In the 1840s, Vienna’s Allegemeine Krakenhaus was one of the world’s foremost teaching hospitals. However, in its maternity wards, one in six women died in childbirth, a shocking mortality rate, but not dissimilar to any other in the western world. Reasons given by obstetricians included constipation, fear, delayed lactation and poisonous air.
Upon death, autopsies were performed on these women by physicians, who immediately after the procedure, without washing their hands or using sterile gloves, performed pelvic examinations on the living in the maternity wards!
Early in the 1840s, Ignaz Semmelweis took charge of one of the obstetrical wards. After three years of observation, he discovered that it was the women who were examined by doctors immediately after performing the autopsies, who died. He therefore ruled that all doctors participating in autopsies must thoroughly wash their hands before examining any patients in his ward. The death rate in his ward immediately plummeted. However, the prejudiced doctors did not like his “new” ideas. His contract was not renewed, his rule overturned and the mortality rate soared once again.
Unknown to Semmelweis, his progressive ideas and procedures had been practiced thousands of years before!
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
In its time, medical knowledge and practice in ancient Egypt was likewise revolutionary, with Egypt’s physicians showing great initiative and an impressive knowledge of the human body, its organ function, system’s workings and the treatment of illness and disease.
Sources of Information
Prior to the nineteenth century, our only sources of information regarding ancient Egyptian medicine and practice were from Homer (c. 800 b.c.), Herodotus (440 b.c.) and Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23 – A.D. 79). Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine, and Galen studied medicine in Egypt and acknowledged the contribution of ancient Egyptian medicine to Greek medicine. Interestingly, in about 600 b.c., the ancient Hebrew religious texts (the biblical Old Testament) referred to Egyptian medical practice (Jeremiah 46:11).
Medical Papyri
Following the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs, a number of papyri relating to medical matters were translated. These papyri revealed a great deal about ancient Egyptian medical knowledge and practice. Following are some such examples:
Ebers Papyrus (1550 b.c.) This papyrus contains the largest record of ancient Egyptian medicine ever unearthed, including some 700 magical formulas and remedies. Many of its incantations were meant to turn away the demons believed to have caused diseases in the first place. It reveals that the Egyptians believed the heart to be the centre of the blood supply, with vessels connected to every part and organ of the body. They also believed the heart was the “meeting point” of vessels that carried all the fluids of the body—blood, tears, urine and semen. Depression, dementia and other mental disorders are also detailed in the papyrus. It contains chapters on intestinal disease and parasites, eye and skin problems, dentistry and surgery, and contraception and gynaecology.
Edwin Smith Papyrus (1600 b.c.) It is the world’s oldest surviving surgical manual, and is a truly scientific medical document, devoid of theorising and magic. It describes in detail anatomical observations and the examination, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of some 48 types of medical problems. Treatments described contain descriptions of closing wounds with sutures, the prevention and cure of infection using honey and mouldy bread, the use of raw meat to stop bleeding, and immobilisation of the head in spinal cord injuries. It reveals that ancient Egyptian medical practice was sophisticated and practical.
Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus (1900 b.c.) This is the oldest medical papyrus yet discovered. It mentions methods to ascertain pregnancy, sex of the foetus, diseases of women and prescriptions that included drugs, fumigations, pastes and vaginal application.
Other Medical Papyri. These include the Hearst (1550 b.c.), Erman (1550 b.c.), Berlin (ca. 1350—1200 b.c.), London (1350 b.c.), Chester Beatty (1200 b.c.), Carlsberg No. VIII (1200 b.c.), Brooklyn Museum (380–343 b.c.), Ramasseum No. III, IV and V (1900 b.c.) and Magical Papyrus of Leyden papyri. They contain, among other things, descriptions of new diseases, the treatment of fractures and animal bite, the care of infants, popular charms for childbirth, methods for ascertaining the sex of unborn children, incantations against various diseases, gynaecological prescriptions, obstetric prognoses and the relaxation of stiffened limbs.
