Medicine and magic in the ancient Egypt
For the Ancient Egyptians, medicine was divided into two parts: visible and non-visible ...
For the Ancient Egyptians, medicine was divided into two parts: visible and nonvisible. The former included pathologies such as trauma and wounds, while the latter was related to magic. Disease was considered a real entity. Magic was addressed to the disease itself or to the soul of a deceased person as a bestower of protection. According to this concept, magic served for the fulfillment of earthly needs and enabled communication with gods and the deceased. A number of scholars have devoted themselves to studying the relationship between medicine and magic. Lefebvre, chief conservator of the Cairo museum from 1921 to 1928, believes that medicine was derived from magic, while Merei argues the exact opposite by pointing out that the oldest texts are predominantly empirical in nature, while the most recent ones are mainly magical in nature.
The study of various diseases, their causes and healing techniques are one of the most astounding aspects of Ancient Egypt. Since the Old Kingdom, surgical instruments quite similar to those in use in our hospitals were used to operate sick persons. Surgeries to ward off cancer and tumors also seem to have been successfully performed, while resounding successes are known in the application of artificial limbs that enabled patients to carry on with their lives as normal (one find unearthed the remains of a woman whose leg was amputated and then fitted with a wooden prosthesis that, in its simplicity, was extraordinarily effective and enabled the woman to live for many more years after the surgery). The Ancient Egyptians knew and could measure the heartbeat from the pulse.
Among the first physicians was Imhotep, a character of many qualities, who seems to have achieved great success in this field both as a working physician and as a scientific researcher. He was probably the first to discover and study bacteria and then to experiment with antibacterial solutions that gave their best-known results with regard to eye diseases. In this particular field he succeeded in combining the usefulness of treatment with a pleasing aesthetic appearance. In fact, the various tricks used were nothing more than powders used to treat various eye infections that, when properly colored, gave a very pleasing aesthetic result.
The first reference to a medical papyrus is engraved on 4 blocks at the entrance to the tomb of Uashptah, chief architect, grand judge and vizier of Neferirkara. The Ebers papyrus, purchased by Ebers from a wealthy Egyptian who said he found it between the legs of an unidentified mummy, describes remedies for many illnesses, from coughs to heart problems. This papyrus, 20 meters long and 20 cm wide, is dated to the 18th Dynasty and consists of 108 pages numbered 1 to 110 as numbers 28 and 29 have been omitted and is now at the University of Leipzig. The number 110 was for the Ancient Egyptians a number symbolic of longevity; they, in fact, had a desire to live to that age in good condition (the magician Djedi was said to be 110 years old, Ptahhotep). It was also wished on others as a sign of long life as evidenced by a document in which a student wishes 110 years of life to his teacher Amenomope. Another papyrus concerning the surgical aspect, however, is the Smith papyrus.
Among the various applications of medicine there are some very curious, ones that nonetheless highlight its level of quality:
"Another remedy for eliminating white hair and treating the scalp is black oxblood. Dip in oil and anoint."
Physicians were organized according to a definite hierarchy. At the apex was the Pharaoh's personal physician, to whom the palace physicians were subordinate, of whom one was the "supervisor" of all the others. Next came the "inspectors of physicians," then some less important physicians, and finally the great mass of "basic" physicians. Egyptian physicians were highly specialized, and they enjoyed much prestige. Many nobles would come from abroad to consult them, or it was the physicians themselves, under Pharaoh's authorization or order, who would travel to their powerful neighbors to lend their services. An anecdote is reported about these trips: Amasi, pharaoh of the XXVI dynasty, sent one of the best physicians to Cyrus, king of the Persians. The physician, who did not like the trip, apparently prompted Cyrus to attack Egypt, thus initiating the Persian invasion.
For each pathology there were actual specialists. Thus there was the general practitioner (Egyptian term sunu), the ophthalmologist (sunu-irty), the specialist for the abdomen (sunu khef), the specialist for diseases of unknown origin, and others. The term "sunu" should mean "the one who belongs to the sick." The number of specialists was higher in the Old Kingdom than in later epochs that saw the various specializations increasingly concentrated in a single person.
Future physicians learned the art of treating illnesses in "Houses of Life" located near temples (the most celebrated were those at Sais and Heliopolis). These Houses of Life were sort of libraries where young people experienced the elders, read and recopied the ancient texts jealously guarded by the physician-priests of Sekhmet, goddess of medicine. When visiting a sick person, Egyptian physicians would fill out a questionnaire noting the patient's appearance, state of consciousness, hearing power, and even his body odor, as well as whether he had tremors, secretions or swellings. Having done this they would assess temperature and pulse changes, finally performing percussion. Some particular characters of the urine, feces or sputum were also observed. At the end of the examination, they would put in writing the prognosis indicating three possibilities: favorable ("It is an evil I will cure"), uncertain ("It is an evil I will fight"), inauspicious ("It is an evil I will not cure").
Among the people, personal hygiene was widely followed. There were definite rules (often in the form of religious precepts), such as washing regularly in the morning, cleaning mouth and teeth well, washing hands before eating, keeping hair and nails tidy, and changing clothes often. The rules for healthy eating were quite strict (with the prohibition of eating pork and the heads of animals): light breakfast in the morning, first shift of work, light meal at noon and short siesta, second shift of work, then hearty dinner at sunset. Excellent tradition was to sleep "from the rising of the stars until dawn."
