introduction: History of medicine in Egypt: Ancient Egypt is best known for its pyramids, mummies, and hieroglyphics. However, its medical doctors may have the most lasting impact on humanity.
From surgery and dentistry to prosthetics and obstetrics, the ancient Egyptians made numerous medical advances during their nearly 3,000-year civilization. They even made early attempts to cure cancer.
Researchers have learned much about medical practices in ancient Egypt thanks to several surviving medical papyri, temple and tomb carvings, and scientific examination of human remains.
The Egyptians took medicine seriously, referring to it as a “necessary art.” They established medical education centers, and both men and women could become doctors.
Some of these plants are still used today. Fortunately, they documented the details of their lives by making carvings on stone and clay.
Although many of these records have been lost or destroyed, the surviving documents are a great source of knowledge in various scientific fields, including medicine—some basics of the diseases and treatments commonly treated in this great civilization.
History of medicine in Egypt
According to the WHO, traditional medicine combines knowledge, skills, and practices based on different cultures’ indigenous ideas, beliefs, and practices, whether for health care or prevention, diagnosis, improvement, or physical therapy and treatment of mental illness.
Egyptian civilization spread for centuries on the banks of the Nile River, and it is now one of the greatest and oldest civilizations in human history. It was famous for its medicine.
Ancient Egypt (3300 BCE to 525 BCE) is where the first beginnings of modern medical care were found, including bone alignment, dentistry, simple surgery, and various sets of medicinal pharmacopeias.
The first mention of a physician in history dates back to 3533 BCE when it was documented that Sekhit Enanch, chief physician, cured the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Sahura of his sinus disease.
There is documented evidence of using malachite as an eye color and remedy in ancient Egypt around 4000 BCE. Imhotep (2780BCE) The most famous of the early Egyptian physicians, Imhotep was the chief minister of the pharaoh Zoser, the first king of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Additionally, he was known as the engineer of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara).
Some images carved on tomb door jambs at Memphis can be considered the earliest depictions of surgical operations.
About 450 BC, Herodotus (the father of history) composed of the Egyptians: The practice of medicine is so split among them that every physician is a cure for one disease and no more. The country is full of doctors, some for the eye, some for the teeth, some for the stomach, and some for hidden diseases.
Some basic ideas about traditional ancient Egyptian medicine
The ancient Egyptians did not clearly distinguish between medicine and magic; they considered health and disease to be the result of man’s relationship with the universe—man, animal, good, and evil spirits.
According to the Ebers Papyrus, the basic concept of health and disease is that the body has 22 mtw (vessels) that connect the body to various substances such as blood, air, semen, phlegm, and tears.
These MTWs (vessels) are attached at certain points, controlled by the heart, and open to the outside at several points, like the anus.
Physicians should determine the condition of the two vessels by examining the patient’s pulse. Balancing this movement is as important to human health as the flooding and irrigation of the Nile is to Egypt.
The disease occurs if the mtw-vessels are blocked by foreign or noxious matter. These substances can enter the patient’s body through wounds or natural openings.
Scalp cut marks suggest attempts to treat cancer.
Medical papyri and various engravings show ancient Egyptian physicians operating on patients, using scalpels, forceps, scissors, and other tools still in use today. There is evidence that the Egyptians practiced oral surgery and amputation and cut open boils and abscesses to drain pus.
For the study, lead author Camaros and his team microscopically examined a more than 4,000-year-old skull from the Old Kingdom of Egypt. The skull, which belonged to a man in his thirties, showed signs of nasopharyngeal cancer (a type of head and neck cancer) that researchers already knew about.
However, they were surprised to discover cut marks around three of the many secondary skull tumors, likely made with a metal tool.
Camaros believes it may have been the earliest attempt to treat cancer or perhaps a post-mortem autopsy to understand the disease better. Either way, Camaros says, “it can be nothing but a surgical intervention with a medical obsession,” which he calls “a milestone in the history of medicine.”
He added that, although we think of cancer as a modern disease, it predates human existence. It has been with us since the beginning.
Camaros and his team also examined a second skull of a woman over 50 who lived in Late Ancient Egypt between 2,370 and 2,690 years ago. Camaros says the woman also developed cancer and died from it.
