well crafted
Speaker 1: wooden replica of the big toe belt strapped to the
Speaker 1: foot in a manner that was clearly meant to be
Speaker 1: both aesthetically pleasing and functional. The toe show signs of
Speaker 1: use and where meaning that was not a purely funerary edition.
Speaker 1: A two thousand and twelve study from the University of
Speaker 1: Manchester created replicas of this and a similar Egyptian toe
Speaker 1: pros thesis from the first millennium b C in order
Speaker 1: to test their functionality. They found that the absence of
Speaker 1: a big toe would have made traditional Egyptian sandals of
Speaker 1: the day difficult and uncomfortable to wear, but that the
Speaker 1: toe pros thesis made walking in these sandals far more comfortable.
Speaker 1: The ancient Egyptians applied a great deal of their ingenuity
Speaker 1: to death and the afterlife, but in the Cairo toe
Speaker 1: we see an example of their expertise applied to the
Speaker 1: world of the living, though of course, from a religious perspective,
Speaker 1: the Cairo toe would have served the important function of
Speaker 1: ensuring comfortable mobility, not only in this world, but in
Speaker 1: the realms beyond death as well. Tune into additional editions
Speaker 1: of the artifact each week, hosted by either Joe or myself.
Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff
Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your
Speaker 1: Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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