1700 B.C.: Hebrew Bible influences medicine

The Bible only has a few vague descriptions of diseases, and none of these vagaries refer to respiratory diseases such as asthma.  However, the Bible does show what life was like for asthmatics in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Jewish (Israelite, Hebrew) Community.

The Bible was probably written in the 1000 years that preceded the birth of Christ (10, page 511), although the information obtained in it goes back much farther.  Some experts estimate the Biblical date for the beginning of time as 4004 B.C.  

Now, before we delve into a discussion on the Biblical impact on history, we must first understand the Bible and the people who wrote it. You see, the style of writing at this time was pithy and allegorical, and they told truths about God, not so much about history.  For this reason, Biblical stories may allude to true events, and allude to scientific and medical achievements, yet not provide any detail to help historians paint a detailed picture.

The key to understanding the Bible is to understand the difference between truth and fact.  Simply put, something can be truthful without being factual.  For example, if you are trying to download a large file onto your computer and it is taking a long time, you might say that it is "taking a million years." You would be speaking the truth: the file is taking a long time to download.  Figurative language such as this communicates truth without relying totally on facts.

A good example from the Bible is the Bible saying that Adam lived 930 years.  Here again you have to consider the era in which the Bible was written.  People back then never even considered the idea of keeping track of a person's time in this world.  When the Bible says that Adam lived to be 930 years old, it is teaching the religious truth that he lived a long life, which is a sign of God's blessing.

Likewise, since the authors of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, were recording stories that had previously been relayed by word of mouth from generation to generation, probably through prose, and probably around nighttime campfires, such stories are pithy.  They had to be pithy, because long stories would never be remembered in the days prior to writing.

So this is another cause of confusion regarding events recorded in the Bible.  Adam, for example, lived many years before his story was written, so there is no way of knowing exactly how long he lived.  Likewise, no one knows how long creation took, so the Bible makes it easy by summing these events into seven days

Okay, so that said, now we can get on with our history lesson.

Hebrew history is interesting because the people were nomads, meaning they had no home, or at least they were in search of a home.  Where they came from and why they left remains a mystery, and this is true of many of the societies that made their way to Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Because the Hebrews were nomads,  they lived among, and therefore were influenced, by the various cultures they came into contact with.  Among these cultures were those present in and around ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The Babylonians believed that all disease was punishment from the gods, and some speculate this is why the Jews/ Hebrews likewise believed that their God, the only God, was responsible for causing all diseases and healing all diseases.  Through priests, who acted as mediators, the Hebrew God healed, or he allowed the prophets to heal.  (5, page 28)

The Hebrew were held captive in Egypt for several centuries prior to the exodus around 1550 B.C., and they were also held captive in Babylon around 604 B.C.  So there are various references to both the Mesopotamian and Egyptians medical beliefs, providing evidence that the early Jews were influenced by both.

Fielding Hudson Garrison, in his 1922 history of medicine, explains that:

In the Old Testament, disease is an expression of the wrath of God, to be removed only by moral reform, prayers and sacrifice; and it is God who confers both health and disease: 'I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.' (7, page 57)(Exodus 15:26)

After God gave Moses the laws, the Lord said, "If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right, and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians.  I am the Lord, the one who heals you." (Exodus 15: 26)

The Bible also refers to the Babylonian method of diagnosing through hepatoscopy, or inspecting the liver of sacrificial animals.  It is by this means they diagnose through divination or omens:

"For the king of Babylon stood at the Paring of the ways, at the head of the two ways to use divination:  he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver." (Ezekiel 21:21)

There are many references to God's ability to cause sickness and to heal, such as is mentioned by Job:

"God bandages the wounds he makes; his hands hurt you, and his hands heal you." (Job 5: 18) 

Abraham, who was labeled as "Father of Israel" by Israel's God, and who set the Israelites off on a quest for the land of Canaan, the promised land, mentions it sometime around the 2nd century B.C.:

Because of what had happened to Sarah, Abraham's wife, the Lord had made it impossible for any woman in Abimelech's palace to have children.  So Abraham prayed for Abimelech, and God healed his wife and his slave girls, so that they could have children. (Genesis: 20:17)

The prophet Jeremiah, who lived in the later part of the 7th century B.C., mentions it:

"But I will heal this city and its people and restore them to health.  I will show them abundant peace and security.  I will make Judah and Israel prosperous, and I will rebuilt them as they were before.  I will purify them from the sins that they have committed against me, and I will forgive their sins and their rebellion.  Jerusalem will be a source of joy, honor, and pride to me; and every nation in the world will fear and tremble when they hear about the good things that I do for the people of Jerusalem and about the prosperity that I bring to the city." (Jeremiah 33: 6)

"I will make you well again; I will heal your wounds." (Jeremiah 30:17 

Moses, who lived around 1550 B.C., mentions it as he calls for the Lord to heal his wife Miriam:

So Moses cried out to the Lord, "O God, heal her!"  (Numbers 12:13) 

Isaiah, who lived in the 8th century B.C., believed that not only was Assyria a great threat to Judah, but so too was the sin of the people.  In the Book of Isaiah, the Lord said of the Israelites:

"I have seen how they acted, but I will heal them. I will lead them and help them, and I will comfort those who mourn. I offer peace to all, both near and far! I will heal my people. But evil men are like the restless sea, whose waves never stop rolling in, bringing filth and muck. There is no safety for sinners," says the Lord. (Isaiah 57:18-21)

The prophet Hosea, who lived sometime before the fall of Samaria in 721 B.C., mentions it:

The people say, "let's return to the Lord!  He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won't he? In two or three days he will revive us, and we will live in his presence.  Let us try to know the Lord.  He will come to us as surely as the day dawns , as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth." ( Hosea 6:1-3)

According to Garrison, priests were hygiene police, meaning that they made sure the people of Israel washed and purified their bodies in order to prevent the spread of disease.  Yet the priests, he says, did not act as physicians.  Instead, this task was left to the physician.  (7, page 57)

In the Bible, the various references to magi, or physicians, or high priests, are usually in reference to Egyptian or Babylonian healers  So there was definitely a crossover of the beliefs of the various ancient societies.

