Medicine

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Medicine

Famous Doctors . Egyptian records allow scholars to reconstruct a history of medicine stretching from 3000 b.c.e. to the seventh century c.e. Egyptian doctors were famous in the ancient world, attracting calls for aid from the Hittite royal court in Dynasty 19 (circa 1292-1190 b.c.e.). Egyptians were also aware of the foreign practice of medicine in Syria-Palestine and Babylonia. At the very end of ancient Egyptian history, the Greeks adopted much of Egyptian theory and practice through collaborations in Alexandria.

General State of Health . The fertility of Egypt in ancient times meant that the population enjoyed a healthy diet. One farm laborer produced enough food for twenty adults. This fruitfulness was the reason that Egypt was known for food production in the stories of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the biblical Book of Genesis. Wealthy Egyptians regularly consumed a mixture of grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, fowl, cattle, milk, beer, and wine. Even the mass of the population ate a mixture of grains that provided an adequate diet. Life expectancy averaged thirty to thirty-six years. Documents attest that some individuals lived to be sixty years old and even older.

Medicine and Religion . All Egyptian knowledge was organized through religion, and medicine was no different. Thoth, god of writing, also supported healing. Sakhmet, goddess of disease, maintained a priesthood that performed some medical tasks. Other deities concerned with medicine were Selket, the scorpion goddess, who cured scorpion bites; Isis, goddess of magic; and Horus, the divine physician. Imhotep (who lived in Dynasty 3, circa 2675-2625 b.c.e.) and Amenhotep, son of Hapu (born in the reign of Amenhotep II, circa 1412 b.c.e. to the reign of Ay, circa 1345 b.c.e.), were humans who were later regarded as healing saints. Medical training, along with other scientific training, took place in the temple. Medical texts were prepared and stored in the House of Life, a unit of the temple.

Doctors and Titles . Egyptian bureaucratic hierarchies in medicine were well established by the Old Kingdom (circa 2675-2130 b.c.e.). The basic term for physician was sunu, which combined with many titles, including Overseer of Physicians, Inspector of Physicians, Chief Physician, Palace Physician, Inspector of Palace Physicians, and Chief Palace Physician. Separate titles were used to describe specialists in ophthalmology, dentistry, internal medicine, and proctology. Embalmers were medical specialists in making mummies and were also called sunu during the Late Period. Allied medical practitioners included pharmacists, bandage dressers, and masseurs. Priests of Sakhmet, priests of Selket, and amulet sellers were all trained in taking the

pulse, which was early recognized as indicative of overall health. Male physicians are best represented in the record, though female practitioners existed. A woman named Peseshet was the Overseer of Female Physicians in Dynasty 5 (circa 2500-2350 b.c.e.). Her title strongly suggests there were other female physicians whom she supervised. Women also practiced as midwives and wet nurses.

Theory of Disease . The Papyrus Ebers, written during the Hyksos Period (circa 1630-1523 b.c.e.), recorded details of the Egyptian theory of disease. The Egyptians understood that the circulatory system carried blood, water, and air around the body. They believed that an additional substance, which they called wekhedu, also traveled through the circulatory system. Wekhedu was the name for a waste product that the Egyptians believed the body produced over time. Excess wekhedu, the Egyptians thought, was the cause of disease, aging, and death. It was easily recognized in the pus formed in an infected wound, and it was thought to clog the veins and arteries as the body continued to produce it over a lifetime. Egyptian medicine aimed to reduce wekhedu through enemas and purges. Even embalming a mummy was an attempt to remove all wekhedu so that the body would be preserved after death. Wekhedu continued to be understood as the cause of disease into the Hellenistic Period (after 332 b.c.e.), when some Greek physicians adopted this theory to

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explain disease. The theory of wekhedu was the earliest known rational explanation of disease recorded in history. It provided a cause and a theory of treatment that underlay all Egyptian medicine. Though magical treatments were included in the removal of wekhedu from the body, the theory has impressed modern scientists with its rational progression from the hypothesis that wekhedu existed to proposals for treating disease by its elimination.

Known Diseases . Paleopathology is a modern science that investigates human remains to determine the extent and nature of disease in the ancient world. Paleopathologists have made great use of Egyptian mummies, an important source of data, to identify many diseases related to parasites—including bilharziasis (schistosomiasis), roundworm (ascaris), guinea worm (dracunculus), and tapeworm (taenia). Other diseases identified in ancient Egypt include malaria, tuberculosis, smallpox, and cancer.

Tooth Decay . Dental caries (cavities) were actually rarer in ancient Egypt than in the modern American population before the introduction of fluoridated water. The Egyptians had no refined sugar, the primary cause of cavities. Their diet also was abrasive, including grit and sand—especially in stone-ground grain products such as bread. This grit effectively cleaned the average person’s teeth.

Medical Procedures . Surgical and other medical procedures conducted during life are often visible in mummies. The most common medical procedure was male circumcision. Not only do mummies illustrate that this procedure was widespread, but also the technique was illustrated in relief sculptures found on tomb walls. A Middle Kingdom text described circumcision as part of group initiation. The text described it as occurring in early adolescence. Other medical interventions included splints, sutures (stitches), and trephination—perforating the skull with a surgical instrument. The Egyptians used recognizable medical instruments such as scalpels, needles, tweezers, clysters (enema bags), and measuring vessels.

Texts . Medical knowledge was preserved in written descriptions of cases. Currently, seventeen different compilations of medical data on papyrus are known. In general the texts were descriptions of specific cases rather than general theory. They included carefully observed descriptions of the progress of a disease, recommendations for treatment, and whether the treatment was generally successful. Some diseases were described as incurable.

Magical Methods in Medicine . A close connection existed between doctors (sunu) and magicians (hery-hebu) in Egypt. Both kinds of specialists were trained at the House of Life in the temple and used methods that were based on cause and effect, as well as on supernatural methods. They used objects that were magically charged in their treatments, as well as incantations and ritual actions that modern people associate with magic. Even common events in medical practice, such as mixing and measuring ingredients for remedies, loosening bandages, and drinking a remedy, were accompanied by magical spells. The priest of Sakhmet, goddess of

plague, and the “controller of Selket,” goddess of scorpions, both played medical roles in the control of disease and scorpion bite.

Gynecology . New mothers and newborn children were a special concern for medical practice and magic. The lector priest and the “magician of the nursery” used specific spells to protect mothers and newborns during delivery and in the first months of life. Objects called magical knives, actually protective wands inscribed with symbols of protection and inscriptions to repel evil, were used to draw defensive circles around the child’s bed. The demigoddess Beset was represented on these knives. She was responsible for the protection of bedrooms, mothers, and children.

Spells . Another widespread magical cure consisted of carved images and spells of the god Horus on stelae. In the New Kingdom a new, standardized imagery with spells was created to prevent or counter the effects of snakebite and scorpion sting. Basically, the patient poured water over the images, recited the spell, collected the water, and drank it. This ritual was a basic healing technique known as early as the Pyramid Texts of Dynasty 5 (reign of Unas, circa 2371-2350 b.c.e.) and 6 (reign of Teti, circa 2350-2338 b.c.e., to the reign of Meryre Pepy I, circa 2338-2298 b.c.e.). The Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom (circa 1980-1630 b.c.e.) also contained knowledge of this process. The underlying theory assumed that liquid that came in contact with magical words or objects could transfer its power to the person who drank it. The verb “to swallow” thus became a synonym for “to know” because of this magical technique. Such stelae were distributed widely, including larger ones placed in public places for general use.