antiquity of egyptian civilization.—surgical bandaging.—gods and goddesses of medicine.—medical specialists.—egyptians claimed to have discovered the healing art.—medicine largely theurgic.—magic and sorcery forbidden to the laity.—the embalmers.—anatomy.—therapeutics.—plants in use in ancient egypt.—surgery and chemistry.—disease-demons.—medical papyri.—great skill of egyptian physicians.
so far as we are able to judge from the records of the past which recent investigations have made familiar to us, the civilization of egypt is the most ancient of which we have accurate knowledge. the contending claims of india to a higher antiquity for its civilization cannot here be discussed, and for the purposes of this work the oldest place in the civilization of the world must be assigned to egypt.
it is highly probable that the first kingdom of egypt existed eight thousand years back. the history of egypt as we have it in her monuments and records is far more trustworthy than the stories which the chinese and other ancient peoples tell of their past. assyria, babylonia, and chald?a have histories reaching back to the twilight of the ages; but for practical purposes we must content ourselves with tracing the rise and progress of civilization as we decipher it on the banks of the nile. so far as medicine and chemistry are concerned, we shall discover abundant matter to interest us. we require no other proof than the mummies in our museums to convince us that the egyptians from the period at which those interesting objects date must have possessed a very accurate knowledge of anatomy, of pharmacy, and a skill in surgical bandaging very far surpassing that possessed now-a-days by even the most skilful professors of the art. dr. granville says: “there is not a single form of bandage known to modern surgery, of which far better and cleverer examples are not seen in the swathings of the egyptian mummies. the strips of linen are found without one single joint, extending to 1000 yards in length.” it is said that there is not a fracture known to modern surgery which could not have been successfully treated by the priest-physicians of ancient egypt. the great58 divinities of egypt were isis and osiris; the former was the goddess of procreation and birth. as it was she who decreed life and death, and decided the fate of men, it is not surprising to find her the chief of the divinities of the healing art; she had proved her claims as the great chief of physicians by recalling to life her son horus.
the ?sculapius of the egyptians was imhotep; he was the god of the sciences, and was the son of ptah and pakht. the gods of egypt were worshipped in triads or trinities, and many of the great temples were devoted to the worship of one or other of these trinities, that of memphis consisted of ptah, pakht, and imhotep. thoth or tauut was similar to imhotep; he was the god of letters, and, as the deity of wisdom, he aids horus against set, the representative of physical evil. by many writers he is considered to be the egyptian ?sculapius. he has some evident relationship to the greek hermes. “thoth,” says dr. baas (hist. med., p. 14), “is supposed to have been the author of the oldest egyptian medical works, whose contents were first engraved upon pillars of stone. subsequently collected into the book ambre or embre (a title based upon the initial words of this book, viz. ‘ha em re em per em hru,’ i.e. ‘here begins the book of the preparation of drugs for all parts of the human body’), they formed a part of the so-called ‘hermetic books,’ from whose prescriptions no physician might deviate, unless he was willing to expose himself to punishment in case the patient died. this punishment was threatened because the substance of the medical, as well as the religious works of the egyptians—and the science of the priests united in itself medicine, theology, and philosophy—was given, according to their view, by the gods themselves, and a disregard of their prescriptions would be nothing less than sacrilege.” the hermetic books, says clement of alexandria, were forty-two in number, of which six “of the pastophor” were medical. the famous book of the dead is supposed by bunsen to have been one of the hermetic books. the papyrus of ebers, believed by that egyptologist to date from the year 1500 b.c., is considered to have been of the number of the medical books of hermes trismegistus. the papyrus ebers is preserved in leipsic, and, though at present only partially deciphered, abundantly shows the great advance already made at so distant a period as the fourth millennium before the christian era in the arts of medicine and surgery.
one of the authors mentioned in the papyrus is an oculist of byblos in ph?nicia. this proves not only that there were specialists in diseases of the eye at that period, but that neighbouring nations contributed of their store of scientific knowledge to enrich that of the egyptians.