The Bible has perhaps the first recorded evidence that physicians existed in Egypt about 1,700  years before the birth of Christ.  When Jacob died, "Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm him; and the physicians embalmed Israel, and forty days were fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those that are embalmed." (1, page 26)(10, page 17)(7, page 57)(Genesis 50: 2)

Garrison explains that "the king Asa consulted physicians instead of the Lord and 'slept with his fathers' for his pains (II Chronicles 16: 12-13), or that if two men fight and one of them be injured to the extent of having to keep his bed, she or her 'shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.(Exodus 21:19)" (7, page 57-58)

While the Bible makes no mention of asthma nor asthma remedies, it does make (perhaps) the first reference to a narcotic: (9, page 9)

During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”  But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?” (Genesis 30: 14-15)

Mandrakes are a member of the nightshade family (solanaceae) of plants that, when ingested or inhaled, can make breathing easier and cause a hallucinogenic effect, easing pain and suffering.  The sonanaceae family of plants will play a significant role later in our asthma history, although it's doubtful (although possible) this was used as a remedy for dyspnea in the Biblical age.

Further reading:

• 5000-50 B.C.: Asthma in Ancient Egypt, and Physicians
• 5000-50 B.C.: Asthma in Ancient Egypt, and Eber Papyri 
• 2700 B.C.: Imhotep invents rational medicine

References:

1. Renouard, Pierce Victor, "History of Medicine: From it's origin to the 19th century," 1856, Cincinnati, Moore, Wistach, Keys and Co., page 26, chapter 1, "Medicine of the Antique Nation."
2. "Moses," Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm, accessed 3/21/13
3. Puschmann, Theodor, translated by Evan H. Hare, "A history of medical education from the most remote to the most recdent times," 1891, London, H.K. Lewis
4. Dunglison, Robley, author, Richard James Dunglison, editor,  "History of Medicine from the earliest ages to the commencement of the nineteenth century," 1872, Philadelphia, Lindsay and Blakiston
5. Baas, John Herman, "Outlines in the history of medicine and the medical profession," translated by H.F. Handerson, 1889, New York, J.H. Vail and Co.
6. Wilder, Alexander, "History of Medicine: a brief outline of medical history and sects of physicians, from the earliest historic period; with an extended account of the new schools of the healing art in the nineteenth century, and especially a history of the american Eclectic practice of medicine, never before published," 1901, Maine, New England Eclectic Publishing, Co.
7. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An introduction to the history of medicine, with medical chronology, suggestions for study, and bibliographic data," 3rd edition, 1922, Philadelphia and London, W.B. Saunders Company
8. "The Assiatic Journal, for British adn foreign India, China and Australia," volume VIII, New Series, May-August, 1832, London, Parbury, Allen and Co.
9. Bradford, Thomas Lindsley, "Quiz questions on the history of medicine: from the lectures of Thomas Lindsley Bradford," edited by Robert Ray Roth, 1898, Philadelphia, John Joseph McVey
10. Prioreschi, Plinio, "A history of medicine: Primitive and ancient medicine," volume I, 1991, New York, The Edwin Mellen Press

1500 B.C.: Asthma in Ancien Egypt: the Ebers Papyri

Thoth: Scribe of the Gods ( The British Museum)

Thoth was the Egyptian moon god, and he had a significant role in medicine that was eerily similar to that of Apollo a thousand years later in ancient Greece. 

It is believed he talked to an Egyptian priest (or priests) during the early ages of Egypt, and this priest (Imhotep perhaps?) wrote down the wisdom he learned from the god. There are various references to these documents by various physicians, although the original texts have long disappeared. (2, page 19)(4, page 49)

However, this theory, while garnishing some excitement, was ultimately believed to be untrue, as experts now figure the document to be an encyclopedia of all sorts of medical wisdom from various ancient documents. (9, page xv)

Smith Quotes Warren R. Dawson from his 1929 book "Magician and Leech" as saying the Ebers Papyrus is basically a compilation of recipes for the various ailments of that time taken from various other books that are "many centuries older."  (9, page xv)

Dawson, referencing Smith, said the Ebers Papyrus... (9, page xv)

"...is not a book in the proper sense of the word: it is a miscellaneous collection of extracts and jottings collected from at least forty different sources. It consists mainly of a large collection of prescriptions for a number of named ailments, specifying the names of the drugs, the quantities of each, and the method of administration." (9, page xv)

As noted above, a few sections deal with diagnosis, symptoms and anatomy. (9, page xv)

This theory may be supported by the fact the papyrus has scribbles in the margins, such as "this is a genuine remedy," or "Excellent. I have often made it, and also proved it," said medical historian Edward Withington. (2, page 17) 

Perhaps notes similar to these were scribbled next to the description of our first inhaler:

Thou shalt fetch 7 stones and heat them by the fire, thou shalt take one therof and place (a little) of these remedies on it and cover it with a new vessel whose bottom is perforated and place a stalk of a reed in this hole; thou shalt put thy mouth to this stalk, so that thou inhalest the smoke of it. Likewise wit all stones. Thereafter thou shalt eat something fat, of fat meat or oil." (6, page 9)

It is unclear exactly what herbal preparations were used, although it's probable that they used stramonium, belladona, henbane, and bitumen to "alleviate catarrh and coughs, and ease breathing," said Mark Jackson in his article, "'Divine Stramonium': The Rise and Fall of Smoking for Asthma." (14, page 174)

One major difficulty with interpreting these old documents, or so the experts say, was that it may sometimes be difficult to translate Egyptian writing into our modern language. This in mind, I think, therefore, I can honestly say there is scanty evidence this Egyptian "inhaler" was used for anything more than a priest-physicians's trick to fool a patient into thinking something was being done, perhaps by the magic of the gods.

Henry Sigerist, in his 1951 book "A History of Medicine: Primitive and Archaic Medicine," said that "Fumigations were not infrequently used in the treatment of anus and vagina and a recipe of the Berlin Papyrus (and Ebers Papyrus) tells us what the technique was. Seven bricks were heated, and the cold drug was poured over one after another while the patient was held over the developing fumes."

My point here is we must be careful in thinking any inhalers or fumigations used by the ancient Egyptians were anything more than just something that was not understood being used for an ailment that was not understood. 

Jackson said:

While (Eber's) specific interpretation has been challenged by other translators, the papyrus certainly appears to list remedies to remove phlegm, alleviate catarrh, coryza, and coughs, and to ease breathing. Significantly, Egyptian treatments for respiratory conditions included not only the oral consumption of a variety of concocted vegetable, mineral, and animal products but also the delivery of active substances directly to the lungs by inhalation. (13, page 38)

So, as you can see, we could easily use our imaginations here as it comes to the treatment of asthma in ancient Egypt. You are short of breath, you call for a priest/physician, and a specialist comes to your house. You hope he's an Internist who specializes in diseases of the chest, and you hope he has knowledge to this primitive inhaler, and that he also has a medicine called Belladonna that he tosses on those heated bricks. Belladonna would take the edge off by easing both your breathing and your mind.

