Case file · Cryptid
The headless Blemmyes
Pliny reported that the Blemmyes, a people of the desert east of the Nile in Nubia, had no heads, with their eyes and mouths on their chests.
77 CE · 21.50, 34.50 · status: legend
The account
The Blemmyes were a real nomadic people who raided Roman Egypt. The headless image passed into medieval maps and travel tales.
The sceptical view
A mix of ethnic stereotype and garbled traveller's lore about a real people.