59
dr. baas informs us that this papyrus describes “remedies for diseases of the stomach, the abdomen, and the urinary bladder; for the cure of swellings of the glands in the groin (buboes) and the ‘kehn-mite’; ‘the book of the eyes’; remedies for ulcers of the head, for greyness of the hair, and promotion of its growth; ointments to heal and strengthen the nerves; medicines to cure diseases of the tongue, to strengthen the teeth, to remove lice and fleas; remedies for the hearing and for the organs of smell; the preparation of the famous kyphi; ‘the secret book of the physician’ (the science of the movement of the heart, and the knowledge of the heart, according to the priestly physician nebsuchet); prescriptions for the eyes according to the views of the priest chui, a semite of byblos; ‘book of the banishing of pains,’ recipes for mouth-pills for women, to render the odour of the mouth agreeable; the various uses of the tequem tree, etc. the papyrus has marginal notes, like nefer (good), etc., which lauth assigns to the year b.c. 1469—an evidence that its prescriptions had been tested in practice.”126
osiris (who would appear to be the same deity as apis or serapis) and the goddess isis, who was his wife and sister, were held by the egyptians to have been the inventors of the medical arts. a very ancient inscription on a column says: “my father is chronos, the youngest of all the gods. i am the king osiris, who has been through all the earth; even to the habitable lands of the indies, to those which are under the bear, even to the sources of the danube, and besides to the ocean. i am the eldest son of chronos, and the scion of a beautiful and noble race; i am the parent of the day, there is no part of the world where i have not been, and i have filled all the world with my benefactions.” another column has these words: “i am isis, queen of all this country, who has been instructed by thoth; no one is able to unbind what i have bound; i am the eldest daughter of chronos, the youngest of the gods. i am the wife and the sister of king osiris. it is i who first taught mankind the art of agriculture. i am the mother of king horus. it is i who shine in the dog-star. it is i who built the city of bubastis. farewell, farewell, egypt, where i have been reared.” it appears from these inscriptions that isis and osiris were contemporary with thoth or hermes.
diodorus says that isis was believed by the egyptian priests to have invented various medicines and to have been an expert practitioner of the healing art, and that she was on this account raised to the ranks of the gods, where she still takes interest in the health of mankind. she was supposed to indicate appropriate remedies for diseases in dreams,60 and such remedies were always efficacious, even in cases where physicians had failed to do any good.
the inscription informs us that osiris had filled the earth with his benefactions. the egyptian priests believed that thoth was the inventor of the arts and sciences in general, and the king osiris and the queen isis invented those which were necessary to life. isis therefore invented agriculture, and osiris is credited with having invented medicine. apis, who is evidently the same person as osiris, is said by clement of alexandria to have discovered medicine before io went to egypt.
cyril of alexandria says that apis was the first to invent the art of medicine, or who exercised it with more success than his predecessors, having been instructed by ?sculapius.127
plutarch says128 that apis and osiris were, according to egyptian traditions, two names of one and the same person, and this is confirmed by strabo and theodoret. others say that serapis was a third name of osiris, though some consider that serapis was a name of ?sculapius.
horus, the son of isis and osiris, was the egyptian sun-god, and was the same as the apollo of the greeks. he was born with his finger on his mouth, indicative of mystery and secrecy; and so, probably, was for this reason connected with medicine. in the mystical works of hermes trismegistus, he plays an important part. diodorus attributes to horus the invention of medicine. he says that isis having found in the water her son horus, who had been killed by the titans, restored him to life and made him immortal. diodorus adds that he was the same god as apollo, and that he learned the arts of medicine and divination from his mother, in consequence of which instruction he had been of great service to mankind by his oracles and his remedies. it is difficult to see how on this account horus can be considered as the inventor of medicine, a title which was surely due to his mother.