Sigerist said the teeth, where food enters, and the anus, where food exits, were highly regarded by the ancient Egyptians. Sigerist even notes various references to "the holy anus," and "shepherd of the Anus." (5, page 317, 335)

These shepherds were probably physicians who specialized in ailments of the anus, such as "hemorrhoids, prolapsus recti, inflammation and pruritus of the anus." (5, page 317, 335)

The pharaoh had his very own anal physician to take care of it, and perhaps this physician recommended this inhaler for hemorrhoids, a remedy we might think of as purely irrational, although to the Egyptians, it was most surely rational. (5, page 317, 335)

We must realize that Egyptian physicians had scanty knowledge of anatomy, and this is true despite the fact they prepared animals for food and sacrifice, and humans for mummification. They knew about the inner organs, and they knew about vessels and blood, but they didn't know about the relationship with these and ailments of the body. They did not make that connection.

So they would have no idea about diseases like asthma, nor other diseases that would make a person short of breath. Basically, all physicians could do was note the symptoms -- chest pain, short of breath, wheezing -- and what remedies seemed to work.

Likewise, it must be understood here that Egyptian medicine was based on mythology, and ailments were caused by the wrath of gods, particularly the god Isis. So remedies, in a sense, were believed to be gifts from the gods of health and healing, such as Isis, Thoth, Sekhmet, Heka, Serket, and Ta-Bitjet. They worked by magical means. So while these remedies may seem irrational to the modern reader, they were quite rational given the medical wisdom of the time.

Once translated, the Ebers Papyrus scroll was learned to contain over 700 magical formulas as remedies for the most common ailments of that time, with various incantations randomly assorted through the text. Some of the remedies included pills in the form of dough, herbs and minerals that were put into beer and wine, salves and oils to rub onto the skin and wounds, a salve made from honey was put over wounds, and gargles and inhalations.

If you had complained of an ailment, a physicians would be summoned. Egyptian physicians specialized in particular symptoms, so you would see a physician who specialized in treating your symptoms. If your specialist was an internist, perhaps you would be provided with the remedy above, which may actually contain breathing relief, considering Belladonna was later proven to contain a mild bronchodilator component.

Yet, more than likely, your treatment would be a general treatment. Since the Egyptians were among the first society to attribute sickness to good health, he might suggest something simple to cleanse your body, which may involve any of the following:

• Enemas (the stomach was believed to be a cause of most diseases, including breathing problems)
• Emetics (to vomit out the poisons)
• Animal excreta (including crocodile and camel)
• Herbs such as squill and henbane
• Fumes of burned sundried and crushed Belladonna leaves and roots (as noted above)
• Eating foods such as figs , grapes, frankincense, cumin and juniper fruit
• Drinking wine and sweet beer 

Along with the above treatments, the following were considered routine in order to keep your body clean: (11, page 18, 23)

• Daily baths
• Abstinence from certain foods (like cow flesh, pigs, flatulent beans, etc.)**
• Gymnastics
• Linen clothing worn for cleanliness
• Purgatives and emetics every three months to cleans body***
• Friction and inunction of the body (basically involves rubbing certain parts of the body)
• Fumigations (usually during epidemics to "purify the air."  
• Inhaling steam from inhalations 
• Careful system of nurturing from childhood
• Incantations (magic words)
• Amulets (to wear or keep close to you and or your home to ward off spirits and for healing)

Or, if your asthma-like symptoms were diagnosed as being caused by witchcraft, the following remedy may be used:

"Against all kinds of witchcraft -- a large beetle; cut off his head and wings, boil him, put him in oil, and apply to the part. Then cook his head and wings, put them in serpent's fat, warm it, let the patient drink it." (2, page 18)

If your physician didn't heal you, you might consult a priest or magician who would provide you with an amulet or incantation to say each morning. Or he might place his gentle palm over your throat or chest and chant an incantation to induce healing and scare away the evil demons that were causing you to breathe heavy. Perhaps the good feeling of hope by this method was more healing to you than what your physician might recommend.

Another neat thing to note here is that by dating the Ebers Papyrus to around 1500 or 1550 B.C., this would place it as being written about the time of the Exodus. That means it was probably written around the time Moses walked the earth, and the wisdom it contained was available to him. So the Bible may provide us with another good source for learning what life was like for Asthmatics in Ancient Egypt.

Further reading:

• 5000-50 B.C.: Ancient Egypt: the Physicians
• 5000-50 B.C.: Asthma in Ancient Egypt: the Bible
• 2700 B.C.: Imhotep invents rational medicine
• 1550 B.C.: Moses preaches good hygiene
• Check out the Edwin Smith scroll here

*Hieratic is a form of Egyptian cursive, and was used "chiefly on sacred and medical papyri and on wooden coffins... the characters are written from right to left... about 300 A.D. all knowledge of the meaning of the characters had died out, and it was not until the discovery in 1799 of the Rosetta stone (by Boussard, a French artillery officer) that any real progress was made in the decipherment." (10)

** Note that the upper classes of Egypt did not eat pig, and despite this, historians note a high incidence of hardened arteries.  One study of Egyptian mummies found hardened arteries in three fourth of the mummies studied.  While this was a recent study, some historians noted this as far back as the 1930s. You can read more about this here. 

***While many historians have noted the Egyptians to drink to excess, others speculate, that while beer and wine was consumed during meals (and mostly wine), it was watered down and not very potent.   

