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Farstar
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Does anybody know anything about the Physicians of ancient Egypt? how did they learn medicine and if this profession was limited to certain people or class? any refrences to books that one can read?

Thanks

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Quetzalcoatl
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J. Worth Estes.1989 The Medical Skills of Ancient Egypt

John F. Nunn. 2002 Ancient Egyptian Medicine

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Farstar
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Thanks a lot, I have Nunn, I will get the other one..

I appreciate it

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Djehuti
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quote:
Originally posted by Farstar:

Does anybody know anything about the Physicians of ancient Egypt? how did they learn medicine and if this profession was limited to certain people or class? any refrences to books that one can read?

Thanks

Medicine was a tradition considered ancient by the Egyptians themselves. The actual practice stretches very well back into prehistoric times. Egyptian medicine was very much like that of other peoples in Africa and involved the use of medicines in the form of herbal remedies and plants as well as knowledge in anatomy that likely originated from the dissection of animals like cattle. For example, the most common antiseptic Egyptians used to treat wounds was honey because the substance really did kill bacteria. Even today in parts of East Africa from the Sudan to Kenya, local healers and priests continue to use honey for the same purposes. So again, the practice of medicine is very ancient and derives from a long tradition.

By the way, Egyptian society like many in traditional Africa gave women the same rights and opportunities men had and physicians and doctors in Egypt were not always men. There was a thread posted here about the discovery of a tomb belonging to a female doctor (but no search engine [Frown] ).

And here is a thread that presents other innovations made by Egyptians.

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Djehuti
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Mystery Solver
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^^Yes, it stretches far back into antiquity.


Concerning relatively 'complex' approaches...


quote:
Originally posted by Farstar:

how did they learn medicine and if this profession was limited to certain people or class?

Recap:


It has been said that the ancient Egyptian skillfulness at mummification may have contributed to the development of their then advanced medical practices, which other peoples like the Greeks and Syrians incorporated into their own...


"It was not practiced by witch doctors as in primitive tribes, with mixture of magic, herbal remedy, and superstitious beliefs. This was acknowledged by Homer in the Odyssey:

“In Egypt, the men are more skilled in Medicine than any of human kind”.

...A wall painting in a Thebean grave of the 18th dynasty (1400 BC) depicts “Nebamun”, scribe and physician of the king, receiving a Syrian prince paying him for his services in gifts. According to Herodotus, King Cyrus of Persia has requested Amasis (Ahmose II of the 26th dynasty, 560 BC) to send him the most skilful of all the Egyptian eye-doctors...

THE CAUSES OF DISEASES, ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY:

... their study of anatomy and physiology was so advanced. No doubt, this was **due to their embalming of the dead, when other nations at that time used to burn them.**

For instance, the process of emptying the skull through the nostrils by means of a long hook could have never been devised without a good knowledge of the anatomy of the head and brain. In our modern medicine, many brain surgeries are nowadays performed through this route.

They obtained a good knowledge of the meninges, the cerebrospinal fluid, and the twitches and pulsations, and were aware that the brain was the seat of the body control.

"If thou examines a man having a gaping wound in his head penetrating to the bone, smashing his skull, and rending open the brain of his skull, thou shouldst palpate his wound. Shouldst thou find that smash which in his skull like those corrugations which form in molten copper, and something therein throbbing and fluttering under thy fingers, like the weak place of an infant's crown before it becomes whole- when it has happened there is no throbbing and fluttering under thy fingers until the brain of his skull is rent open and he discharges blood from both his nostrils, and he suffers with stiffness in his neck."

The Ebers Papyrus describes the position of the heart precisely, and illustrates some of its disorders, as dropped beats. Egyptian physicians recognized the heart as the source of blood vessels. They were aware that the blood vessels were hollow, having a mouth which opens to absorb medications, eliminate waste elements, distribute air and body secretions and excretions, in a confusion between blood vessels and other passages, as ureters.

The physiology of blood circulation was demonstrated in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, together with the its relation to the heart, as well as awareness of the importance of the pulse.

“It is there that the heart speaks”, and
“It is there that every physician and every priest of Sekhmet places his fingers……. …he feels something from the heart”.



They also knew that blood supply runs from the heart to all organs of the body.

"There are vessels in him for every part of the body”.
“It speaks forth in the vessels of every body part”.


However, their inability to distinguish between blood vessels, nerves, tendons and channels has limited their full understanding of the physiology of circulation..."


Source: Full content, aside from intro statements, are by Dr. Sameh M. Arab, Associate Professor of Cardiology - Alexandria University - Egypt, member of several scientific societies, both national and international, of which are: Egyptian Society of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, Founder member and Member of Board of Directors of the Egyptian Society of Pediatric Cardiology and Founder of the Congenital Heart Division of the Alexandria Patients' Welfare Association for financing charity treatment for children with congenital heart dieasesm, and has several publications in the field of diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart diseases in children and newborns, paticularly by catheter (non-surgical) interventions.

Discussed in: The Pharmacy of the Ancient Egyptians

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Farstar
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Guys, this is very helpful, thank you so much for the information..
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Djehuti
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^ Your welcome. The main point is that medicine was not only a science but an acutal cultural tradition. The two main aspects of Egyptian medicine was herbal and plant remedies and surgery through knowledge in anatomy and physiology. The common theory is that herbal remedies were first used by women since it was they who foraged plants during the early hunting-and-gathering days of humanity. Anatomy was probably learned by men in pastoralist societies who butchered cattle. Even today in many parts of Africa, the dissection of cattle or other domestic animals was used for divination. Interestingly enough, the mummification first arose in the Sahara region where cattle pastoralism also arose.
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