Egyptian Medicine Essay, Research Paper

So that you know: I was most disquieted with

my tribunal, because the Nile did non come in

seven old ages and the full state was in

great demand. Then I turned my bosom to the

forepart ; and I asked the wise Imhotep for

advice, where the place of birth of the Nile is

found and who would be the God that lived

at that place. Upon this Imhotep answered, ? I have

to travel to the house of books and look up in

the sanctum books. ? He returned shortly and revealed

admirations to me, to which no male monarch has of all time

been shown the manner since the beginning of clip & # 8230 ;

Inscription of the? Stele of Famine with the Edict of Djoser

to the prince of Elephantine? ( 2780 BC ) 1

The Nile river is known about universally by historiographers as the cradle of medical specialty because it passes through the great part of Egypt. Egypt greatly contributed to the western civilisation. Their cognition was far superior to any old civilisation, and many civilisations to come. One of their greatest accomplishments was in the field of medical specialty because they replaced myth with medical fact, this laid the foundations for modern medical pattern. They discovered the cause of assorted unwellnesss and developed a remedy. They practised both medical and religious healing so the universes of faith and scientific discipline could coexist. With the finds of several papyrus? , we are larning more and more about their cognition of the human anatomy.

The literature discovered by archeologists day of the months back to over 7000 old ages ago. In the early Egyptian times, medical specialty was practised most frequently by priests, non physicians or doctors. There were three chief types of early therapists, the priest doctor, lay physician, and the magician-physician. The priest doctors were ranked highest among doctors because they practised a combination of clinical and religious medical specialty. The priest doctors were in such a high favor that it is most likely they were portion of the Egyptian hierarchy, and involved with the province functionaries and Pharaoh.

It is unknown if the priest physicians of all time received medical preparation. They were permitted to analyze patients and take part in minor undertakings. All diseases except those of the oculus, were treated by a clergy who specialized with their ain regulation and hierarchy known as the Priests of Sekhmet. Gradually the doctors would derive their medical cognition and would unite it with their cognition of thaumaturgy to go an effectual and respected therapist.

The ballad physicians besides practised a combination of clinical and religious healing. Unlike the priest doctor, the ballad doctors were most likely trained to pattern medical specialty. They were most likely derived from priests who had cognition of the anatomy, and from prestidigitators because they weren? T associated with any peculiar God or temple. The function of a ballad doctor wasn? t merely unfastened to males, unlike the priest doctors, there are records of adult females doctors. Although the responsibilities of the ballad doctor are obscure due to the deficiency of information contained in the medical papyri, we can presume that they were closely linked to the field of surgery because of their medical preparation.

The last type of doctor called the magician-physician, was non trained in medical specialty and merely used enchantments to bring around the ailment. This signifies that although the Egyptians made progresss in the field of medical specialty, the facet of thaumaturgy ne’er their medical specialty.

All doctors of Egypt were regarded in high favor of the male monarchs. They were given such rubrics as? Chief of all tribunal doctors, ? ? Physicians of the organic structure, who knows the interior juices, ? ? Priest of Aton who in the castle goes and comes and gas admittance to the king. ? The Lords besides used the term? organic structure physicians. ? These? organic structure doctors, ? were for good employed. Historians and archeologists are diffident of the methods of payment for these doctors, but they know that the general doctors who went into the land were paid by natural resources such as a gold ring or watchband. It was a household tradition to go a physician. It is diffident whether the place was inherited or the male parents merely wanted to go through down their cognition to their boies. They can come to the decision that all doctors were good looked after and were a valuable plus to all Pharaoh.

In wartime and on journeys anyplace

within Egypt, the sick are all treated

free of charge, because physicians

are paid by the province and scrupulous

observation of the prescriptions drawn

up by great physicians of the yesteryear is

officeholder on them. Diodorus Siculus2

Court doctors had the same advantages of those who went out to the war forepart. They were paid straight by the Pharaoh so a hurt soldier in conflict would be able to have free intervention.