in the judgment scene in the book of the dead on the papyrus of ani we have the god thoth, under the symbol of the cynocephalus, or dog-headed ape. anubis examines the indicator of the balance. before anubis stands destiny, behind him are fortune and the goddess of birth. above destiny is a symbol of the cradle. the human-headed bird is the soul of the deceased. on the right of the scene, thoth, the medicine-god and scribe of the gods (with the head of an ibis), notes the result of the trial. behind thoth is the monster amemit, the devourer, with the head of a crocodile, the middle parts of a lion, and the hind-quarters of a hippopotamus. thoth pronounces judgment:61 “the heart of ani is weighed, and his soul standeth in evidence thereof; his case is straight upon the great balance.” the gods reply, “righteous and just is osiris, ani, the triumphant.”129
eusebius, psellus, and others say that hermes trismegistus was a priest and philosopher who lived a little after the time of moses. he taught the egyptians mathematics, theology, medicine, and geography. of the forty-two most useful books of hermes six treated of medicine, anatomy, and the cure of disease.130
pliny says131 that the egyptians claimed the honour of having invented the art of curing diseases. wilkinson points out132 that “the study of medicine and surgery appears to have commenced at a very early period in egypt, since athothes, the second king of the country, is stated to have written upon the subject of anatomy, and the schools of alexandria133 continued till a late period to enjoy the reputation and display the skill they had inherited from their predecessors. hermes was said to have written six books on medicine, the first of which related to anatomy; and the various recipes known to have been beneficial were recorded, with their peculiar cases, in the memoirs of physic, inscribed among the laws, which were deposited in the principal temple of the place, as at memphis in that of ptah, or vulcan.” we are told in genesis l. 2 that “joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed israel.” it is not probable that the embalmers were regular practising physicians. the dissectors of the human body were not held in honour amongst the egyptians, and for sanitary reasons it is highly improbable that doctors in attendance upon the sick would have engaged in this work; but as the art of embalming demanded considerable anatomical knowledge, it is more likely that a class of men similar to our dissecting-room assistants at the medical schools and hospitals were employed for this purpose.
the art of medicine in ancient egypt consisted of two branches—the higher, which was the theurgic part, and the lower, which was the art of the physician proper. the theurgic class devoted themselves to magic, counteracting charms by prayers, and to the interpretation of the dreams of the sick who had sought their aid in the temples. the inferior class were practitioners who simply used natural means in their profession as healers. amongst the egyptian platonists, theurgy was an imaginary science, which is thus described by murdock:62 “it was supposed to have been revealed to men by the gods themselves in very ancient times, and to have been handed down by the priests; [it was] also the ability, by means of certain acts, words, and symbols, to move the gods to impart secrets which surpass the powers of reason to lay open the future.” the higher physicians were priest-magicians, the lower class were priests who were called pastophori; as isis and the priests were connected with the healing art, the pastophori were highly esteemed for their medical skill apart from magic. these officials were so called from the fact that they had to bear, in the ceremonies in the temples, the παστ??, or sacred shawl, to raise it at appropriate times, and so discover the god in the adytum.134
it was their duty to study the last six of the hermetic books, as it was that of the higher grade to study the first thirty-six.
professor ebers explained to dr. puschmann135 that the pastophori “constituted a class of priests who held by no means so low a rank as is attributed to them in historical works. the doctors were bound to maintain a spiritual character, and allowed themselves therefore to rank with the pastophori, although the higher priestly dignities probably remained open to them. on the other hand, the pastophori were by no means likewise doctors, as many think, but had as a body quite other functions, as their name indeed indicates. the relation of the pastophori to the doctors was doubtless the same as that of the scholar to the cleric in the christian middle ages; all scholars did not belong to the clergy, but at the same time all clergymen might be considered scholars.”
the principle of authority was paramount in egyptian medicine. so long as the doctor faithfully followed the instructions of the ancient exponents of his art, he could do as he liked with his patient; but if he struck out a path for himself, and his patient unhappily died, he forfeited his own life. diodorus siculus leads us to suppose that the physicians formed their diagnosis according to the position occupied by the patient in his bed. this is singularly like the method of diagnosing diseases in use amongst the ancient hindus. medicine in egypt, after all, was only an art; the absurd reverence for authority prevented any real progress. kept back by these fixed regulations, its freedom was restricted on every side; otherwise, with the unbounded facility for making post-mortem examinations, egyptian medicine would have made immense advance.
