Ancient Egyptian Medicine

The work that I did concerning the Ancient Egyptians focused not only on the equivalent of modern-day doctors, but also on the embalmers of that time. I have done so because of the relevancy of both of their roles in the understanding of the human body.

Of all the branches of science pursued in ancient Egypt, none achieved such popularity as medicine as it was based on an integrated scientific methodology and a system of medical schools. Under this system, the first of its kind in human history, the first school of medicine dated back to the first Dynasty followed by other reputed schools such as Per Bastet in the New Kingdom and at Abydos and Sais in the late period.

Physicians learnt their profession at schools called Houses of Life. They

At that time, was as a network of interconnecting channels and analogous to the branches of the Nile and the artificial canals of their own country. Notions of physiology and disease were all anchored in the concept of the heart as the centre of the organism. The heart was one's partner: it spoke to a person in his or her solitude. It was at the same time the engine of all the bodily functions, not only of one cardinal function, the circulation, as modern science has revealed. From the heart proceeded channels linking all parts of the body

For example, the word in ancient Egyptian for "tendon" and for "blood vessel" were the same, illustrating the fact that the systems of the nerves, muscles, and circulation were probably not distinguished as separate by Egyptian surgeons, or at least those who contributed to the text in question.

The Edwin smith surgical papyrus is made particularly interesting because it does not usually bring the supernatural into the explanations or treatments for injuries - for instance, there is only one incantation. One possible explanation for this anomaly is that the wounds that it describes are caused by obvious or known traumas, rather than infectious diseases or other conditions whose causes were seemingly beyond the Egyptians' abilities to investigate.

In other accounts, approach to treatment is far less straight-forward and methodical, influenced heavily by religion and their belief system. One such example of this is found in the London Medical Papyrus, another famous text uncovered in the late 19th century. The papyrus is a work that lies midway between a medical papyri and pure magic. Of the 61 recipes which it contains, only 25 are medical. The rest, are incantations designed to relieve person of pain. It is particularly interesting because spells are used together with the cures. Some of the texts outline what should be recited when a particular cure is being applied, while others