Ancient Egyptian Surgical Heritage (original) (raw)
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Gaceta Médica de Caracas, 2021
Knowledge of the medicine practiced in Ancient Egypt is found mainly in the so-called medical papyri, of which the oldest is the Lahun papyrus (c. 1800 b.C) which mainly reveals knowledge of gynecology and obstetrics, including methods of contraception. Surgical cases, most of them related to trauma, are dealt with in the Edwin Smith papyrus. Specific medical and anatomical terms, such as brain, fracture, and seizure, appear for the first time in this treatise.
The identity and work of the ancient Egyptian surgeon
That a well-developed and hierarchical medical profession existed in Pharaonic Egypt is without doubt. What is a matter of contention is the existence of a recognizable surgical profession, or even of the practice of surgery by medically qualified personnel. Palaeoarchaeological specimens that demonstrate some form of surgical procedure are rare. Medical papyri and the treatises of the historians of antiquity provide a far more reliable source of information on surgical practice. They have indicated possible titles for surgeons, and the types of instruments used.
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Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt (Barcelona, October 25-26, 2018) edited by Rosa Dinarès Solà, Mikel Fernàndez Georges and Maria Rosa Guasch-Jané. Oxford: Archaeopress, , 2021
The science and art of medicine has always been an integral part of the history of Egypt. Medical practice in ancient Egypt was based on the most advanced knowledge compared to other regions. Muslim scholars helped in the transmission of medical practice through the medieval period from the decline of ancient teaching to the rise of modern learning. Kasr Al Ainy school of Medicine, established in 1827, continues the glory of medicine in Egypt as one of the biggest and oldest medical schools not only in Egypt but also in the world. Keywords: medicine, ancient Egypt, Kasr Al Ainy, paleopathology, mummies
Surgery before common era (B.C.E.)
Archive of Oncology, 2012
Based on skeleton examination, cave-paintings and mummies the study of prehistoric medicine tells that the surgical experience dated with skull trepanning, male circumcision and warfare wound healing. In prehistoric tribes, medicine was a mixture of magic, herbal remedy, and superstitious beliefs practiced by witch doctors. The practice of surgery was first recorded in clay tablets discovered in ancient rests of Mesopotamia, translation of which has nowadays been published in Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine. Some simple surgical procedures were performed like puncture and drainage, scraping and wound treatment. The liability of physicians who performed surgery was noted in a collection of legal decisions made by Hammurabi about the principles of relationship between doctors and patients. Other ancient cultures had also had surgical knowledge including India, China and countries in the Middle East. The part of ancient Indian ayurvedic system of medicine devoted to surgery Sushruta Samhita is a systematized experience of ancient surgical practice, recorded by Sushruta in 500 B.C.E. Ancient Indian surgeons were highly skilled and familiar with a lot of surgical procedures and had pioneered plastic surgery. In the ancient Egyptian Empire medicine and surgery developed mostly in temples: priests were also doctors or surgeons, well specialized and educated. The
A brief journey into medical care and disease in ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was one of the greatest civilizations to have arisen, becoming the cradle of scientific enquiry and social development over 3 millennia; undoubtedly its knowledge of medicine has been vastly underestimated. Few artefacts survive which describe the medical organization, but from the extent of the diseases afflicting that ancient populus there would have been much to study. Evidence from papyri, tomb bas reliefs and the writings of historians of antiquity tell of an intense interest in the sciences, humanities and medicine born of an educated society which had overcome the superstitions of its nomadic ancestors.
The medicine of the ancient Egyptians. 1: Surgery, gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics. Eugene Strouhal, Břetislav Vachala, Hana Vymazalová; translated by Kateřina Millerová (The American University in Cairo Press, Cairo, 2014); pp. 228; $59.95; ISBN 978-977- 416-640-2.
Proto-surgery in ancient Egypt
This article investigates the evidence we have for the existence of proto-surgery in ancient Egypt during the Dynastic Period (c.3200 - 323 BC). Climate and chance have preserved medical literature as well as paleoarcheological specimens and these artefacts, along with extant Greek and Roman treatises appear to support the conclusion that protosurgery was practised in ancient Egypt (the prefix proto- designates an original or early form). Elements of proto-surgical development including analgesia and sedation, the incision, trephination, proto-surgery of trauma, mythical proto-surgery and antisepsis, drawing on primary sources, surviving artefacts and modern commentary are discussed. Where appropriate comparisons are made with proto-surgery in ancient Mesopotamia and the Bronze Age Aegean.
Poking into medicine in ancient Egypt
Beyond the surviving medical and magical papyri and art depictions, we must pay attention to contemporary Egypt; going there often enables an Egyptologist to see, to hear, to smell and to feel many of the habits Egyptians still have and perform towards any sign of disease or disruption of physical well-being.