Qar (doctor)

Qar was a doctor during the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, which lasted from about 2350 to 2180 BC. He was the royal physician.[1]

Adil Hussein discovered his tomb north of the pyramid of Sekhemkhet in 2001.[1] Qar died at the age of fifty years[2] and his mummified remains were discovered by archaeologists in December 2006 in his mastaba at Saqqara, Egypt.[3] As with many other tombs in Saqqara, his tomb was re-used several times.[4]

Beside his mummy in the limestone sarcophagus, there were metal (bronze[4] or copper[2][5]) model tools that were entombed alongside his remains. In press reports following the discovery of the tomb and in several publications, they are regarded as surgical instruments.[6] It was stated that they might be the oldest surgical tools in the world.[2] However, these types of model tools are common in many Old Kingdom burials of officials with different functions. They are not surgical instruments. They are model tools.[7] They, his mummy and the rest of the findings are in the Imhotep Museum at Saqqara.