![]() Hieratic and cursive hieroglyphs were used at the same time and within a medical setting. Later papyri were composed mainly in demotic, which was the dominant script. Nunn, Ancient Egyptian Medicine (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996).Īll of these papyri were composed in hieratic except Ramesseum V, which is in cursive hieroglyphs, much like the Kahun veterinary text. List of significant ancient Egyptian medical papyri. Presently, there are at least eleven known medical texts (in chronological order): the Kahun, Ramesseum, Edwin Smith, Ebers, Berlin, Hearst, London, Chester Beatty, Carlsberg, Brooklyn, and the London-Leiden Papyrus (fig. Although the papyri are in various states of preservation, they give us valuable insight into the ancient Egyptians’ knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, ways of diagnosing disease and injuries, and how to treat medical issues using both rational medicine and magico-religious (a belief in supernatural beings) elements. Before the discovery of these papyri, much of what we knew was through the writings of individuals like Hippocrates, Homer, Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, and Diodorus. Many of the surviving papyri have been found in tombs. Much of what we know about ancient Egyptian medicine has been preserved through several medical papyri. Clemens of Alexandria (150–215 CE) noted that this knowledge may have existed much earlier with Athothis of the First Dynasty (circa 3100–2890) (son of Menes, the first pharaoh and who united Upper and Lower Egypt) and who may have authored a volume on anatomy. The beginning of organized medical care and the development of Egyptian medical science may be credited to Imhotep, during the reign of Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty (circa 2686–2613, Old Kingdom). Much of what we know about ancient Egyptian medicine comes from human remains, visual representation as seen in tombs and temples, among other places, and through written texts. ![]() Symptoms were a result of a disturbance of maat, which could be repaired by heka, supplication, spells, and ritual. They turned to the religious idea that illness was a message from divine entities with access to heka (magic power). The swnw (conventionally pronounced as “sewnew”), wab priest, and sau were healers who focused either on the divine or mortal aspects of an illness or injury. ![]() Being pure was particularly important when one was coming into contact with the divine, including priests. Purity preserved maat and thus the body guided views on the relationship between the mortal world and the divine. Health depended on this balance just like Egypt depended on the Nile River to maintain life. One’s good health meant that maat was balanced, while illness, injuries, and other issues indicated that maat was not in order. New York Metropolitan Art Museum, Rogers Fund, 1927, 27.3.230. ![]() Above the cartouche is a winged sun disk and below is a broad collar with falcon terminals. Maatkare generally translates as “Maat is the life force of Re (the sun god).” On either side of the cartouche are feathers representing the goddess Maat (truth). In the center of the base of the scarab in the cartouche is Hatshepsut’s throne name, Maatkare (Hatshepsut was queen and later pharaoh during the Eighteenth Dynasty). Scarab inscribed for Maatkare (Hatshepsut), New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty (1479–1458 BCE). ![]()
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