2500-539 B.C.: Chaldeans create system of medicine

Originating with the Chaldeans was the Zend Avista, or the Living Word.  This was a compilation of all the Chaldean knowledge accumulated around 2500 B.C. by Zarathustria (Zerdutscht Zoroaster), who was a "priestly lawgiver who lived around 2500 B.C.  

As the most educated Chaldean, he was probably a member of the priesthood. His writings were lost to time, although they were ultimately rewritten into a book consisting of: (Baas, page 25)

• Yanza -- A liturgy
• Vispered -- Prayers (this would include the medical portions)
• Jesch -- History of Chaldeans
• Bundehesch -- Cosmology

Priests were educated at the world's first universities, some of which were created amid the Sumerians, and included locations in Urikh (Erech), Akkad, Nipur, Kutha, Larsa, and Borsippa.  The various branches of learning were not separated as they are today, so if you attended one of these universities you were pretty much educated in all wisdom, which included literature, writing, mythology, religion, medicine, science, mathematics, astronomy, cosmology, weights and measures, magic lore, divination, and astrology. (wiley, page 20)(Garrison, page 54)

Although, the priesthood was ultimately broken down by the Jews/ Hebrews as follows: (Garrison, page 58)

• Priest: Used words to create heal and prevent sickness and injuries. Hebrew priest were the "hygiene police" There is no mention of Biblical priests acting as physicians. (Garrison, page 57)
• Prophets: Had the ability to heal using knowledge they obtained at the universities.  Both Elijah and Elisha had the ability to cure and raise people from the dead. There are various references to them "making medicine" in the bible. 
• Physicians:  Used various herbal remedies and surgeries to heal
• Pharmacists: Created various herbal remedies and poisons to be used in healing

So most of the medicine was contained in the vispered, and it was all theurgic in character, meaning that it was based on mythology and divination.  These priestly magicians were the most excellent physicians, and they cured by their words, and thus they were: (Baas, page 26)

• Word doctors: They healed with their charms, incantations, and prayers. 
• Herb doctors: They healed with their potions
• Knife doctors: They performed surgery, which mainly consisted of blistering, bleeding, or operating on eyes, castration, etc. It rarely consisted of internal surgery.

According to Wiley, they were familiar with the following: (Wiley, page 20)

• Astrology:  Mainly consisted of using astronomy, the alignment of stars, planets, comets, etc. to determine the words of the gods to predict the future. (Wiley, page 20)
• Divination: Mainly consisted of determining the words of the gods by reading the alignment of internal organs, mainly the liver (called hepatoscopy). Garrison notes that the liver was important because it was the source of blood and the seat of the soul.  He says, "to inspect the liver was to see into the soul of the sacrificed animal, and the mind of the gods." (Garrison, page 55) This also involved palmistry (reading palms) and astrology (reading stars, planets, comets, etc.)
• Herbs: They had poisonous and healing properties, and worked by powers invested in them by gods. Herbal recipes were used as medicine, both internal and external (Wiley, page 20)
• Words: Included magical incantations, conjurations, spells and charms that were disgusting to evil spirits and demons, and remedied and cured ailments 
• Amulets: Their magical powers were able to suck out demons and spirits to cure ailments
• Talisman: Warded off evil demons and spirits
• Pharmacy: Medicine kept in vases and jars (Wiley, page 20)(Recipe page 21)

Garrison said priests or physicians would use one or more of the above in the following fashion: (Garrison, page 54-57 )

• Aetiology: Blaming demons (similar to modern physicians blaming germs)
• Diagnosis:  Based on inspection of patient
• Prognosis: Based on the following: 
• Divination or augury from liver of sacrificed animals:
• Abnormally large organ: token of future power and success
• Abnormality on right side of organ: token of future power or success
• Abnormally small organ: token of weakness or failure
• Abnormality on left side: token of weakness or failure
• Divination of astrological signs
• Birth omens, which determined whether person was going to be a super power or a failure.  These were based on augury of liver of sacrificed animals, astrology and palmistry.  They also studied fetal abnormalities.
• Disease omens:  Inspection of the body, abnormalities, studying liver of sacrificed animals, astrology, and palmistry. 
• Palmistry:  foretelling future through study of palms
• Therapy:  The goal of various remedies was to "disgust demons inside the body." (Garrison, page 56)
• Exorcisms by special ritual.  May be performed by the sick at home or at one of the smaller temples, or by the priests at your home, or as part of the regular rituals held at the larger temples. 
• Herbal remedies 
• Words: incantations, charms, spells, prayers, or conjurations
• Prophylaxis:  Prevention
• Incantation
• Talisman
• Charms (may place seal of gods on both sides of door of invalid) (Garrison, page 56)
• Good behavior
• Good hygiene (this was later perfected by Egyptians and Hebrews, although there is evidence of Babylonian drains, indicating they made the link between feces and disease) The Babylonians did wash their hands before meals, however, mainly because they ate with their fingers. They usually only washed the rest of their bodies only once a week. It was a sin to urinate in canals. (Sigerist, page 402)

In this way, it was the Chaldeans who created the first system of medicine. After the fall of Sumeria in 2000 B.C., their medical wisdom would be assimilated into Babylonian culture. 