concerning the specialism which prevailed amongst egyptian doctors, herodotus says:63 “the art of medicine is thus divided amongst them: each physician applies himself to one disease only, and not more. all places abound in physicians; some physicians are for the eyes, others for the head, others for the teeth, others for the parts about the belly, and others for internal disorders.”136
with reference to the teeth, it is interesting to observe that some of the dental work found in opening mummies is equal to our own.
sir j. wilkinson says137 that the embalmers were probably members of the medical profession as well as of the class of priests. pliny states that, during this process, certain examinations took place, which enabled them to study the disease of which the patient had died. they appear to have been made in compliance with an order from the government,138 as he says the kings of egypt had the bodies opened after death to ascertain the nature of their diseases, by which means alone the remedy for phthisical complaints was discovered. indeed, it is reasonable to suppose that a people so advanced as were the egyptians in knowledge of all kinds, and whose medical art was so systematically arranged that they had regulated it by some of the very same laws followed by the most enlightened and skilful nations of the present day, would not have omitted so useful an inquiry, or have failed to avail themselves of the means which the process adopted for embalming the body placed at their disposal. and nothing can more clearly prove their advancement in the study of human diseases than the fact of their assigning to each his own peculiar branch, under the different heads of oculists, dentists, those who cured diseases in the head, those who confined themselves to intestinal complaints, and those who attended to secret and internal maladies. they must have possessed an intimate knowledge of drugs, to have enabled them to select those of an antiseptic character suitable for the preservation of the mummies. that their practical knowledge of anatomy must have been considerable is proved by the skill with which they removed the more perishable parts of the body in the process of embalming. the embalmers, says ebers, were all enrolled in a guild which existed down to roman times, as is shown in various greek papyri.
in the wall-cases 30-33 in the upper floor of the second egyptian room of the british museum, there is a set of canopic jars which held the intestines of the human body, which were always embalmed separately. they were placed near the bier and were four in number, each one being dedicated to one of the four children of horus, the genii of the dead. the stomach and large intestines were dedicated to amset, the smaller intestines to hapi, the lungs and heart to tuamavtef, and the liver and gall-bladder to kebhsenuf. poor people had to be content with mere models of these vases.139
64
the dissectors were the paraschistes, who cut open as much of the body as the law permitted with an ethiopian stone. as soon as one of them had made the requisite incision he had to fly, pursued by those present, who cursed him bitterly, and flung stones at him. it was considered hateful to inflict any wound on a human body; and however necessary the act might be, the agent incurred the greatest odium.
the egyptian doctors knew very little of anatomy as a science; they were, however, acquainted with the fact that the blood-vessels had their origin from the heart, and that the blood was distributed to the body from that organ. there is an interesting treatise on the heart in the papyrus ebers. in another medical papyrus we find the following anatomical details concerning the blood-vessels:—
“the head of man has thirty-two vessels; they carry the breath to his heart; they give inspiration to all his members. there are two vessels to the breasts; they give warmth to the lungs—for healing them, one must make a remedy of flour of fresh wheat, herb haka, and sycamore teput—make a decoction and let the patient drink it; she will be well. there are two vessels to the legs. if any one has a disease of the legs, if his arms are without strength, it is because the secret vessel of the leg has taken the malady,—a remedy must be made.... there are two vessels to the arms; if a man’s arm is suffering, if he has pains in his fingers, say that this is a case of shooting pains.... there are two vessels of the occiput, two of the sinciput, two of the interior, two of the eyelids, two of the nostrils, and two of the left ear. the breath of life enters by them. there are two vessels of the right ear; the breath enters by them.”
it is uncertain whether by the term vessels the egyptians understand the arteries, the veins, the nerves, or some imaginary conduits.140
the ancient egyptians were zealous students of medicine; yet, as dr. ebers tells us, they also thought that the efficacy of the treatment was enhanced by magic formul?. the prescriptions in the famous ebers papyrus are accompanied by forms of exorcism to be used at the same time; “and yet many portions of this work,” says ebers, “give evidence of the advanced knowledge of its authors.”141
origen says142 that the egyptians believed there were thirty-six demons, or thirty-six gods of the air, who shared amongst them the body of man, which is divided into as many parts. he adds that the egyptians knew the names of those demons, and believed that if they invoked the proper demon of the affected part they would be cured. magic and sorcery were arts which were forbidden to the laity.
