Scope: In the last lecture, we discussed the theory that Tutankhamen was murdered. An important part of this theory is the state of the art of medicine in ancient Egypt. Here we investigate medicine as practiced 3,000 years ago. Because medicine was called “the necessary art” by the Egyptians, the physicians of Egypt were famous throughout the ancient world. We will discuss the justification for this fame by examining different medical papyri. We will see that there were really two different approaches to medicine: clinical and magical.
Outline
I. Who were the physicians and their patrons?
A. Temple priests (wabit), “the pure ones,” were the major physicians.
B. Three gods were considered the patrons of physicians: Sekhmet, Toth, and Isis.
C. Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, was closely related to physicians.
1. An angry Re told Sekhmet to destroy mankind.
2. After his anger relented, he had trouble stopping her from fulfilling his order.
3. Finally, he decided to mix red ochre and beer to resemble human blood. Sekhmet drank it, becoming intoxicated and abandoning her destructive mission.
D. Toth was the ibis-headed god of magic and writing. (Plato lamented the discovery of writing, preferring the Homeric tradition.)
1. In one myth, Toth restores Horus’s eye after battle.
2. Another myth had it that Horus, when still an infant, was killed by a scorpion sting. It was Toth who drew out the poison and saved him.
3. Called Hermes by the Greeks (thus “hermetic writings”), Toth is the god of medicine
E. Isis, goddess of magic and nurturing, was also a patron goddess of physicians.
1. There are several myths in which she raises the dead. In one, she searches for shelter, accompanied by seven scorpions, to hide from the evil Seth.
2. After Isis is denied refuge by a woman with a young child, one of the scorpions kills the infant. But Isis takes pity on the woman and revives the child by a laying on of hands.
F. Physicians did their healing work in temples.
1. Dendera, in the south, was renowned for the healing dreams of sleeping pilgrims. The water was an early example of holy water.
2. Deir el Bahri had a clinic on the roof. Imhotep—physician, architect, and god of healing—presided at this temple, as did Amenhotep, Son-of-Hapu. One theory holds that embalmers were the first with anatomical knowledge.
G. Embalmers had knowledge of anatomy, but they were considered outcasts and didn’t open bodies using large incisions.
II. Medical papyri were numerous and varied.
A. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus (1700 BC) is quite clinical.
1. Forty-eight cases of trauma are described from head to toe.
2. Three options, described on papyrus, were open to the physician: (1) treat the illness, (2) contend with the illness, and (3) avoid treating the illness. In this way, the future reputation of the physician was considered.
3. The papyrus describes the brain but not its function. Despite vivid description, not everything is accurate.
4. A clinical approach instructs how to remove bone fragments, splint arms, bandage, and perform other tasks.
5. With these clinical cases one magical treatment is also included. A spell for a fractured frontal bone recommends putting an ostrich eggshell poultice on the forehead, perhaps a kind of sympathetic magic.
B. The reverse side of the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus is magical.
1. The regular appearance of the plague brought several treatments.
2. Exorcism of demons is described.
3. A plague-bearing wind is described for which burning bed linens is suggested. There is also a magical spell and a recipe for wrinkle cream, “How to transform an old man into a youth.” This was the origin of pharmacology.
4. For a crying child, a potion with poppies—what we would call an “active ingredient”—was prescribed.
C. Papyrus Ebers describes 800 medical situations and treatments.
1. For headaches, an ointment of fish was spread on the head.
2. Blindness—“When the god made me see night during the day”—was considered a religious affliction. Spells were prescribed.
3. For a lame foot, wrapping in deerskin was suggested, perhaps from sympathetic magic.
D. In conclusion, there were two approaches to illness in ancient Egypt: clinical and magical.
Essential Reading:
John F. Nunn, Ancient Egyptian Medicine.
Supplementary Reading:
Paul Ghaloungu, The House of Life.
Questions to Consider:
1. What were the two different approaches to medicine in ancient Egypt?
2. Who were the physicians?