 References: 

1. Selin, H., "Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Western Cultures," 2nd edition, 2008, Springer
2. Withington, Edward Theodor, "Medical History from its earliest times," 1894, London, Aberdeen University Press
3. Nunn, John F, "Ancient Egyptian Medicine," 1996, University of Oklahoma Press
4. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An introduction to the history of medicine," 1922, Philadelphia and London, W.B. Saunders Company
5. Sigerist, Henry E, "A History of Medicine," vol II, "Primitive and Archaic Medicine," 1951, New York, Oxford University Press
6. Ebell, B.,  translator, "The Papyrus Ebers: The Grea)test Egyptian Medical Document," 1937, Copenhagan, page 67.  I found references to this passage by Mark Jackson (Asthma: A biography," 2009, New York, Oxford University Press, page 39), and Henry E. Sigerist (see reference immediadely above, page 339).  Sigerist says that a similar passage can also be found in the Berlin Papyrus.  
7. Reference Pending
8. Osler, William Henry, "The evolution of modern medicine," 1921, New Haven, Yale University Press
9. Smith, G. Elliot, introduction to Cyril, Bryan,s book, "The Papyrus Ebers," 1930, London, The Garden City Press, Bryan's book was an English translation of the German translation of the papyrus. 
10. Von Klein, Carl H., "The Medical Features of the Papyrus Ebers," The Journal of the American Medical Association, December 23, 1905, Volume 45, page 1928, George H. Simmons, editor, volume XLV, July - December, 1905, Chicago, American Medical Association Press.  This article provides a fuller story of how the document ended up in the hands of Georg Ebers, how it came to existence, etc.  
11. Baas, Johann Herman, author, Henry Ebenezer Sanderson, translator, "Outlines of the history of medicine and the medical profession," 1889, New York
12. Libby, Walter, "The history of medicine in its salient features," 1922, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Commpany
13. Jackson, Mark, Asthma: A biography," 2009, New York, Oxford University Press
14. Jackson, Mark, "'Divine Stramonium': The Rise and Fall of Smoking for Asthma," Medical History, 2010, 54: 171-194
15. "Medicine in Ancient Egypt," Indiana.edu, http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/egypt.HTM, accessed on 6/5/14

1550 B.C.: Moses preaches good hygiene

Moses (12th and 13th century B.C.)
He is the father of hygiene therapy,
or prophylactic medicine.

While most people don't think of Moses in this light, he had a significant impact on health and healing. In fact, many medical historians give Moses credit as the father of preventative medicine.

Moses (sometimes referred to as Mesu, Mouses and Mosheh) was a Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, profit and historian. He lived at the end of the 13th and early part of the 12th centuries before the birth of Christ.  (2)

The Bible records that his cradle was set into the Nile river by his Hebrew mother Jochebed when the Pharaoh ordered that all first born Hebrew sons be killed. Moses was rescued by the Pharoah's daughter, and adapted by the family of the Pharaoh.  He was then educated "in all the knowledge of the Egyptian priesthood, in which he became proficient," said medical historian Pierre Victor Renouard in 1856. (1, page 32)

Of interest here is that Egyptian priests were educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptian gods, as their studies included all the wisdom of the Sacred books, or the Hermetic books. This knowledge would have include mathematics, weights and measures, law, cosmology, religion, and medicine. So it is very likely that Moses was as adept at health and healing as he was at being a leader.

The Bible says that "One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand."

When Pharaoh learned of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses escaped to Midian.

Concerned about the Israelites, God sent Moses back to Egypt to free the Israelites. He allowed Moses to perform miracles before the Pharaoh to convince the king that Moses was sent by the Israelite God, and the Pharaoh sent for "wise men and sorcerers."

These wise men and sorcerers were the high priests, the Chief Priests of Egypt, who were learned in all the greatest magic of the gods. Pharaoh was convinced the power of the gods was more powerful than the god of the Israelites.

The Bible then says:

"So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned his wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same thing by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said."

Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt in what became known as the Exodus. He helped them escape the Pharaoh's army to Midian by creating an opening in the Red Sea.

God appeared to Moses once again in a burning brush on Mount Sinai. Thus, it was through Moses that God said:

"I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Exodus 15:26)

And then God provided Moses with laws for the people of Israel to follow, including the ten commandments. The Catholic translation is as follows (translations may vary, although the basic idea is always the same):

1. I, the Lord, am your god.  You shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day
4. Honor your father and your mother
5. You shall not kill
6. You shall not commit adultery
7. You shall not steal
8. You shall not bear false witness
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods

Renouard explained that wisdom obtained while living among the Egyptians, along with wisdom learned from the Isrealite God, allowed Moses to lead the Hebrews to the promised land. He would have had knowledge of the Egyptian Pharmacopoeia, and known that their recipes would be hard to put together while traveling to the promised land.

So god appeared to him and encouraged him to educate the people in how to prevent disease, as opposed to treating it. In order to accomplish this, Moses, through the Lord, preached good hygiene. He encouraged the Hebrews to only eat the purest foods, such as the rabbit and hog, even though these animals were considered impure in Egypt. Perhaps, Renouard proclaims, this is evidence that Moses held "his own views other than those ascribed to him."

Medical historian Fielding Hudson Garrison said that the ultimate goal here was to prevent the people from getting sick. He inculcated the idea that it was especially important to wear clean clothing, and to wash and bathe, especially while traveling to foreign lands, and when touching strangers. He inculcated good hygiene when surrounded by sick people, and handling dead bodies or other unclean objects. He encouraged good hygiene during menstrual periods. He discouraged sexual perversion because sexual perversion was linked with illness. These were techniques of keeping people "pure" in order to avoid sickness. (4, page 60)

For an example Renouard refers us readers to the Bible, Numbers Chapter 15, which starts like this: And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: (1, pages 32-33)

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto you. And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering, or in your solemn feasts, to make a sweet savour unto the Lord, of the herd, or of the flock. (Numbers 15: 2-3)

Renouard also refers to Levaticus 11 and 12, which show God telling Moses what to teach the Israelites about what they should and should not do in order to maintain their health. Here is a small sample of what Moses said: 

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, These are the ones you mayt eat: You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. "There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you. Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales—whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water—you are to regard as unclean. And since you are to regard them as unclean, you must not eat their meat; you must regard their carcasses as unclean. Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you. (Levaticus 11: 1-10)

The Lord said to Moses:

"You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash their clothes, and they will be unclean till evening." (Levaticus 11: 24)

He said:

"And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten." (Levaticus 11: 39-41)

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled. (Levaticus 12: 1-4)

Moses also makes a reference to healing:

The one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.

“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. (Exodus 21: 19-21)

Thanks to Moses, the Hebrews were freed from the bonds and prejudices of Egyptian laws and tradition, said medical historian Theodor Puschmann in 1891. (3, page 28)

It was also thanks to Moses that the Jewish (and later the Christian) community was introduced to the method of good hygiene as a method of preventing disease.