References:  See post "2000 B.C.:  Assyrian physicians will treat your dyspnea"

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2000 B.C.: Chaldeans introduce physicians to Babylon

Chaldeans introduced astronomy/ medicine to ancient Mesopotamians?

Various groups of people continued to emigrate into Mesopotamia even as the Sumerian civilization was fading. Among these were the Syrians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, Akkadians and Arabs. Some of these matured to form villages, towns, cities, empires and even civilizations. Yet it was another group of people who had the greatest impact on medicine: the Chaldeans (Chaldees). (Baas page 25)

No one knows when they emigrated into the area, although many speculate they came from the north. The Hebrew Bible says they came from the "extremities of the earth," which may be Armenia, Cephenin, and Arrapachitis. Job mentions gold, and Jeremiah the iron of the north. It's also believed they left their homeland (and nobody knows why) over a century before they landed in Babylonia and Persia, or "before they besieged Jerusalem." (Asiatic Journal, page 36-37)

As time went by they were assimilated into Babylonian and Persian society to the point that they were often referred to as Babylonians and Persians, as opposed to Chaldeans. (Asiatic Journal, page 36-37) 

The dominant element of their way of life "consisted of servants to the deity," (Baas, page 25) and they are even referred to in the Bible as the "Magi" or the "Wise men," or "haruspices."  (Asiatic Journal, page 37)(Baas, page 25)

Magi or wise men were magicians, priests who were proficient in all the knowledge of the universe.  They specialized in mythology, religion, and medicine.  They were, perhaps, the most well educated people among society, and they were, in essence, magicians.

Haruspices, according to Britanicca.com, refers to the study of organs, such as the liver, and astronomical phenomenon, such as thunderstorms, lightning, alignment of stars, planets, comets, etc.  This was all done for the purpose of divination, or predicting the future.

The Chaldeans were known for their knowledge of mathematics, astronomy, astrology, interpretations of dreams, and medicine. Some referred to them simply as "skygazers."

Perhaps by gazing at the stars they developed the first calendars based on the phases of the moon.  Perhaps they are the ones who introduced Babylonians and Persians to a numerical system based on the number 60.  This system included the 360 degree circle, 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and so forth. They are also sometimes credited as helping the Babylonians advance mathematics, astronomy, astrology and medicine. 

Henry Sigerist, in his 1922 history of medicine, said that ancient societies did not study the sky because they were interested in the alignment of the planets, stars, comets, etc. What they were interested in was interpreting the words of the gods, and this alignment, so they thought, was how the gods communicated. It was the job of the Chaldean priests, and later the Babylonian priests, to interpret astrological signs. (Sigerist, page 392)

Or, as William Osler wrote in his history of medicine:

A belief that the stars in their courses fought for or against him arose early in their civilizations, and directly out of their studies on astrology and mathematics. The Macrocosm, the heavens that “declare the glory of God,” reflect, as in a mirror, the Microcosm, the daily life of man on earth. (Osler, page 24)

As they themselves were, their knowledge and culture were assimilated into Babylonian culture, and this is how medicine evolved into a science of divination through astrology and hepatoscopy in ancient Babylonia, or so it is believed. (Baas, page 25)(Sigerist, 392)

Actually, not only were the Chaldean Priest known for their astrology and hepatoscopy, they were also known for their herbal remedies and incantations. In fact, it was probably due to the Chaldean Priests that the Babylonians became well known for their poisons. (Baas, ?)

Babylonian medicine was initially referred to as poison because it was used for its poisonous effects, which sometimes included killing people who were not wanted.  It was this effect, some believe, that gave Babylonian medicine, at least initially, a bad name.  Perhaps for this reason most physicians were seen as bad people, and for this reason they worked behind the scenes.

Perhaps this was among the reasons that when the Greek historian Herodotus traveled through Mesopotamia, he wrote that "they have no physicians."  Various historians have noted ample evidence that there were, especially after the assimilation of the Chaldeans.

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3000 B.C.: The baru will predict your future

This is the oldest known Sumerian Medical book.
The Baru  memorized remedies and incantations,
many of which are recorded in texts like this.
(drhajar.org: Arabian Gulf: Cradle of Medicine)

Divination is the interpretation of omens or signs to predict the future.  Most ancient societies, from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient India, Ancient China and Ancient Rome, all believed in omens.  And there were good and bad omens.  (1,2)

You were sick.  You have sinned.  You are impure.  You are in disharmony with the world.  You are a burden on society.  You are unclean.  So you must go to see a healer, who in most cases was a priest, for healing.

Since your disease, your symptoms, was caused by magic, you needed a magical cure.  The healer would give you an incantation incantation to site to ward off the evil.  Although, if you could afford it, he'd use a divination to learn how you got sick in the first places, as this was how the best cures came about.  .

Through divination a priest might learn that the ailment could easily be cured, and this made you optimistic, or gave  you hope.

On the other hand, however, the priest might learn that your illness is futile that that you will die, and in that case fill you with gloom and pessimism.