65
many magical rites and animistic customs connected with the egyptian religion closely resemble those which prevail over the whole continent of africa. the basis of the egyptian religion is supposed by some authorities to be of a purely nigritian character; on which has been superimposed certain elevated characteristics due to asiatic settlers and conquerors. the worship of the negroes proper is simply fetishism combined with tree and animal worship and a strong belief in sorcery.
the great and peculiar feature of egyptian magic lay in the fact that its formul? were intended to assimilate to the gods those who sought protection from the evils of life. the incantation was not in the nature of a prayer. as m. lenormant says:143 “the virtue of the formul? lay not in an invocation of the divine power, but in the fact of a man’s proclaiming himself such or such a god; and when he, in pronouncing the incantation, called to his aid any one of the various members of the egyptian pantheon, it was as one of themselves that he had a right to the assistance of his companions.” in the harris papyrus is a fragment of one of the magical tracts of the medicine-god thoth, in which is an incantation for protection against crocodiles:—
“do not be against me! i am amen.
i am anhur, the good guardian;
i am the great master of the sword.
do not erect thyself! i am month.
do not try to surprise me! i am set.
do not raise thy two arms against me! i am sothis.
do not seize me! i am sethu.”144
disease-demons recognised the power of the gods, and obeyed their commands. an inscription on a monument of the time of ramses xii. tells how the princess bint-resh, sister of queen noferu-ra, was cured in a serious illness by the image of the god khonsu being sent to her after the “learned expert” thut-emhib had failed to do her any good. when the god appeared at her bedside, she was cured on the spot; the evil spirit of the disease acknowledged the superior power of khonsu, and came out of her after making an appropriate speech.145
in the records of a trial about a harem conspiracy in the reign of ramses iii., we learn that a house steward had used some improper enchantments. in some fragments of the lee and rollin papyrus, we read:66 “then he gave him a writing from the rolls of the books of ramses iii., the great god, his lord. then there came upon him a divine magic, an enchantment for men. he reached [thereby?] to the side of the women’s house, and into that other great and deep place. he formed figures of wax, with the intention of having them carried in by the hand of the land-surveyor adiroma, to alienate the mind of one of the girls, and to bewitch others.... now, however, he was brought to trial on account of them, and there was found in them incitation to all kinds of wickedness, and all kinds of villainy which it was his intention to do.... he had made some magic writings to ward off ill-luck; he had made some gods of wax, and some human figures to paralyse the limbs of a man; and he had put these into the hand of bokakamon without the sun-god ra having permitted that he should accomplish this,” etc.146
the actual medicaments used in egyptian medical practice were not considered effectual without combination with magical remedies. the prescription might contain nitre, or cedar chips, or deer horn, or it might be an ointment or application of some herbs; but it would not be efficacious without some charm to deal with the spiritual mischief of the case. in administering an emetic, for example, it was necessary to employ the following appeal to the evil spirit of the disorder: “oh, demon, who art lodged in the stomach of m., son of n., thou whose father is called head-smiter, whose name is death, whose name is cursed for ever,” etc. it was not the natural remedy which called the supernatural to its aid; but in cultivated egypt, this combination was due to the theurgic healer availing himself of natural remedies to assist his magic. science was beginning to work for man’s benefit, but could not yet afford to discard sentimental aids which, by calming the mind of the sufferer, assisted its beneficent work. the different parts of the human body were confided to the protection of a special divinity. a calendar of lucky and unlucky days was devised, by which it could be ascertained what was proper to be medically done, or left undone, at certain times. barth, in his travels in africa, in the border region of the desert, tells of a native doctor who followed such a system. he used to treat his patients according to the days of the week on which they came: one day was a calomel day, another was devoted to magnesia, and a third to tartar emetic; and everybody requiring medicine had to take that appropriate to the day.
the egyptians distinguished between black and white magic. the learned priests practised the curative acts of magic; but it was held to be a great crime to use black magic whereby to injure men or assist unlawful passions.
