GCSE - Egyption Medicine

The Egyptians had far more advanced medical techniques than people had in Prehistoric times. The main reason for this is their religion. They believed in life after death, therefore they felt it was very important to treat the corpses with a lot of care. They were prepared for the afterlife. This meant the Egyptians gained a lot of knowledge about anatomy. The process they went through to preserve the bodies is called embalming. It was noticed that the organs in the body would not remain preserved so they removed them before the burial. They were placed into canopic jars, then the body was treated with salts. These salts and the desert air dried out the bodies and later they would be wrapped in hundreds of yards of linen. After 70 days, the embalming process was complete and the mummy would be placed inside a specially made coffin with things that made them comfortable in life.

Their way of life also helped them gain medical knowledge. The River Nile was crucial to them surviving on the dry deserts. Once a year the river flooded, it gave their fields the nutrients needed to grow crops. To keep their crops growing all year round they developed a channel system, they dug irrigation ditches and used pipes to get the water from the Nile to their fields. This inspired an analogy, they figured that being as their crops would die if they water couldn't get to them; that it would harm the body if blood couldn't travel round it. The conclusion was then came to that, the human body was also full of channels, that carried fluids to the vital organs. If a channel in the body got blocked, it would cause problems. This was crucial to medicine, as it was the first thought of practical cures for illness. It was thought, that to unblock the vessels purging, vomiting and bleeding should be used.

However their religious beliefs also prevented them from making any more medical advances. They treated the corpses too well, and did not examine them as they thought they were