Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were never studied by ancient egyptians; true science with its controlled experiments, careful observations and testable results did not exist until long after their early, superstitious times (Brier and Hobbs [Page 263]). Despite this they still saw injuries and diseases more important than the contemporaries. Egyptian doctors were of the highest social class and had a reputation throughout the ancient world. In ancient egypt, knowledge of medicine was knowledge of ritual. Although the physician acted as a specialized ritualist, it is not to be implied that recitation took priority over therapeutic practice.
In the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, individual cases are described and their symptoms listed, together …show more content…
From the nature of the injuries, it was once thought to be the work of an army surgeon, but some scholars now attribute it to a doctor attached to a pyramid construction team (Kagan, Ozment, and Turner [Page 22]). If this is so then the wounds listed are probably results of on-site accidents. One scourge of countries with samp, hot climates, schistosomiasis, which still afflicts 10 percent of Egypt’s population today, seems to have been rampant in ancient times. One study found remains of the eggs that cause this disease in fifteen of twenty-three examined mummies. The cause is a parasite, carried by snails living in the still waters of canals and in the Nile’s riverbanks, that burrows through the feet of waders, enters their veins, and then swims to the body’s bladder and rectum to deposit eggs. The worms finally migrate to the urinary tract, causing blood in the urine (hematuria), and after the eggs hatch, they cause severe anemia, urinary infection and liver ailments. Ancient Egyptians never suspected a virtually invisible worm caused these problems, because of that all they could do was try to relieve the discomfort. A potion consisting of the tail of a mouse mixed with onion, meal, honey and water, all strained before using, then drunk for four days, was used specifically by the medical
In the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, individual cases are described and their symptoms listed, together …show more content…
From the nature of the injuries, it was once thought to be the work of an army surgeon, but some scholars now attribute it to a doctor attached to a pyramid construction team (Kagan, Ozment, and Turner [Page 22]). If this is so then the wounds listed are probably results of on-site accidents. One scourge of countries with samp, hot climates, schistosomiasis, which still afflicts 10 percent of Egypt’s population today, seems to have been rampant in ancient times. One study found remains of the eggs that cause this disease in fifteen of twenty-three examined mummies. The cause is a parasite, carried by snails living in the still waters of canals and in the Nile’s riverbanks, that burrows through the feet of waders, enters their veins, and then swims to the body’s bladder and rectum to deposit eggs. The worms finally migrate to the urinary tract, causing blood in the urine (hematuria), and after the eggs hatch, they cause severe anemia, urinary infection and liver ailments. Ancient Egyptians never suspected a virtually invisible worm caused these problems, because of that all they could do was try to relieve the discomfort. A potion consisting of the tail of a mouse mixed with onion, meal, honey and water, all strained before using, then drunk for four days, was used specifically by the medical