Perhaps, said Puschman, it was this new found freedom that allowed Moses to encourage the Hebrews to eat some of the foods Egyptian gods forbade, such as rabbit and hog. Yet this may also have been a byproduct of the necessity of eating the foods that were available in the lands the Hebrews happened to be in at the time, for Moses surely wouldn't want his followers to starve on the way to the promised land due to Egyptian laws. (3, page 28)

Puschmann said this newfound freedom also allowed the Hebrews to be influenced by the people they came into contact with, such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldees, and Persians. This exposure further increased their medical knowledge as well. (3, page 28)

The Hebrews were able to adapt these new cultures and incorporate them into their own. For example, you no longer had to be a priest in order to be a physician. For the first time ever, anyone interested in learning could learn, and this meant anyone could become a doctor. (3, page 28)

This was perhaps a gift of the God of Israel.

1. Renouard, Pierce Victor, "History of Medicine: From it's origin to the 19th century," 1856, Cincinnati, Moore, Wistach, Keys and Co., page 26, chapter 1, "Medicine of the Antique Nation."
2. "Moses," Catholic Encyclopedia, http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm, accessed 3/21/13
3. Puschmann, Theodor, translated by Evan H. Hare, "A history of medical education from the most remote to the most recdent times," 1891, London, H.K. Lewis
4. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An introduction to the history of medicine, with medical chronology, suggestions for study, and bibliographic data," 3rd edition, 1922, Philadelphia and London, W.B. Saunders Company

2000-539 B.C.: Babylon had help giving birth to Medicine

The Babylonians are often said to have advanced medicine.  While this is true to a certain degree, it would not have happened if not for other groups of people who migrated to the region, particularly the Chaldeans and the Phoenicians.

While the Chaldeans are sometimes credited with introducing astrology, divination, and poisons to Babylon, this knowledge would have gone nowhere if not for the assimilation of Phoenician wisdom, particularly their system of writing. This allowed medical wisdom to be shared from generation to generation, and civilization to civilization.

The Phoenicians invented writing even before the Sumerians invented Cuneiform and before the Egyptians invented hieroglyphics. Even while their written language was primitive, it created a basic system that people could later advance and improve upon.  The Phoenician writing system, therefore, was the basic model for letters of all later people. (1, page 29)

The Phoenicians must have influenced the Sumerians, who influenced the Akkadians, who formed an empire around their capital Akkadia.  Over time, this allowed all the various groups of people emigrating to or rising from the fertile soils of Mesopotamia to learn the same language.  This, perhaps, allowed for the assimilation of all the wisdom from all the cultures that emigrated into the region.

Thus, it might have been due to the wisdom of the Phoenicians that even gave medicine a chance to evolve around the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile Rivers.  So it was the assimilation of the Phoenicians, and not just the Chaldeans, who helped the Babylonians advance medicine.

There, chomp on that wisdom while you wait for my next post.

References:

1. Baas, Johann Herman, author, Henry Ebenezer Sanderson, translator, "Outlines of the history of medicine and the medical profession," 1889, New York, page 29

2000-539 B.C.: Babylonians describe first lung diseases

Ancient Babylonian texts describe both diseases of the lungs and heart, and they even describe diseases such a`s chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. These respiratory diseases were more frequent than in ancient Egypt, and the reason may be due to the climate of Mesopotamia which can result in scorching hot days as hot as 120 degrees, and very cold nights. (Sigerist, page 381)

Generally, what is described are the symptoms, which was generally how it was in the ancient world These ailments that caused you to become short of breath, or to develop a cough, were caused by demons sent by the gods. The gods made you get inured or sick because either you or your ancestors had sinned. Another way you might get sick or injured was when dark magic was used by other people, either in the form of words or poisons. (Garrison, page 420)

If, for example, a demon possessed your lungs or heart, this resulted in shortness of breath, chest pain, increased sputum, wheezing, and similar symptoms.  Other diseases described were rumination, acid stomach, nerualgia, and various diseases of the eyes. They also knew about epilepsy and contagion, which was epilepsy caused by demons.  (Garrison, page 56)

They new that some diseases were hereditary, and this was probably caused by a sin of your ancestors.  They also observed some diseases were contagious, and this was probably due to demons possessing anyone who comes into contact with the diseases.  It was probably for this reason people with diseases like leprosy or syphilis were forced to live in exile, and people were discouraged from coming into contact with them. They were also struck by various plagues, and of course these were during times when the gods were exceptionally irritated. (Garrison, page 426)

Many of their remedies, especially exorcism and herbal, were picked up by later societies, including the Egyptians, Hindu, Chinese, Islam, and Medieval Christians.  So what was learned by one society greatly impacted future societies. (Garrison, page 56)

If you were sick or injured, if you were short of breath, you had a variety of options.  You could grin and bear it.  You could treat yourself with your own incantations, prayers and herbal remedies.  You could go to a smaller temples and perform a ritual for health and healing.  You could rely on the priests to perform such rituals at the larger temples.  You could lie in the streets.  You could call for a priest/ physician.

Primitive indeed the options were, you did have options for health and healing in ancient Babylonia.  Around 700 B.C. the Babylonians were defeated by the Assyrians, and sometime around 612 B.C. they conquered the Assyrians and there was a resurgence of sorts, with the capital city of Babylon reaching the peak of its glory.

However, Babylonian civilization grew weak, and was conquered by the Persians and Medes in 539 B.C. The Persian Empire rose to glory, becoming the preeminent civilization of the Near East, and in itself helped to advance medicine.

However, while knowledge was growing in ancient Greece and Rome, the Near East, Mesopotamia included, went into a dark ages of sorts, meaning knowledge was stalled, even regressed.

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

RT Cave Facebook Page
RT Cave on Twitter

2640 B.C.-1820 A.D.:First descriptions of hay fever

Like asthma, allergies were probably prevalent early in human history.  Yet the symptoms of a runny nose, sniffy, sneezes and wheezes, along with red and watery eyes, were probably confused with other maladies, such as asthma or influenza. So there were only random notations describing the malady before it was formally defined by the medical community in 1819.  

About 2,640 years before the birth of Christ, King Menes of Egypt was reported to have died after being stung by a wasp. As far as historians are aware, this is the first account of an allergic reaction.  So it's evident allergies go all the way back to the ancient world.   

King Menes (circa 2925 B.C.)

Right around this time a Middle Eastern Physician named El-Razi observed redness and swelling of the nasal passages in some of his patients.  He described what we might consider allergic rhinitis or hay fever.  Yet those terms weren't used until the 19th and 20th centuries.

Arnoldo Cantani, in his book, "Pediatric Allergy, Asthma and Immunology," described how Caesar Augustus suffered from asthma and seasonal rhinitis (allergies/ hay fever).  Caesar is also believed to have suffered from asthma. (1)

Roman Emperor Claudius (10-13 B.C to 54 A.D) is believed to have suffered from allergy symptoms, and his son Brittanicus (41?-55 A.D.) is believed to have suffered from an allergy to horses. Historical reports have it that when exposed to horses his eyes would swell up and he'd develop a rash.