homer sings the praises of the medicinal herbs of prolific egypt, where p?on imparts to all the pharian race his healing arts;147 and in67 jeremiah,148 the daughter of egypt is told that “in vain” she shall “use many medicines,” for she shall not be cured.
the ancient egyptians depended greatly upon clysters in the treatment of many diseases besides those of the intestines. they were composed of a mixture of medicinal herbs, with milk, honey, sweet beer, salt, etc. the use of clysters by the egyptians was remarked by pliny and diodorus siculus, and the invention was attributed by the former to the ibis, who, with its long bill, performed the necessary operation.149
this absurd idea arose from a confusion between the hieroglyph for the ibis, and the god thoth, the name of each having the same sign.150
a comparison of the prescriptions of the medical papyri with those of the ancient greek physicians, especially galen and dioscorides, shows a considerable family likeness of the greek system of therapeutics to that of the egyptians. chabas particularizes the following facts:—honey was used in place of sugar in many recipes by egyptians and greeks. wine was mixed with honey, and human milk was administered in the form of clysters by egyptians and by galen and dioscorides. the use of barley drink, palm wine, nitre, or sal ammoniac, incense as an external application, blood mixed with wine, urine as a liniment, lapis memphites, and several other drugs is prescribed for the same disorders and in the same manner in the land of the pharaohs and in ancient greece.
the famous “ebers papyrus” was purchased in 1874 by dr. ebers, at thebes. “this papyrus contains one hundred and ten pages, each page consisting of about twenty-two lines of bold hieratic writing. it may be described as an encyclop?dia of medicine, as known and practised by the egyptians of the eighteenth dynasty; and it contains prescriptions for all kinds of diseases—some borrowed from syrian medical lore, and some of such great antiquity that they are ascribed to the mythologic ages, when the gods yet reigned personally upon earth. among others, we are given the recipe for an application whereby osiris cured ra of the headache.”151 this is the oldest of all the medical papyri hitherto discovered. it comes down to us, says dr. ebers,152 from the eighteenth dynasty. the “medical papyrus” of berlin is second in point of antiquity; and a hieratic ms. in london, the third.153
in the ebers medical papyrus is an example of old egyptian68 diagnosis and therapeutics: “when thou findest any one with a hardness in his re-het (pit of the stomach), and when after eating he feels a pressure in his intestines, his stomach (het) is swollen, and he feels bad in walking, like one who suffers from heat in his back; then observe him when he lies stretched out, and if thou findest his intestines hot, and a hardness in his re-het, say to thyself, this is a disease of the liver. then prepare for thyself a remedy, according to the secrets of the (botanical) science, from the plant pa-che-test and dates; mix them, and give in water” (ebers).154
the famous medical papyrus roll in the museum of berlin is described by m. chabas in the chapter on “the medicine of the ancient egyptians,” in his work entitled mélanges égyptologiques. from this papyrus we learn that plaisters, ointments, liniments, and friction were employed as external remedies. many of the names of the herbs and medicaments employed cannot be translated, but are merely transcribed. we find a number of recipes for tumours of the breast, for pimples, for “dissipating divinely parts injured by bruises,” for destroying the bites of vermin, for cuts (common salt the chief ingredient), etc. the prescriptions seem very simple and brief.
magical invocations were frequently employed in the treatment of disease. chabas thinks that one of the maladies so treated was intestinal inflammation, with a feeling of heaviness, and hardness, and a griping pain. he translates the diagnosis of such a malady: “his belly is heavy, the mouth of his heart (os ventriculi) is sick, his heart (his stomach) is burning, ... his clothes are heavy upon him. many clothes do not warm him; he is thirsty at night; the taste of his heart is perverted, like a man who has eaten sycamore figs; his flesh is deadened as a man who finds himself sick; if he goes to stool, his bowels refuse to act. pronounce on his case that he has a nest of inflammation in his belly; the taste of his heart is sick, ... if he raises himself, he is as a man who is unable to walk.” the text of the papyrus gives the remedies to be used in such a case. “apply to him the means of curing inflammation by warmth; also the means of destroying the inflammation in the belly.” the diagnosis and treatment here described apply very well to what we term peritonitis; but dr. baas suggests that gastric cancer may be indicated.
