CLAS 3239 | Ancient Medicine: The Classical Roots of the Medical Humanities: Egyptian Art

Stauette of Imhotep, Louvre: Statuette of Imhotep, chancellor and doctor to the pharaoh, priest of Ra and architect. Bronze, Ptolemaic Egypt (332-30 BC). Imhotep was an important figure in Ancient Egyptian medicine. He was the author of a medical treatise remarkable for being devoid of magical thinking: the so-called Edwin Smith papyrus containing anatomical observations, ailments, and cures.[12][13] The surviving papyrus was probably written around 1700 BC but may be a copy of texts written a thousand years earlier. However, this attribution of authorship is speculative. From Wikimedia Commons.

Statue of Taweret, Cairo, Egypt, 1925-1933.
"Taweret was an ancient Egyptian goddess who was believed to have given birth to the world. She was called upon to protect pregnant women, especially during child birth. She is represented as a pregnant hippopotamus with pendulous breasts and sometimes as part lion and part crocodile. She is holding the hieroglyph sa, a sign of protection. Taweret’s cult was also venerated in ancient Greece, where her name became Theoris. The ancient Egyptians believed that while illness and disease were natural events, they also had supernatural causes, which were controlled by the gods. Prevention and treatment of illness and disease therefore included prayers at home to statues of gods like this one." London Science Museum.

Plates vi & vii of the Edwin Smith Papyrus at the Rare Book Room, New York Academy of Medicine[1]: The Edwin Smith papyrus, the world's oldest surviving surgical document. Written in hieratic script in ancient Egypt around 1600 B.C., the text describes anatomical observations and the examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of 48 types of medical problems in exquisite detail. Among the treatments described are closing wounds with sutures, preventing and curing infection with honey and moldy bread, stopping bleeding with raw meat, and immobilization of head and spinal cord injuries. Translated in 1930, the document reveals the sophistication and practicality of ancient Egyptian medicine. Plate 6 and 7 of the papyrus, pictured here, discuss facial trauma. Image at Wikimedia Commons: article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Smith_Papyrus

Egyptian stele thought to represent a polio victim, Ruma the Priest at the sanctuary of Astarte in Memphis. 18th Dynasty (1403 - 1365 BC). At Glyptothek museum, Copenhagen. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

This stele is inscribed with magical spells against venomous bites. Late Period, Dynasty 30, reign of Nectanebo II, 360–343 B.C.E.From Alexandria Region, intended for a temple of the Mnevis bulls at Helipolis. Fletcher Fund, 1950, 50.85

Egypt, Thebes (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1979) - Luxor. Sheikh 'Abd al-Qurna. Tomb of royal scribe Userhat. Vestibule. Mural paintings. Barbers at work under sycamore trees. Possibly barbers are examining feet of clients for disease. (Dynasty 18, Amenhotep II, 1438-1312 BC) (TT56 - 310880) Image from Scala Database.