Ancient Egypt's Contribution to Medicine
Ancient Egypt's Contribution to Medicine
Ancient Egypt's Contribution to Medicine
The Ancient Greeks have, for millennia, been credited with laying the foundations of professional medical practice. In consideration of the fact that the Ancient Egyptian civilization not only predated that of the Greeks but by popular acclaim was, in its heyday, more advanced, archaeologists have often questioned whether the Greeks were, indeed, the fathers of medicine. As Pain (2007) explains, while "according to the textbooks, science-based medicine and effective pharmacy began with the Greeks the Ancient Egyptians clearly practiced medicine long before the Greeks" (Pain, 2007, para 3). Both Egyptologists and medical practitioners have tended towards this view for quite some time. As reported by Pellegrino (1963), Egyptologists, archaeologists and medical practitioners have long argued that existing evidence of the scientific advances which the Ancient Egyptians had attained rendered the assumption that they had not made similar medical advancements nonsensical. Indeed, while not minimizing the role of the Ancient Greeks in the foundation of the medical profession, available evidence indicates that the Egyptians, not the Greeks, were the founders of the field and the profession. Translations of ancient Egyptian papyri establish that the Ancient Egyptians established the science of pharmacology, dentistry, surgery, orthopaedics and general medicine, among others, clearly supporting the contention that medicine was born in Ancient Egypt, not Greece.
Forensic investigations of Egyptian mummies have led to two important findings. The first is that the Ancient Egyptians lived well into their sixties, a remarkable feat for a civilization which predates Christ but almost four millennia. The second is that they suffered from countless severe ailments and medical conditions. These two findings are somewhat contradictory as they suggest that the Ancient Egyptians enjoyed longevity despite sufferance from medical ailments. The only way to reconcile these two apparently contradictory findings is to conclude that the Ancient Egyptians had arrived at a level of medical knowledge and advancement which allowed them to control, cure and treat disease (Pain, 2007). Indeed, according to Pain, the study of Ancient Egyptian medical texts, earlier assumed to have been little other than indecipherable papyri containing recipes for spells, has confirmed this. Recent translations of papyri found at the Temple of Amun in Karnak evidences the fact that the Ancient Egyptians had extensive pharmaceutical knowledge and had devised drug/herbal treatments for a wide array of diseases and ailments, from the common cough to pneumonia, from arterial diseases osteoarthritic ones (Pain, 2007). Indeed, the sheer width and breadth of the knowledge uncovered provides ample support for the claim that the Egyptians were the first to found the science of pharmacology and drug therapy.
Apart from their pharmaceutical knowledge, although related and enabled to it, are the advances which the Ancient Egyptians made in the study of anaesthesiology. First of all, it is important to note that they did not invent the concept as there is ample evidence to suggest that "primitive man employed digital compression of the carotid arteries to produce anaesthesia" (Zorab, 2003, p. 826). Instead, the Ancient Egyptians advanced the science, using both hemp and poppy juice to induce drowsiness in patients and eventual loss of consciousness. Further to that, with the progression of time, the Ancient Egyptians developed a method for local anaesthesia, deemed necessary for the management of localised pain. As Zorab (2003) explains, they produced local anaesthesia through the subjection of patients to carbonic acid gas. This, in itself, evidences the extent to which Ancient Egyptian doctors engaged in experimentation in order to perfect techniques and advance existent knowledge. It is through experimentation and research that they developed a relatively advanced technique for both general and local anaesthesia.
As might have been deduced from their investiture of time and effort into the development and advancement of anaesthesiology, the Ancient Egyptians made remarkable progress in the study and field of surgery. Even though, according to Ritner (2007), less than 14 medical scrolls have survived in their entirety, recent breakthroughs in the translation of these scrolls have established that they Ancient Egyptians had advanced beyond minor surgeries, such as resetting of bones or appendectomies, to infinitely more complex ones. Both the forensic examination of mummies and the information from these scrolls establishes that the Ancient Egyptians had made tremendous advances in the fields of brain surgery, plastic/cosmetics surgery and, of course, limb amputations (Ritner, 2007). The sophistication with which these procedures are describes underscores, not only the medical advances attained by this civilization but, the degree to which medicine was regarded as a science and a profession. It was not treated as a skill which was passed down through observation and training but as an extensive science which had to be taught and studied over a lifetime.
Somewhat related to the types of surgeries they performed is the advancement which the Ancient Egyptians made in the field of artificial limbs. As noted, among the surgeries which Ancient Egyptian performed were amputations. Interestingly, archaeological discoveries revealed the presence of artificial limbs buried alongside mummies. Nerlick et al (2000) discus the discovery of a prosthetic toe found in a tomb. Careful study of both the mummy in question and the prosthetic limb indicate that it was neither for decorative or burial purposes but was extensively used during the lifetime of the individual in question. In other words, mummies which were revealed to have undergone intravital amputations were often found buried with the relevant prosthetic. At first it was assumed that these had been placed in tombs so that the dead person may enter his/her afterlife in his/her full form. Forensic examinations exposed this as an erroneous assumption (Nerlick et al., 2000). The condition in which these prosthetics were in were soon discovered to be a result, not of the passage of time but, of everyday usage. The implication here is, as Nerlick et al (2000) emphasize, that the Ancient Egyptians adopted a practical approach to the use of medicine; they developed and designed artificial limbs which were workable and not decorative.
The medical scrolls uncovered further reveal that the Ancient Egyptians made remarkable progress in the fields of both dentistry and periodontal studies, or gum diseases. As Leek (1967) notes, forensic examinations of Ancient Egyptian mummies gave rise to the suspicion that this civilization had a sound knowledge of dentistry. Quite unlike the case with ancient human remains, many of the mummies an above average number of intact teeth and their gums were in sounder condition that was to be reasonably expected (Leek, 1967). Available evidence further established that dental surgery was practiced in Ancient Egypt. Upon the successful translation of the medical scrolls, these suspicions were confirmed as it was, indeed, revealed that dental and periodontal sciences had attained remarkable levels of sophistication.
On the basis of the foregoing discussion of the facts, one can safely assert that the Ancient Egyptians, not the Greeks, founded professional medicine. This civilization had arrived at remarkable achievements in several areas of medicine and the available evidence strongly suggests that the Ancient Egyptian medical practitioners understood the importance of research and experimentation and, accordingly, embraced and engaged in it. Given the stated, the question which imposes itself upon us is why have the Greeks, rather than the Egyptians, been accredited with the foundation of this profession. Pain (2007) has a very logical response to this question. Ancient Greek texts and the knowledge they contained had been translated by the Arabs and accordingly, their science was transmitted to the world through a living language. This was not the case with the Ancient Egyptians their language died and accordingly, for millennia, their scrolls and the knowledge they contained were a mystery. Over the past century, this language slowly began to reveal itself and, in so doing, the knowledge of the Ancient Egyptians was gradually uncovered. It was only then that their status as the fathers of medicine was established.
Bibliography
Leek, F. (1967) The practice of dentistry in Ancient Egypt. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 53, 51-58.
Nerlich, A. et al. (2000) Ancient Egyptian prosthesis of the big toe. Lancet, 356(9248).
Pain, S. (2007) The world's first pharmacists. New Scientist, 196(2634).
Pellegrino, E.D. (1963) Medicine, history and the idea of man. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 346, 9-20.
Ritner, R.K. (2000) Innovations and adaptations in Ancient Egyptian medicine. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 59(2), 107-117.
Zorab, J. (2003) History of anaesthesia. Anaesthesia, 58, 826-827.
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