Nevertheless, he had previously suffered a cranial fracture, possibly as a result of a violent attack, which Egyptian physicians successfully treated, the study found.
Prosthetics were among the dental procedures.
The Egyptians specialized in fixing broken bones and immobilizing them in pieces wrapped in linen made of reeds or wood. They also knew how to treat dislocations, scarify, clean sutures, and bandage wounds. They knew that wounds should be washed and not be exposed to dirt.
The Egyptians also created some of the world’s oldest prosthetic devices, including a 3,000-year-old prosthetic finger made of wood and leather, which probably served a functional rather than a purely aesthetic function. If you don’t have a toe, you don’t have stability when you walk.”
The Egyptians developed toothpaste from eggshells, natron, and pumice for oral care and used twigs and mouthwashes to clean teeth. However, their exact level of expertise is debated, with some scholars arguing that they lacked skilled professional dentists.
Contraception and pregnancy tests
Although certainly not as effective as today’s methods, ancient Egyptian women mixed crocodile dung, mixed with acacia leaves and honey or sour milk, into their vaginas as a contraceptive. Medical papyri also describe methods of abortion and labor induction, as well as pregnancy tests involving urinating on barley and emmer (a type of wheat).
Besides, the ancient Egyptians utilized plants, minerals, and animal yields to treat everything from burns to headaches, fevers to ulcers, and insect bites. They even developed an anti-wrinkle cream.
What the ancient Egyptians did would not happen in a 21st-century hospital. Their physicians, some of whom held priestly positions, incorporated magical chants and religious rituals into their medical treatment. They believed that supernatural forces caused disease, and they did not understand the function of each organ; for example, believing that the heart-controlled emotions.
Ancient Egyptian medical papyri
The pharaohs documented day-to-day events using hieroglyphic language, creating carvings on temples, stone, clay, or papyri walls. The translation of the Rosetta Stone in 1822 delivered an excellent chance to translate several ancient Egyptian papyri, including medical papyri.
The language used to write on the papyri is mostly hieratic, written from right to left, using red ink for headings and black ink for most. Papyrus made from Cypress papyrus is split, soaked in water, dried into brown sheets, then written on with brush and ink, and finally glued to the edges to form a roll.
Ancient Egyptian medical papyri record numerous details about the method by which they practiced medicine. The papyri explain the diseases, their diagnoses, and the various treatments used.
These treatments included herbal remedies, sometimes surgery, and even magic spells (Lake, 1952). Beginning in the Middle Kingdom, from around 1800 to 300 BC, the remains of more than 40 papyri describing medical procedures used to treat various ailments have been discovered.
Minerals and metals
Minerals and metals in the Egyptian pharmacopeia include antimony, alum, carbon from charred wood, copper, feldspar, iron oxide, limestone, red ochre, sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, salt, stabinite, sulfur, and possibly arsenical compounds. (L52) were included. These remedies are usually prescribed for a local mild astringent or antiseptic action on boils and burns.
Oral antimony sulfide for bilharziasis, sulfur for itching, calamine for its soothing effect, yellow ocher hydrated oxide of iron, used in anemia of ankylostoma, red ocher natural oxide of iron, hemorrhage to combat, green copper ore (against inflammation of the eye).
Some minerals have a strong color and are used for cosmetic purposes, such as antimony and lead sulfides, which are used to make black paints to beautify the eyes of men and women in eye makeup. The green color is also mainly produced by malachite. Also, chrysocolla and copper silicate, a beautiful blue-green color, were used.
Conclusion: History of medicine in Egypt
The ancient Egyptians had a surprisingly wide knowledge of various medical fields, such as anatomy, surgery and general medicine. They could successfully diagnose and treat many diseases, and hundreds of cases have been mentioned in many medical papers.
Remedies at that time included a great diversity of sources, such as plants, animals and minerals. Much of our knowledge of this great medicine comes from medical pharaonic papyri, which can be an incredible source of understanding and learning from such a great civilization.
Medical papyri prescribe many different types of drugs from animal sources, and various animal fats and oils are mentioned in multiple prescriptions, sometimes for internal use and sometimes primarily as a remedy or as a base for making ointments. Goose fat was once part of a treatment used orally to relieve pain but is also used externally for relaxation.
Also read: History of medicine in the 17th century; History of black women in medicine; History of medicine in 19th century