The art of medical specialty is therefore divided: each

physician applies himself to one disease

merely and non more. All topographic points abound in

doctors ; some are for the eyes, others

for the caput, others for the dentitions, others for

the bowels, and others for internal upsets.

Herodutus3

In ancient Egypt, most doctors were specializers. One doctor would specialise in handling flesh lesions, while another would specialise in handling oculus infections. The larger portion of the preparation of doctors took topographic point in a house of life. The house of life is a temple devoted to handle the ill. One would merely hold to state the? house of life? of his unwellness and a doctor who specialized in that field would see that individual and handle the unwellness as best he could.

At the temple of Heliopis, they discovered headstones of the physicians of old schools and engraved on them were such letterings as? overseer of the secrets of wellness of the house of Thoth? , ? the greatest of physicians? , ? oculus specializer to the palace. ? From hieroglyphics on the grave of physician Iry, we learned that he is called? keeper of the male monarch? s rectum. ? There was besides a? keeper of the male monarch? s right oculus, ? and? keeper of the male monarchs left oculus. ?

The Egyptians were able to handle dentitions and oculus jobs. Doctors who specialized in the eyes were regarded highly high in Egyptian society and were the pride of many Pharaohs. Eye physicians had considerable cognition of the oculus. They distinguished that there is both an outside portion and an inside portion to be treated. Eye diseases in Egypt, so and now, are more common so in any other part. Therefore oculus physicians were in great demand and male monarchs from neighboring lands would inquire the gift of an experient oculus physician to fall in their tribunal. They discovered a intervention for trachoma, or? Egyptian oculus disease. ? Trachoma causes 50 per centum of all sightlessness, and is contagious. It is caused by the bacteriums Chlamydia trachomatis, and it forms bantam blisters on the conjunctiva. The oculus specializers would handle it by using a mixture of Na carbonate, black mascara, and ruddy ochre. They were able to execute surgeries o

n the oculus where they would take the flag and take a piece of stone or metal.

Another forte was the treating of the dentition. Ancient Egyptian physicians who specialized in dental attention, are non believed to hold had cognition of dental surgery because no grounds has been found in any written texts. But archeological discoveries show that efforts have been made. They discovered a mandible from the Fourth Dynasty that indicates that there was an effort to bore a hole in one of the dentition. Possibly the first prosthetic device was found in 1929 in Giza where two dentitions were found with gold wire fixed to the dentition. Besides they have found several mas with unreal dentitions. The survey of several mas indicates hapless dentitions status. This can be attributed to the deficiency of nutrition, largely lower category citizens. In the Papyrus Ebers, they found parts of a dental monograph titled? The Beginning of Remedies for Stronger Teeth. ? Carious dentitions were treated with a mixture of ochre, flour, spelt, and honey. Fillings were made out of a combination of malachite and rosin.

The Ancient Egyptian physicians and doctors used many types of natural resources to bring around patients. In one instance it was discovered that they used the electrical charge of the Malapterusus electricus, a close relation of the electric eel, was used to bring around certain sorts of hurting. To bring around the urarthritis, the patient would step on the electric eel, so place the other pes on a wet beach so wait until the leg is numb up to the articulatio genus. But he electric eel? s charges were excessively hebdomad to bring around some complaints so the used the variety meats of some fish that produced electrical charges.

At first history believed that the first instance of bloodsuckers being used for medical intents was in 135 Ad by the Grecian Nikandros. He described that the bloodsuckers were placed on the organic structure and would unclutter out blood and engorged fluids. They now know that 2,000 old ages before, this process was common in Egypt. They do non cognize how this was done, whether they really cut unfastened the vena with a knife, or used some other method.

Their redresss are non all that different from our ain. They used assorted sorts of pills, potions, pouttices, suppositories, and plasters. They had the cognition to forestall lesions and remedy many types of animate being bites such as the crocodile. The physicians and doctors would propose mouldy staff of life to forestall blisters, enteric diseases, and maturing lesions.

