Medicine in Ancient Egypt
Of all the branches of science pursued in ancient Egypt, none achieved such popularity as medicine. The earliest physician whose name has been recorded, Imhotep, was the wazir of Zoser, founder of the Third Dynasty, in the thirtieth century. Imhotep was a learned man, astronomer, physician, architect (he may have been the builder of the first pyramid, the step pyramid of Saqqara). In later times he was worshipped as a hero, as a blameless physician, and later still as the god of medicine, the prototype of Asclepios (even as the learned God Thoth was the prototype of Hermes and Mercury). We know precious little about Imhotep's medical knowledge but his apotheosis is significant and we may well take him at the Egyptian valuation as the first great man in medicine. The people who speak of Hippocrates as the father of medicine should bear in mind that Hippocrates comes about half way between Imhotep and us.(Nunn 15) The usual term for a doctor was sunu, written with an arrow-shaped symbol that, it had been suggested, was an allusion to the use of arrowheads to lance abscesses. Some doctors belonged to the priesthood, including priests of the goddess Sakhmet, patroness of diseases, remedies and ph
"(Nunn 19) The mainstream medical practitioner studied in a House of Life located at one of the major cult temples. Not only were there many physicians in the Pyramid Age, but there were very specialized ones. (Sarton 112) The Ebers Papyrus is one of the longest papyri from ancient Egypt, dating to the reign of Amenhotep I of the 18th Dynasty. Examination of both medical and non-medical documents has convinced many investigators that the ancient Egyptians knew their anatomy in fair detail. ysicians, and of the lector-priests (khery-heb). Many enjoyed ecclesiastical as well as lay titles. It was through the heart that god spoke, and the Egyptian received knowledge of god and god's will. Other therapeutic procedures included the cauterization of wounds, using fire drills or heated scalpels. The medical students learned that a patient's pulse was associated with the heart-"it speaks out of the vessels of every limb"-but also that blood, along with breath, tears, mucus, urine, and seamen, circulated through the body in a network of interconnected channels. Like other professions, doctors had their hierarchy. They indicate the fact that the physicians of the pharaonic periods understood pain as they recognized the pulse and the problems of the main artery. The first deals with diseases of the reproductive organs. (Bunson 159) The vast understanding we have of the Egyptians medical knowledge comes from a series of medical papyri. The pharmaceuticals of the ancient Egyptian physicians included antacids, copper salts, turpentine, alum, astringents, alkaline laxatives, diuretics, sedatives, antispasmodics, calcium carbonates and magnesia. The papyrus measures 65 feet with 108 separate pages.
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