Greek Medical Papyri

The volume collects papers presented at the International Conference "Greek Medical Papyri - Text, Context, Hypertext" held at the University of Parma on November 2-4, 2016, as the final event of the ERC project DIGMEDTEXT, aimed primarily at creating an online textual database of the Greek papyri dealing with medicine. The contributions, authored by outstanding papyrologists and historians of the ancient medicine, deal with a variety of topics focused on the papyrological evidence of ancient medical texts and contexts. The first part, devoted to "medical texts", contains some new reflections on important sources such as the Anonymus Londinensis and the Hippocratic corpus, as well as on specific themes like the pharmacological vocabulary, the official medical reports, the medical care in the Roman army. The second part collects papers about the "doctors' context", providing highlights from broader viewpoints like the analysis of the writing supports, the study of the ostraka from the Eastern Desert, the evidence of inscriptions and philosophical texts. The third part is entirely focused on the DIGMEDTEXT project itself: the team members present some relevant key issues raised by the digitisation of the medical papyri.

Originally published in 1947, this volume provides a dual-text English translation of the Anonymus Londinensis papyrus, an important document of Ancient Greek medical and philosophical ideas from the second century AD. The text also contains a generous introduction, additional notes, together with essays on the nature of Greek thought and medicine. This is a highly informative book that will be of value to anyone with an interest in Classical ideas on health and physiology.

This volume makes available in English translation a selection of Jacques Jouanna's papers on Greek and Roman medicine, ranging from the early beginnings of Greek medicine to late antiquity.

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 volume provides a set of in-depth case studies about the role of questions and answers (Q&A) in ancient Greek medical writing from its Hippocratic beginnings up to, and including, Late Antiquity.