The Brooklyn Papyrus, a medical treatise from Ancient Egypt (~600–330 BCE), describes 37 venomous snakes in the empire including details on the effects of bites, recommended treatments and chances of survival. While the identities of some snakes are uncertain, several species included do not occur in modern Egypt.
Exploring the possibility that some of these snakes may have shifted their ranges or become locally extinct, this study used species distribution modelling to assess climatic suitability for present day and mid-Holocene Egypt.
Using GBIF-mediated occurrences and bioclimatic data on temperature and rainfall, the authors modelled the current potential distribution of ten focal species that were easily identifiable but without known occurrences within present day Egypt. With well-perfoming models of suitable climatic niches, they then mapped the species' distributions in Ancient Egypt according to mid-Holocene climate.
Their results predicted distributions of nine of the ten species within Ancient Egypt, including the highly venomous, four-fanged boomslang (Dispholidus typus), now restricted to sub-Saharan savannas. The tenth species, Causus rhombeatus without apparent suitable climate in the kingdom, however, did occur in neighbouring regions that were regular trading partners of the Ancient Egyptians.
Overall, these findings suggest that despite not occurring in present-day Egypt, these ten snakes may well have been present to bite Egyptians 4,000 years ago.