there is a medical papyrus in the berlin museum, which was discovered in the necropolis of memphis, and which is described by brugsch155 as containing a quantity of recipes for the cure of many diseases, including some of the nature of leprosy. there is also what the69 great egyptologists term “a simple, childish exposition of the construction and mechanism of the body. the writing explained the number and use of the numerous ‘tubes.’” the origin of part of this work is traced to the time of the fifth king of the table of abydos, though the composition of the whole work is of the period of ramses ii. the text says of the more ancient portion: “this is the beginning of the collection of recipes for curing leprosy. it was discovered in a very ancient papyrus, enclosed in a writing-case, under the feet (of a statue) of the god anubis, in the town of sochem, at the time of the reign of his majesty the defunct king sapti. after his death, it was brought to the majesty of the defunct king senta, on account of its wonderful value. and, behold, the book was placed again at the feet, and well secured by the scribe of the temple, and the great physician, the wise noferhotep. and when this happened to the book at the going down of the sun, he consecrated a meat, and drink, and incense offering to isis, the lady; to hor, of athribis; and the god khonsoo-thut, of amkhit.”
human brains are prescribed for a disease of the eyes in the ebers papyrus. pharmacy must have made considerable progress at the time this work was written, as it contains two prescriptions for pills—one made with honey for women, and one without it for men.
chabas says that a severe discipline reigned in the schools of the ancient egyptians, and that the eloquence of the master was frequently supplemented by the rod of his assistants. he gives in his translations of papyri one of the exhortations to a pupil.156
“oh, scribe,157 give not thyself to idleness, or thou shalt be smartly chastised; abandon not thy heart to pleasure, or thou wilt let thy books slip out of thy hands; practise conversation; discuss with those who are wiser than thyself; do the works of an elevated man. yes, when thou shalt be advanced in years, thou wilt find this to be profitable. a scribe, skilful in every kind of work, will become powerful. neglect not thy books; do not take a dislike to them.”
sir j. gardner wilkinson, in his manners and customs of the egyptians, gives a list of plants (from pliny) which were known to the egyptians and used in medicine or the arts. ladanum (cistus ladaniferus) was introduced into egypt by the ptolemies. myrobalanum (moringa aptera?) produced a fruit from which an ointment was made. cypros (lawsonia spinosa et inermis) was cooked in oil to make the ointment called cyprus; the leaves were used to dye the hair.70 elate (abies?), palma or spathe was of use in ointments. oil of bitter almonds. olives and figs were much esteemed. the castor-oil plant (ricinus communis). a medicinal oil was extracted from what was probably one of the nettle tribe (urtica pilulifera). tea (triticum zea?), olyra (holcus sorghum?), and tiphe (triticum spelta), were used in decoctions; opium was extracted from papaver somniferum.
cnicus or atractylis (carthamum tinctorium?) was a remedy against the poison of scorpions and other reptiles. pliny says: “homer attributes the glory of herbs to egypt. he mentions many given to helen by the wife of the egyptian king, particularly the nepenthes, which caused oblivion of sorrow.” opium was well known to the ancients, as well as various preparations of that drug. sir j. wilkinson thinks that nepenthe was perhaps the burt or hasheesh, a preparation of the cannabis sativa or indian hemp.
the egyptians, says ebers, thought that the kindly healing plants sprung up from the blood and tears of the gods.158
upon the ceilings and walls of the temples at tentyra, karnac, luxor, and other places, basso-relievos have been discovered representing limbs that have been amputated with instruments very similar to those which are employed in such operations in our own time. such instruments are also found in the hieroglyphics, and larrey says159 that there are vestiges of other surgical operations which have been discovered in egyptian ruins which abundantly prove that the art of surgery was practised with great skill in the land of the pharaohs.
mr. flinders petrie, excavating at the pyramid of medum, says of the skeletons he discovered there: “the mutilations and diseases that come to light are remarkable. one man had lost his left leg below the knee; another had his hand cut off and put in the tomb; others seem to have had bones excised, and placed separately with the body. in one case acute and chronic inflammation and rheumatism of the back had united most of the vertebr? into a solid mass down the inner side. in another case there had been a rickety curvature of the spine. to find so many peculiarities in only about fifteen skeletons which i collected is strange. these are all in the royal college of surgeons now, for study.”160
“among the six hermetic books of medicine mentioned by clement of alexandria, was one devoted to surgical instruments; otherwise the very badly set fractures found in some of the mummies do little honour to the egyptian surgeons” (ebers).
