Egyptian Medicine In The Days Of The Pharaohs

Evidence of the medical practice of ancient Egypt has come down to us not only in pictorial art but also in papyrus scrolls, in funerary inscriptions, and in the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptians themselves. Halioua and Ziskind provide a comprehensive account of pharaonic medicine that is illuminated by what modern science has discovered about the lives (and deaths) of people from all walks of life.

Diseases and injuries were major concerns for ancient Egyptians. This book, featuring some sixty-four objects from the Metropolitan Museum, discusses how both practical and magical medicine informed Egyptian art and for the first time reproduces and translates treatments described in the spectacular Edwin Smith Papyrus.

A series of informal "snapshots" illustrating what can be inferred about Egyptians' illnesses and their treatments in the days of the Pharaohs. For a general audience. Paper edition (unseen), $10.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Originally published in 1926, An Introduction to the History of Medicine is a compilation of reliable and essential contributions to the subject of the history of medicine. The book looks at the evolution of medicine from the practices in Ancient Egypt, to the medicine of the 16th century, and examines the work of Hippocrates and Galen. The book also examines the philosophy that began around the practice of medicine, as well as early discussions of ethics. It also looks at early medicine through the lens of religion, covering the practices of medicine in Hindu, Chaldean and Islamic religions. The book provides a broad coverage of early medicine in ancient civilizations, focusing particularly on Ancient Greece, Persia and Rome.

The skills of the ancient Egyptians in preserving bodies through mummification are well known, but their expertise in the everyday medical practices needed to treat the living is less familiar and often misinterpreted. John F. Nunn draws on his own experience as an eminent doctor of medicine and an Egyptologist to reassess the evidence. He has translated and reviewed the original Egyptian medical papyri and has reconsidered other sources of information, including skeletons, mummies, statues, tomb paintings and coffins. Illustrations highlight symptoms of similar conditions in patients ancient and modern, and the criteria by which the Egyptian doctors made their diagnoses - many still valid today - are evaluated in the light of current medical knowledge. In addition, an appendix listing all known named doctors contains previously unpublished additions from newly translated texts. Spells and incantations and the relationship of magic and religion to medical practice are also explored. Incorporating the most recent insights of modern medicine and Egyptology, the result is the most comprehensive and authoritative general book to be published on this fascinating subject for many years.

The medicine of the ancient Egyptians is some of the oldest documented. From the beginnings of the civilization in the late fourth millennium BC until the Persian invasion of 525 BC, Egyptian medical practice went largely unchanged but was highly advanced for its time, including simple non-invasive surgery, setting of bones, dentistry, and an extensive set of pharmacopoeia. Egyptian medical thought influenced later traditions, including the Greeks. Until the 19th century, the main sources of information about ancient Egyptian medicine were writings from later in antiquity. The Greek historian Herodotus visited Egypt around 440 BC and wrote extensively of his observations of their medicinal practice. Pliny the Elder also wrote favourably of them in historical review. Hippocrates (the ""father of medicine""), Herophilos, Erasistratus and later Galen studied at the temple of Amenhotep, and acknowledged the contribution of ancient Egyptian medicine to Greek medicine.

This monograph explores the unity of the modern concepts of magic and science in Egyptian medicine.