Papyrus has been dated back to several thousand years ago and through translation it has led archaeologists to knowledge of three different classes of priests. These priests had practiced medicine, like what we would call a physician or doctor in today's terms. There are three main types of early priest healers known throughout the Pharaonic era and they are known as: the priest physician, the magician-physician, and the lay physician. The priest physicians had the most power and influence because they practiced both types of medicine. They were also considered upper class because of their very high demand to many pharaohs. It is hard to really determine how much actual medical training they had because it seemed more of a figurehead style position. The priest physicians were usually the leaders divvying up tasks to a clergy of more hands on physicians known as Sekhmet priests, and doing very minimal work themselves. Their main focus was to discover the nature of an entity possessing a person, and then drive it away or destroy it using rituals and spells. Sekhmet priests were also involved in plague prevention, and even veterinary medicine for animals. Many pharaohs also worshipped the goddess Sekhmet, who is the Egyptian goddess of plagues and healing. Pharaoh Amenhotep III had erected many statues of Sekhmet as a way to appeal to the goddess to cure him because he had numerous health problems involving dental and overall
Papyrus has been dated back to several thousand years ago and through translation it has led archaeologists to knowledge of three different classes of priests. These priests had practiced medicine, like what we would call a physician or doctor in today's terms. There are three main types of early priest healers known throughout the Pharaonic era and they are known as: the priest physician, the magician-physician, and the lay physician. The priest physicians had the most power and influence because they practiced both types of medicine. They were also considered upper class because of their very high demand to many pharaohs. It is hard to really determine how much actual medical training they had because it seemed more of a figurehead style position. The priest physicians were usually the leaders divvying up tasks to a clergy of more hands on physicians known as Sekhmet priests, and doing very minimal work themselves. Their main focus was to discover the nature of an entity possessing a person, and then drive it away or destroy it using rituals and spells. Sekhmet priests were also involved in plague prevention, and even veterinary medicine for animals. Many pharaohs also worshipped the goddess Sekhmet, who is the Egyptian goddess of plagues and healing. Pharaoh Amenhotep III had erected many statues of Sekhmet as a way to appeal to the goddess to cure him because he had numerous health problems involving dental and overall