71
flint instruments were always used for opening bodies, for circumcision and other surgical operations. how far this was dictated by religious respect for antiquity, or by sanitary reasons, cannot be said; probably, however, the reverence for the ancient flint knife had much to do with its retention.
our word chemistry is derived from the name of egypt, khem or khemit, the “black land,” meaning the rich, dark soil of the nile valley. the god khem, also known as min and am, was the same as the pan of the greeks and priapus of the romans. he presided over productiveness and the kindly fruits of the earth. in this sense he was also the god of curative herbs and simples, and so became associated in the popular mind with the arts of healing.161 thus we obtain the words chemist, chemistry, and alchemy. plutarch says that the greek word χημ?α for egypt, was bestowed on the land on account of the black colour of its soil.
the egyptians must have had considerable practical knowledge of chemistry, or they could not have succeeded so well in the manufacture of glass, in dyeing, and the use of mordants, etc. metallurgy must have been understood, as is evidenced by their process of gold manufactures represented in several of the royal tombs. they made gold wire, and excelled in the art of gilding. their methods of embalming also exhibit some chemical knowledge. dr. pettigrew says,162 his friend professor reuvens, of leyden, examined a papyrus which contained upwards of one hundred chemical and alchemical formul?.
in the ebers papyrus there are several recipes for the preparation of hair dye. “the earliest of all the recipes preserved to us is a prescription for dyeing the hair.”163
recipes for exterminating vermin and noxious creatures are found in the same work.
in anatomy, physiology, surgery, therapeutics, and chemistry it is evident that egypt was far in advance of any other nation of the same period of which we have authentic accounts.
the persian kings were glad to employ the egyptian physicians, whose skill gained them high renown in the ancient world. dr. brugsch, in his account of the egyptians in the persian service, gives a translation of the inscriptions of uza-hor-en-pi-ris, of the period of the conquest of egypt by cambyses.72 “o ye gods who are in sa?s! remember all the good that has been done by the president of the physicians, uza-hor-en-pi-ris. in all that ye are willing to requite him for all his benefits, establish for him a great name in this land for ever. o osiris! thou eternal one! the president of the physicians, uza-hor-en-pi-ris, throws his arms around thee, to guard thy image; do for him all good according to what he has done, (as) the protector of thy shrine for ever.”164 the last words addressed to osiris refer to the form of the statue. the chief physician of sa?s is standing upright, with his hands embracing a shrine which holds the mummy of osiris.
whether the ancient greeks derived their knowledge of medicine from egypt or from india has often been debated; the evidence seems to show that greece was indebted to india rather than to egypt in this respect.
mr. flinders petrie concludes “that europe had an indigenous civilization, as independent of egypt and babylonia as was the indigenous aryan civilization of india; that this civilization has acquired arts independently, just as much as india has, and that europe has given to the east as much as it has borrowed from there.”165
amongst the egyptian fellahs some curious observances, says mr. flinders petrie, are connected with accidental deaths. “fires of straw are lighted, one month after the death, around the ground where the body has lain; and where blood has been shed, iron nails are driven into the ground, and a mixture of lentils, salt, etc., is poured out. these look like offerings to appease spirits, and the fires seem as if to drive away evil influences. funeral offerings are still placed in the tombs for the sustenance of the dead, just as they were thousands of years ago.”166
modern egyptians, like the ancient, wear written charms against sickness and disease. “magical preparations of all sorts are frequently used as remedies in illness, and in even serious cases the patient is made to swallow pieces of paper inscribed with texts from the koran, and to try various similar absurd means, before a physician is applied to.”