Remains of Mummies
Much has been learned about the level of Egyptian health and healing from the examination of mummies using modern technology. These methods range from a straightforward examination of skeletal remains to the truly sophisticated, including radiological imaging and cephalometric tracing (the analysis of the dental and skeletal relationships in the head); computed tomography or CT scanning; three-dimensional CT reconstruction; histological microscopic examination of dried tissue; blood grouping and other biochemical and immunological investigations; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies; neuropathological studies; endoscopy; electron microscopy; immunohistochemistry; and DNA analysis.
Egyptian Artistic Representations
Ancient Egyptian artists were keen observers and revealed in their drawings the actual physical deformities of their subjects including hunchback, scrotal hypertrophy and poliomyelitis deformities.
Medical Practitioners
Egyptian medical practice encompassed many fields including pharmacology, dentistry, gynaecology, crude surgery, general healing, autopsy and mummification. Due to the fact that priests were involved in the e
Dangerous Medical Practices
But while medical practice in ancient Egypt was millennia ahead of other civilisations, it often fell far short of sound scientific medical advice. For example, the medical remedies for hair problems found in the Ebers Papyrus mentioned above is somewhat questionable (as are many today, I might add): “To prevent the hair from turning grey, anoint it with the blood of a black calf which has been boiled in oil, or with the fat of a rattlesnake.” And how about this one for hair loss: “When it falls out, one remedy is to apply a mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake and the ibex. To strengthen it, anoint with the tooth of a donkey, crushed in honey” (from S.E. Massengill, A Sketch of Medicine and Pharmacy).
But that’s not all. To save those bitten by poisonous snakes, physicians gave “magic water”—water poured over an idol—to drink. Embedded splinters were treated worm’s blood and asses’ dung. Since tetanus spores reside in dung, little wonder those with splinters often died of lockjaw.
The Ebers Papyrus contains hundreds of medical remedies using “drugs,” which include lizard’s blood, swine’s teeth, putrid meat, stinking fat, moisture from pig’s ears, goose grease, asses’ hooves, animal fats, human excreta, and various applications of donkey, antelope, dog, cats, and even flies.
Interestingly, around the time the Ebers Papyrus was being written, the great Hebrew liberator Moses was born in Egypt. He was raised and educated as an Egyptian prince, living the royal life in a palace (see Acts 7:20–22). No doubt he was knowledgeable of Egyptian medical practice. Yet what is most remarkable is that across his entire writings (the Pentateuch or first five books of the Jewish and Christian Bible), which contain much instruction in the principles of personal and community health, there is no mention of the “quackery” found in the Ebers Papyrus, which came from the most advanced medical schools of his day. Rather, and amazingly, the only principles and practices he outlines have sound and verified scientific and medical justification in the contemporary world.
Egyptian Health
Public Health
While cleanliness was important in Egyptian life, it was promoted for social and religious reasons rather than for health. However, there was no public health infrastructure, as we know it today, with sewage systems and public hygiene.
Diet
Modern science has amply shown how health and longevity are closely tied to diet. An examination of the ancient Egyptian diet is revealing. Beer and bread—much like our society today—were ubiquitous in ancient Egypt. Complementing them were vegetables, of which the most common were long-shooted green scallions and garlic, with both also having medical uses. The most common fruits were dates and figs. Meat was eaten, including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (the last at one time thought to have been taboo). Beef, being more expensive, would have been eaten once or twice a week, reserved mostly for royalty. However, excavations at the Giza workers village discovered the slaughter of beef, mutton and pork on a massive scale. Researchers estimate that workers at the Great Pyramid ate beef daily. Mutton and pork were more common. Poultry and fish were available to all but the poorest, and mice and hedgehogs were also eaten.
Diet was an important health factor in ancient Egypt. Examination of mummies reveals that dental caries, while rare in the predynastic period, became more frequent with the development of civilisation, especially among the wealthy.
Diseases
Beside dental caries, autopsies performed on Egyptian mummies reveal an array of other diseases, including heart dise