A healer could predict success in wartime, and inspire soldiers.  Or they could predict a loss, and therefore cause resignation among soldiers.

Priests who offered divination were called baru, the diviner.  They were specially trained in the divination.  They asked you questions:  Did a bird cross your path.  If it did, was it to the left or right.  If you saw birds flying to your left when you broke your foot the birds brought back luck.  This was no coincidence.  You were cursed.  The remedy was to chant this incantation or to put this amulet on a chain around your neck, or over your doorway or window.(2)

There were other means of getting omens, depending on how much you could afford.  Probably the most expensive, yet most revealing, would be to have a baru examine the liver of a sacrificed animal. 

By studying the liver, most often by sacrificed animals such as sheep, the baru could learn much about the future.  According to Henry Osler in his series of lectures at Yale University in 1913:

Of all the organs inspected in a sacrificial animal, the liver, from its size, position and richness in blood, impressed the early observers as the most important of the body.  Probably on account of the richness in blood it came to be regarded as the seat of life --- indeed, the seat of the soul.

The liver to the Babylonians was similar to the heart to the modern world:  it was the soul of life; the center of vitality.  "Hepatoscopy," Osler said, "thus became, among the Babylonians, of extraordinary complexity, and the organ of the sheep was studies and figured as early as 3000 B.C.  In the divination rites, the lobes, the gall bladder, the appendages of the upper lobe and the markings were all inspected with unusual care."

Readings:  gallbladder... liver....

Cheaper methods would be to drop oil over water and watch what happened.  Or a flame was lit and the flickering was examined, conclusions drawn.

Knowledge that the baru had was esoteric.  Many religious texts ended in...

May he who knows instruct him who knows.  And may he who knows not read this." (2, page 433)

And...

He who does not keep the secret will not remain in health -- His days will be shortened." (2, page 433)

There were other similar sayings, although the meaning was relatively the same.

References:

1. Osler, William, "Evolution of Modern Medicine: a series of lectures at Yale University to the Silliman Foundation in April 1913, 1921", New haven, Yale University Press, pages 18-19
2. Sigerist, Henry E., A history of medicine," 1955, 2nd edition, volume 1, pages 453-5, 433

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2600 B.C.: Egyptian Temples Expand Scope of Medicine

So the Hermetic Books were made available in the temples of the healing gods across Egypt.  These became the universities for the priesthood.  The higher priests studied the first 36 books and became  judges, mathematicians, sorcerers, astronomers, geographers, philosophers, and scribes, while those of the lower class studied the last six books and became physicians.

Perhaps it was at such schools where Egyptian priests/ physicians developed such beliefs as life "should be indefinitely prolonged, unless someone or something caused death, such as a spirit, or the soul of a dead man, which cunningly entered a dead person,"  according to Fleming Sandwich in his 1905 book. (1, page 2)(9, page 25)

Perhaps it was at these temples that a greater understanding of diseases was speculated upon, and the realization was made that many diseases were associated with dirtiness, and that some diseases were spread from person to person.  It's for this reason, perhaps, that people contaminated with certain diseases, such as the lepers, were cast from society and you were warned to stay away from them.

The priesthood, then, learned the importance of cleanliness in maintaining good health, and it's from here where circumcision became standard practice, along with regularly scheduled bathing, the wearing of clean clothing, and similar such rituals. It is also from here that diet and drugs were incorporated into the medical regime "to counteract the disorders which the strange being had produced in the body," said Fleming. (1, page 2)

Such cleanliness must have been rather successful at keeping the Egyptians healthy. William Hudson Garrison, in his 1922 history of medicine, quotes Aristotle from his Politics, as saying:

"They purge themselves every month, three days in succession, seeking to improve health by emetics and clysters; for they suppose that all diseases to which men are subject proceed from the food they use. And, indeed, in other respect, the Egyptians, next to the Libyans, are the most healthy people in the world, as they, on account of the seasons, because they are not liable to change." (5, page 51)

Likewise, Plinio Prioreschi, in his 1991 history of medicine, explains that Egyptian medicine gained a "great reputation" as noted by the following passage from Homer's Odyssey: (10, page 257)

...for there (in Egypt) the earth, the giver of grain, bears the greatest store of drugs, many that are healing when mixed, and many that are baneful; there every man is a physician, wise above human kind...

Alexander Wilder, in his 1901 history of medicine, says that "the skill and learning of physicians of Egypt made them famous in the neighboring countries." (11, page 15)

So, while the upper class of priests healed with their sorcery and magic, the lower class of priests healed with their potions.  Some were the pastaphori, who followed the military, and specialized in treating wounds with salves. Others were the physicians, who treated internal diseases with their potions. 

In one example, Wilder said:

"The Prince Bakhtan (Bashan) sent an embassy to Ramases XII for medical aid for his queen's sister." Ultimately "the pastaphori and physicians bearing a receptacle of the divinity... the mission was successful; the princess speedily recovered, and the god received the glory." (11, page 15)

Pastaphori are priest physicians whose main job was to follow the military.  They were responsible for the health and healing of soldiers, particularly regarding the healing of wounds obtained in battle.

References: See "2600 B.C.: Egyptian Medicine Becomes Specialized"