The Egyptians already had fairly precise ideas about the workings of the heart and blood vessels: "The heart speaks to the vessels of each member," is said in the Ebers papyrus, meaning that the heart pumps blood to the whole body. An exceptional insight when one considers that we are almost 3,000 years before Harvey discovered the circulation of blood. No less advanced were the cognitions about other organs such as the stomach, liver, bladder and uterus. In the Ebers papyrus, the word "brain" appears for the first time in the language of man, the shape, circumvolutions and meninges of which are accurately described. Diseases were considered the result of mysterious external influences that would penetrate the body through natural orifices corrupting the "humors." It was therefore the physician's task to evacuate these "corrupted" humors by flushing them out through the normal routes of excretion. Some known diseases were bronchial asthma, tropical hepatitis, gonorrhea, scurvy, epilepsy, and the many parasitic diseases so common in Egypt. There were repeated epidemics of leprosy and smallpox, which also affected Pharaoh Ramesses V, as confirmed by examinations of his mummy. There was also no shortage of other diseases that are tipical today such as those of the peripheral arteries and coronary arteries: the mummies of Ramesses II, Ramesses III and Amenhotep III show signs of arteriosclerosis. Radiographic examination has even revealed the existence of arterial calcifications in numerous mummies.
The function of pharmacist was generally performed by priests and physicians. Medicines were all based on fat, water, milk, wine or beer, to which a little honey was added to make them more palatable. The medicines were of vegetable, animal or mineral origin (iron, lead, antimony), while the therapeutic action of some is unknown. About 900 "recipes" for medicines are mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus, many of which still appear in modern pharmacopoeias, such as turpentine, senna, castor oil, thyme, celandine. One plant certainly known in Egypt was the mandrake, which, because of its unmistakable anthropomorphic appearance, has attracted legends, beliefs, and superstitions to this day. Its hypnotic and analgesic effects are essentially related to the presence of two substances, atropine and scopolamine. As an anesthetic, of course in very low doses since the plant is very poisonous, guscuiamo was used, which contains scopolamine, a powerful sedative of the central nervous system. But the most important remedy for the Egyptians was beer. Not only as a carrier of numerous medicines but also as a medicine for intestinal disorders and against inflammation and leg ulcers. The disinfectant effect was likely due to the yeast and B-complex contained in the beer, which produced an antibiotic action, just as "moldy bread," prescribed in other formulas, was also effective for its antibiotic action. Among the most commonly used purgatives were castor oil and senna. But the Egyptians also practiced enema. It seems this practice was inspired to them by the ibis introducing its long, pointed beak into their rectum, irrigating it for cleansing purposes. Enteroclysis was performed with the help of a horn, employing ox bile, oils or medicated substances as lavender. It is certain that Egyptian physicians used leeches to decongest congested parts, but it is doubtful whether they knew the technique of bloodletting. Also notable was their knowledge of obstetrics and contraception. They did not just wait for the birth of the child, but also tried to predict its sex. A popular method was as follows:
"You will put barley and wheat in two cloth bags, which the woman will wet with her urine, every day; likewise you will put dates in sandbags. When barley and wheat both sprout, she will give birth. If she sprouts first the barley will be a female, if she sprouts first the wheat will be a male. If neither sprouts, she will not give birth."
This is surprising considering that it was not until 1933 that J. Manger, of the Institute of Pharmacology at the University of Würzburg, demonstrated that the urine of the pregnant woman who will give birth to a male accelerates the growth of wheat, whereas if she gives birth to a female her urine accelerates the development of barley.
Other "pregnancy tests" were based on observation of the eyes, skin and breasts-no wonder given the changes a woman undergoes in pregnancy regarding these organs. When labor pains began, there were several methods of facilitating delivery: squatting on one's heels on a mat, or on top of four bricks separated from each other to facilitate the baby's exit. Contraception was also practiced by magical methods, but also by potions or local application. One method much in use was to apply some crocodile feces deep inside the vagina; the contraceptive effect was ensured both by the "pessary" action exerted by the feces and by their acidity, which is known to be spermicidal. Another method was the application, again in the bottom of the vagina, of a swab soaked in acacia gum. Today it is known that acacia gum, fermenting with heat, produces lactic acid, which has intense spermicidal power.
Surgery in ancient Egypt, mainly concerned the reduction of fractures, extraction of stones, operations in the eye, removal of external tumors, and circumcision. Numerous surgical instruments have been found or depicted, such as forceps, scissors, and knives. In fact, the Egyptians knew various means of practicing a kind of anesthesia with a special "stone" found near Memphis which, reduced to powder and applied to the part, made all pain disappear. Perhaps these were simply bits of bitumen that, in contact with the flame, gave off vapors that dozed the patient. The sedative effects of coriander, carob powder, and probably opium were also exploited for anesthetic purposes.
Many pharaohs did not enjoy good health. For example, Thutmosi III's health was not the best, so much so that the Mitanni king, Tushratta, sent him a healing statue depicting the Syrian goddess Ishtar.