Princes Nero and Brittanicus

Brittanicus was heir apparent to the throne.  Yet due to his allergies he was limited in what he could do.  And when his mother died, Claudius remarried to Agrippina the Younger.  She had a son named Nero, and Claudius adapted him.  Nero almost immediately won the favor of the public, and Nero ultimately eclipsed his younger brother and was named Emperor in 54 A.D.

Nero would ultimately become famous for throwing Christians to the Lions.  Yet within only a few months of his reign, he is believed to have poisoned his weaker, older brother Brittanicus to death.

Paul M. Ehrlich and Elizabeth Shimer Bowers, in their 2008 book "Living with Allergies," note that it was an Ancient Roman Physician who was the first to describe allergies.  The authors quote Lucretius, who lived from 99-55 B.C., as saying, "What is good for some may be fierce poisons for others." (2, page 4)

Physicians around 850 A.D. observed many of their patients developed sneezing, nasal stuffiness and runny noses when the roses were blooming.  Upon further examination they observed redness and swelling in the nasal passages that resulted in the runny nose, and they referred to this condition as rose fever.

The medical term catarrh was first used to describe the miserable condition that result in a runny nose around 1350 and 1400 A.D, according to dictionary.com. The term catarrh comes from the Greek word katarrous which means "literally down-flowing."  So the term catarrh refers to the redness and swelling of the nasal passages that results in nasal drainage regardless of the cause.  It was a term commonly used by physicians through the 19th century.

2,700 B.C.: Imhotep invents rational medicine

Imhotep was deified
1500 years after his death.
(10)

Natural medicine was an art that developed over hundreds, if not thousands, of years.  Yet it culminated in the 3rd millennium B.C. during the reign of king Djoser (pronounced Zoser).  Yet this time the pharaoh was not given credit, instead it went to a non-pharaoh who became known as Imhotep.

His birth name was Thosortes or Athotis, and he was the son of Ptah.  He was born to a family of priests, and therefore he was educated in the best schools in Egypt.  He was a man of brilliant mind, one that made him a famous for his architectural, engineering, and medicinal talents.  He was also a great scribe, and it was probably this skill that made him vizier (chief advisor) to King Djoser (2650-2575 B.C.) of the Third Egyptian Dynasty.

Since all wisdom came from the gods, legend had it that he developed a close relationship with the god Thoth, who was the god of arts and sciences, and secretary to the gods. It was from Thoth that Imhotep learned how to write, and from whom he learned about architecture, engineering and medicine.

Imhotep grew to a "position of wide trust and importance," said William Osler in his 1913 history of medicine. (9, page 10)

In fact, it was during Djoser's reign with Imhotep at his side that knowledge of architecture, engineering, and medicine came to a culmination. The man given credit for it all was Thosortes, who became known as Imhotep  (2650-2600), which means physician.

Prior to Imhotep (pronounced I-em-hetep), pyramids were build of mud brick and didn't last the test of time. Imhotep was the first to suggest using stone (or at least he's given credit), and he designed Pharaoh Djoser's step pyramid in Saqqara (Sakkara).  He also is said to have invented many of the tools used to make these pyramids and an irrigation system which supplied water from the Nile to fields.  (1)

He also impressed by his ability to heal, and it was from th

King Djoser was an Egyptian Pharaoh
during the 3rd Dynasty of the Old Kingdom

is talent that he earned the name Imhotep, although there are variations of this depending on who the author is, such as Imhotpu, Emeph, Eimoph, Imothph, and Imouthes.

He had other names too, such as "scribe of numbers."  Perhaps this was in reference to the knowledge of numbers required to understand the prescriptions that were recorded, and to have an understanding of the "great many remedies that they employed for diseases of various kinds and many methods of delivering them." (2)

He was paid well for his services, most often in the form of gifts from the Pharaoh. Gifts might have been something elaborate like a necklace or bracelet, or someting as large as a plot of land or even a boat.  A boat would have been useful for traveling down the Nile to visit the sick in their homes.  (5, pages 321-322)

This is Pharaoh Djoser's step pyramid at Saqquara.
At the time it was the largest man-made structure.
Many speculate it as designed by Imhotep. (10)

He also was paid handsomely in the form of great respect throughout the dynasty, and posterity for all time.  In fact, he was so well respected that his legend lived on for centuries after his death, to the point that he became the god Imhotep, a god of health and healing similar to Thoth, Isis, Sekhmet, Heka, Serket, and Ta-Bitjet..  (5, page 321, 322)

Legend has it that he recorded all the medical wisdom he learned from Thoth for all future students of medicine to learn from.  While these documents are lost to time, they were referred to by later physicians, including Claudius Galen in the 1st century A.D.  Since the ancient Greeks referred to Thoth as Hermes Trismegistus, these documents are referred to as the Hermetic texts.

During the 19th century, two large scrolls were discovered, perhaps between the legs of a mummy. (3) They were purchased from a native dealer by Edwin Smith.
The large of the two was sold to Georg Ebers, and became known as the Ebers Papyri.

When it was translated and discovered to be a series of books about internal diseases and recipes for how to treat them, Ebers speculated it was the last six of the 42 Hermetic texts.  While this inspired some early excitement, the document was  dated about 1500 B.C., or a thousand years after Imhotep had lived.   (5, page 305)

The Ebers Papyri is now thought to be an encyclopedia of random recipes from random scrolls.  Perhaps these were recipes one physician thought were important and wanted to remember.  Chances are pretty good this physician was not Imhotep.

The smaller of the two scrolls was kept by Edwin Smith and is referred to as the Edwin Smith Papyri.  It continued to be thought to be the works of Imhotep even after the other document was proved not to be, although this, too, was later learned to be untrue.  It was learned to be fragments, or copies, of older surgical texts. (5, page 304)

Sigerist said that while some believe the Smith Papyri was the"work of a surgeon.  There is good internal evidence, however, that the book was a manual of a war surgery or rather that the experience it reflects was gained to a large extent from war injuries." (5, page 310)

While the idea that Imhotep wrote this document caused a great deal of excitement, later scholars proved this not to be the case.  Sigerist added: "It is not very probable that the vizier of a great Pharaoh would have acted as an army surgeon."

