Ancient Egyptian Medicine Research Paper
The Art of Ancient Egyptian Medicine
Throughout history, there have been many diverse beliefs associating ailments and death with witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods. Although the Egyptians believed that the reason for internal illness was the evil gods punishing the body, but they also believed that man could treat external problems. In addition to their supernatural ideations, the ancient Egyptians also provided modern historians with a great deal of evidence that they had a working knowledge of human anatomy and extensive surgical skills for their time. Inscriptions from the Rosetta Stone, an ancient artifact, led to documentation of the Papyri. This script gave extensive descriptions of medical practices and …show more content…
While Egyptians did not conduct major surgery as performed today, these physicians had a great deal of knowledge about the human anatomy for their time, and they made great progress in surgical knowledge. To name only a few ancient documented medical procedures, Egyptian physicians actually excised organs through a small incision made to the groin, and they inserted hooks through a nostril, and broke the bones in the skull to remove the brain. They also knew how to treat dislocated bones and how to remove cysts. With the translation of the Rosetta Stone in 1822, an ancient artifact created in 196 BC, historians discovered and were able to decipher several sets of inscriptions and papyri (medical documents) from that era. The Ebers Papyrus, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and the Hearst Papyrus provided extensive details about Egyptian medicine and surgeries. Three different scripts were used in the writings of the Rosetta Stone. The first was hieroglyphic, which was primarily used for important or religious documents, the second was demotic (the common script of Egypt), and the third was Greek, which was the common language of Egypt at that time. This documentation was written in all three languages so that priests, government officials, and rulers could read
Throughout history, there have been many diverse beliefs associating ailments and death with witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods. Although the Egyptians believed that the reason for internal illness was the evil gods punishing the body, but they also believed that man could treat external problems. In addition to their supernatural ideations, the ancient Egyptians also provided modern historians with a great deal of evidence that they had a working knowledge of human anatomy and extensive surgical skills for their time. Inscriptions from the Rosetta Stone, an ancient artifact, led to documentation of the Papyri. This script gave extensive descriptions of medical practices and …show more content…
While Egyptians did not conduct major surgery as performed today, these physicians had a great deal of knowledge about the human anatomy for their time, and they made great progress in surgical knowledge. To name only a few ancient documented medical procedures, Egyptian physicians actually excised organs through a small incision made to the groin, and they inserted hooks through a nostril, and broke the bones in the skull to remove the brain. They also knew how to treat dislocated bones and how to remove cysts. With the translation of the Rosetta Stone in 1822, an ancient artifact created in 196 BC, historians discovered and were able to decipher several sets of inscriptions and papyri (medical documents) from that era. The Ebers Papyrus, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and the Hearst Papyrus provided extensive details about Egyptian medicine and surgeries. Three different scripts were used in the writings of the Rosetta Stone. The first was hieroglyphic, which was primarily used for important or religious documents, the second was demotic (the common script of Egypt), and the third was Greek, which was the common language of Egypt at that time. This documentation was written in all three languages so that priests, government officials, and rulers could read