They developed a remedy for the cough that goes as follows: pieces of works and mineral substances should be heated on hot rocks. A pot with a hole bored into it should be put on top of this and a pipe should be put into the hole. The patient must? get down? the herbal steam seven times. And because the oral cavity dries out, it should be rinsed out with oil.4

Archeologists have discovered many papyrus? , but some incorporating more information so others. The most celebrated of these is the Papyrus Ebers. It was found by an Arab in Luxor who discovered it will unearthing a grave. He demanded a big amount of money for the purchase, so with the fiscal support of a friend, George Ebers purchased the Papyrus. They dated back to the period between 1553-1550 BC. It was a aggregation of texts from the Old Empire that gave instructions on how to bring around lesions, breaks, disruptions, and many other types of unwellnesss. They described how to handle breaks, they would utilize splints bound with patchs. When the Papyrus Ebers was written, Egypt was at it? s highest medical accomplishment. Historians can come to the decision that the papyrus belonged to the Pharaoh Amenhotep ( 1557-1501 BC ) . It is the most accurate history of early Egyptian medical specialty of all time written. At this clip medical specialty was much freer of charming so earlier. It is used as the establishing book of cognition for ancient Egyptian medical specialty. Much of the contents of the papyrus, trade with irregularity, giving several effectual remedies that in some parts of the universe, are still used today. The Papyrus Ebers consisted of 108 columns divided into 45 groups. The 2nd group for illustration would depict assorted sorts of laxatives, while group four describes tummy complaints. The texts contained in the Papyrus Ebers are hard to understand, and there are many unknown footings used within.

One of the most celebrated antediluvian physicians is Imhotep. He was a great privilege to hold as a Pharaoh. He worked in the tribunal of the Pharaoh Khasekhem.

When he was finished, he turned to

the dumb adult females and said, ? on

these lesions, compresses of fresh

meat must be applied and new 1s

must be reapplied five times daily.

After this, the patient should imbibe

milk assorted with beef saddle sore vesica & # 8230 ; . ? 5

This is an exert from Pierre Montalauer? s book about Imhotep. It refers to the ordeal of the birth of the great Pharaoh Djoser. After the rescue, the queen of the Upper Egyptian capital, received a tear of the perineum. Imhotep rapidly bandaged the haemorrhaging and stitched the lesion. The exert is Imhotep giving the queen instructions to follow in order to allow the lesion heal decently. He saved the queen but around the same clip his married woman died giving birth to his boy. He so locked himself in with his married woman for 40 yearss to mummify her. This was the first recorded procedure of mummification known. He committed a big portion of his life to Djoser the hereafter Pharaoh. He played a major function in the tribunal, was vizier to his male monarch, he was a great designer and astrologer. In some fables it says that he ended the seven twelvemonth drought by making an luxuriant system of irrigation, forming piscaries, and he besides preserved nutrient.

Imhotep built the first pyramid in the universe, the measure mastaba of Saqara.6 It was erected over the resting topographic point of Pharaoh? s married woman who was buried in the Nile Delta.

It is now known that Egyptian medical specialty contributed greatly to modern medical specialty. Many of the therapies used today are similar to those used in ancient Egyptian times such as the method of handling a fractured bone. They were the first to utilize galvanism to bring around hurting, and besides have an apprehension of what happened. The first of all time mummification was in Egypt and the procedure was used for centuries to come by all Egyptian peoples.

With the finds of more and more papyrus? , ancient Egyptian? s are now acquiring the recognition they deserve for their parts to modern medical specialty.

Bibliography

Atkinson, D.T. Magic, Myth and Medicine. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1956.

Dawson, Warren R. Ancient Egyptian Medicine. ( Online ) available.

hypertext transfer protocol: //www.lri.ucsf.edu/public_html/egypt.html

Margotta, Roberto. The Story of Medicine. New York: Aureate Imperativeness, 1968.

Stetter, Cornelius. The Secret Medicine of the Pharaohs: Ancient Egyptian Healing. Carol Stream: Quintessence Printing Company, 1993.

Thorward, Jurgen. Science and Secrets of Early Medicine. Cologn: DuMont Press, 1962.

Trueman, John H. , Trueman, Dawn Cline. The Enduring Past. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1982.

Footnotes