The scrolls may have been texts at one of the Egyptian schools, although they may have been owned by an Egyptian priest as a reference.  When a sick person approached the physician complaining of certain symptoms, the scrolls would have been used to find the medicinal remedy and the incantation to coincide with it.

However, Imhotep's legacy lived on even beyond the era of Egyptian supremacy. During the time when the Greeks ruled over Egypt, around 500 B.C, Imhotep was worshiped as a deity for good health and healing.  Temples in Memphis, Thebes and Pilae were built in his honor, as well as many statues.  (4)

In fact, he was so well respected by the ancient Greeks that he was often associated with the god Asclepius.  (1)  In the end, Imhotep, the great physician, became the most famous non pharaoh in all of ancient Egypt.

Further reading:

• 5000-50 B.C.: Egyptian gods educate physicians
• 5000-50 B.C.: The role of the Bible in medicine
• 5000-50 B.C.: The Ebers Papyrus: the first asthma remedy? 
• 800 B.C.- 800 A.D.: Asclepius will heal your asthma

References:

1. "Imhotep," Egyptpast.com, http://www.egyptpast.com/pyramids/imhotep.html, reviewed May, 26, 2012
2. "The First Physician," Journal of the American Medical Association, August 19, 2009, 302 (7), page 807
3. Dunn, Jimmy, "Egypt: Imhotep, Doctor, Architect, High Priest, Scribe and Vizier to King Djoser," touregypt.net, http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/imhotep.htm, referenced May 26, 2012
4. Lambert, Tim, "A brief history of medicine," localhistories.org, http://www.localhistories.org/medicine.html, observed May 26, 2012
5. Sigerist, Henry E "A History of Medicine," vol I, "Primitive and Archaic Medicine," 1951, New York, Oxford university Press
6. Withington, Edward Theodore, "Medical History From the Earliest Times: A Popular History of the Art of Healing," 1894, London, The Scientific Press, page 14-15 (Chapter IV: Medicine in Ancient Egypt)
7. Wilder, Aleander, "History of Medicine," 1901, Maine, New England eclectic Publishing
8. Sozinskey, Thomas S., "Medical Symbolism in connection with historical studies in the arts of healing and hygiene," 1891, Philadelphia and London, F.A. Davis Publisher
9. 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
10. "Stepping toward a true pyramid," nationalgeographic.com, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/djoser.html, accessed 6/5/14

RT Cave Facebook Page
RT Cave on Twitter

3533-2600 B.C.: The birth of rational/civilized medicine

While many think of Imhotep (2650-2600 B.C) as the first physician,
chances are there were probably many others before him.
Yet he was so impressive for all he accomplished in his life,
that he is the one remembered by ancient accounts.

Among the first things I learned in my study of medicine in primitive and ancient societies was, given the limited medical wisdom of these people, they "rationalized" medicine to the best of their ability. They "rationalized" disease as being caused by evil spirits, demons, ghosts and gods. While we may think of this mythology and irrational, to them it was quite rational. (1, page 248)

We must keep this in mind as we continue our quest to learn the history of medicine, the history of respiratory therapy, and the history of asthma.  Our quest today, however, is to learn about the time in history when what we consider to be rational  medicine was born.  We want to know at what point in history physicians started prescribing medicine that was not mythical, and might actually make your breathing easier, or make your chest pain go away.

To prevent confusion of the term "rational," many historians use terms like magical, religious, or magico-religious to refer to mythology and religious medicine, and terms like civilized, empirico-rational, or natural to refer to real remedies.  Personally, I like the terms magico-religious and civilized, and for this reason I will try to use these terms throughout this history. Still, it's important to understand the confusion here, as the various terms continue to pop up in various historical writings. (2)(4)

By studying ancient Egypt we learn how mythology influenced medicine, and we also learn how civilized medicine was born.  Since Egyptians believed diseases were caused by gods and demons that were ubiquitous, the only means of treating and preventing disease was magic.  The person responsible for medicine was the medicine man, who offered incantations, prayers and amulets to treat disease.  He was a busy person, sought out daily by those afflicted with chronic pain, discomfort, or injuries. (2)

Generally speaking, if you suffered from basic symptoms, such as if you had a cold, you'd deal with it on your own, as you wouldn't want to be a burden to your family or clan.  If you had any symptoms of asthma -- dyspnea, chest pain, coughing, wheezing, or increased sputum -- you'd probably suffer through it until your trouble went away on their own.   If it persisted and you couldn't bare it any longer, then you might give in and seek a medicine man to treat your symptoms.

By trial and error more treatment options were learned, and these are your civilized medicine, your "physical, dietetic and pharmacological treatments."  Methods of setting broken bones, and cutting with a knife (surgery) were developed and passed on by the language that developed. (2)

The job of the medicine man became a specialized profession, and as time went by there were basically three branches of medicine that formed:  (2)

• Sorcerer: They specialized in magic, creating a link between the patient and the spirits 
• Priest: They specialized in religion, creating a link between the patient and the gods
• Physician: They specialized in civilized medicine, treating ailments with prescriptions

More than likely, all three of these paradigms existed side by side, with a patient having all three as options for healing. (1)

For instance, chances are that while physicians were preparing their prescriptions, they'd also be citing incantations and prayers, because they believed they worked by magical or religious means.  `(5, page 4)

As noted by Walter Libby in his 1922 book "The history of medicne in its salient features,": (5, page 4)

On account of the conservatism of the priest physicians, Egyptian medicine never advanced far beyond primitive medicine with its simple faith in magic spells and the virtue of a rich pharmacopoeia, and its belief that the cause of disease was the malice of a demon, the justice of an avenging god, the ill-will of an enemy, or the anger of the dead.

Technically speaking, rationalized/civilized medicine probably started early, perhaps as early as 30,000 B.C., only to be known by a few people.  As word spread of the success of these new remedies, more and more medicine men learned of them, and used them on their own patients with success.  Such wisdom was then shared by word of mouth from one generation to another, mainly through easy to remember poems and songs, until the first medical writings were available.

For the most part, however, most historians recognize rational/civilized medicine as starting early in Egypt and Mesopotamia, only to develop over a thousand years later in China. So it's easy to see that such wisdom was slow to advance and spread from man to man, and society to society.

