Ancient Egyptian medicine

The search for immortality

Aims of this session

By the end of this revision session you will

• Describe the main features of society and religion in Ancient Egypt

• Understand what we mean by natural and supernatural explanations of disease and give examples of each in Ancient Egypt

• Evaluate the medical progress made between prehistoric and Egyptian times

Ancient Egypt

• By 1500BC the Egyptians had established the first civilisation

• 1st to write things down – papyrus and hieroglyphics

• First form of Government – Pharaohs

• First to explore science• First to farm as opposed to

hunt

The afterlife

• The Egyptians were very religious and believed strongly in an afterlife

• They believed that you needed all your organs to be intact in order to progress to the afterlife

• To do this they preserved the body by embalming and mummification

Mummification

• All organs were removed from the body, embalmed and put in special jars – this meant that doctors could not dissect them

• The body was then wrapped in bandages to preserve it

• This is an example of how religious belief helped to promote and hold back medical progress

Egyptian religion and medicine

• Mummification gave the Egyptians a knowledge of anatomy

• Used charms and spells to cure disease and to keep the gods happy

• The Egyptians had gods of healing – Imhotep and Sehkmet – people made sacrifices to them

Egyptian anatomical knowledge

• As a result of mummification the ancient Egyptians could name and identify most of the organs of the body

• But as a result of dissection not being allowed they did not know how they worked

• They realised the importance of the heart but did not know what it did or how it worked

Egyptian doctors

• The Egyptians had a well developed medical profession

• They were respected and many Pharaohs has their own physicians

• The most famous of these – Imhotep – was made a god

• Many were loaned to foreign courts for their expertise

Egyptian doctors in action

• Egyptian doctors were the first to make notes on their patients – they were able to refer back to these

• They were the first doctors to use the method of observation, examination, diagnosis and treatment

• The first modern doctors but still used a mix of natural and supernatural ideas

The use of herbs and spices

• The Egyptians used herbs and spices from all over the world to treat illness

• They wrote the properties of these down

• This was a progression from prehistoric ideas

• Many of these herbs and spices are used in modern drugs