Historians acknowledge there is evidence of physicians early on in Egypt's history, although such knowledge is sparse. Edward Withington, in his 1894 book "Medical History of the Art of Healing," describes the discovery of a tomb of Sekhet' enanch who was chief priest/ physician of the Pharaoh Sahura sometime around 3533 and 3000 B.C. . Inscriptions show he "healed the king's 'nostrils' for which his majesty wishes him 'a long life of holiness.'" (4)


The next priest/ physician we know of is Imhotep, who was the vizier (chief adviser) and architect of King Djoser around 2,600 B.C. He was believed to be the architect who designed the first great stone pyramids, and to have designed many of the tools used to build these pyramids. He was also believed, for a generation perhaps, to be the priest who communicated with the god Thoth (Hermes), thus writing the medical wisdom of the gods on stone tablets, which are known to history as the Hermatic texts.

Yet Imhotep must have been a heroic physician too, because after his life he was so heralded by the people that he became a god. Although, due to his fame, Imhotep was given credit as the inventor of medicine, something that is also sometimes debated. Yet for our purposes, the writings he is said to have written contained some of the first civilized remedies, prescriptions that involved dough pills, inhalations of smoke and steam, salves, etc. He, therefore, is often considered the father of rational/ civilized medicine.

After Imhotep, rational/civilized medicine spread throughout the whole of Egypt. Some priests studied the last six of the Hermetic texts, and they became physicians. They were often sent to the homes of the sick, and prescribed what we might refer to as rational/civilized medicine, along with the incantations that went with them.

So as the medicine man's specialties evolved, so too did the physician's specialties.  Herodotus (484-425 B.C.), the Greek historian, observed of Egypt that:

The practice of medicine is so divided among them, that each physician is a healer of one disease and no more.  All the country is full of physician, some of the eye, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly, and some of the hidden diseases." (3)

Natural medicine became so common that regular folks had knowledge of it.  Common colds, asthma, headaches, and stomach aches were probably treated by the physicians in the home, as Homer noted of the Egyptians that "each one is a physician, skillful beyond all men, for verily they are of the race of Paeon (Greek physician of the gods)." (4, page 16)

What did he mean by this?  Well,  it's actually open to speculation, but some historians believe he meant that every person in Egypt was knowledgeable of medicine, at least to a certain extent.  Perhaps he meant that the average person in Egypt was like the average person in the United States today, having a medicine chest full of medicine, and the ability to treat the basic ailments and injuries of the day.

Edward Withington, in his 1894 book "Medical history from the earliest times," described two examples what may show that even non-physicians were physicians -- sort of. The first one is the discovery of the medicine chest of Pharaoh Mentu'-hotep of the 11th dynasty around 2,500 B.C. The chest belonged to his wife, and consisted of "six vases, one of alabaster and and five of serpentine, with dried remnants of drugs, two spoons, a piece of linen cloth and some roots, enclosed in a basket of straw-work, the whole standing in a wooden chest found in the queen's tomb." (4, page 16)

As the second example, Withington mentions a "curious letter from a husband to his dead wife, found attached to a small image of the latter. In it he upbraids the departed spirit for having produced disease in him, and while reproachfully calling to mind his kindness to her during life, thus describes her last illness: 'When thou wast sick, with the sickness that thou hadst, did not I go to the physician and bid him make thy medicines for thee? -- yea, he did all things whatsoever thou wouldst have him do.' This seems to imply that the lady to some extent directed her own treatment, and reminds us of the Homeric description of Egypt as the land where 'each one is a physician, skillful beyond all men, for verily they are of the race of Paeon.'" (4, page 16)

It's highly likely that if home remedies didn't work, and greater help was needed or wanted, then the sick may seek a sorcerer, priest or physician. Unexplained diseases were probably treated with magic. Bone breaks and lacerations being treated with surgery, with lotions and salves being used to soothe the pain and speed healing. Chronic disease may be treated with magic, or perhaps with one of the various salves, lotions, potions, pills of dough, and the like.

And what we're most interested in here is emperico-rational medicine --rational/ civilized. It's what is learned by observation and experimentation. The plant Belladonna laid out in the sun and was dried, and one day an asthmatic accidentally dropped some on the fire and inhaled the smoke, getting some relief. He remembered this and tried it the next time he was dyspneic with the same beneficial results. He relayed this story to his friends, and to his children, until one day it was written on papyrus, and delivered to us through time via the Georg Eber Papyrus.

Belladonna is referred to as a herbal remedy. Other available herbs included opium, coca, cinchona, ephedrine, caffeine, carcara, sagrada, chaulmoogra, digitalis, ipacacuanha, podophyllum, pyrethrum, squill, belladonna, and strammonium. These are your natural remedies. (1)

These herbs had to be prepared in such a fashion that they had some potency, some medicinal effect.  Some were best sundried, crushed and inhaled.  Some were most effective in lotions massaged on the skin.  Some were best mixed in dough and swallowed with water.  Some were best dissolved in water and made into broths.  Some worked best as salves.  Many were best mixed with other herbs, or given before or after chanting an incantation.

While these are your natural remedies, said Plinio Prioreschi in his 1991 history of medcine:

(The) pharmacological aspect of therapy must be understood, however, in the context of the supernaturalistic paradigm: the medicines worked through magic, their effect depended on the recitation of the proper words and the performance of the correct actions. In fact, the consecration of the remedies was a significant part of the sacred utterances of the healer.  The potency of herbs was usually due to their relationship with gods or goddesses who were behind their curative powers. (1)

The medicine was magical.  In this way, the physician was just another medicine man.  In a way it seems that in the absence of any truly effective remedy, the hope a priest or sorcerer provided, the hope that helped soothe your mind, may have done more for healing than any remedy of the physician. 

Just think about it:  while a prayer or incantation offered no real remedy, at least it did no harm.  The best case scenario was the placebo effect made you think something was being done.  You felt better by default.  You relaxd.  Your breath came back -- eventually.   I'll let you decide which healer you would have rather taken your chances with. 

Further reading:

• 1500 B.C.: Asthma in ancient Egyps: Ebers Papyrus
• 2600 B.C. Imhotep invents rational medicine

References:

1. Prioreschi, Plinio, "A History of Medicine," 1991, volume I, page 248
2. Sigerist, Henry E, "A History of Medicne," 1955, second editionn, vol. I, 
3. Prioreschik, op cit, page 365-6, referring to Herodotus, II, 84, Translation by A.D. Godley.  
4. Withington, Edward Theodore, "Medical history from the earliest times: A popular history of the art of healing," 1894, London, The Scientific Press, pages 14-23 (Chapter IV: Medicine in Ancient Egypt)
5. Libby, Walter, "The History of medicine in its salient features," 1922, Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Company

RT Cave Facebook Page
RT Cave on Twitter