Even in antiquity, representatives of some civilizations reached such heights in some areas of knowledge that even today it is hard to believe. And some of the technological secrets of our predecessors are unknown to modern scientists. One of such amazing civilizations was ancient Egypt. Medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and construction have reached a very high level there. And the topic of this article will be specifically healing.
Ancient Egypt: medicine and religious beliefs
Everything that was done here was inextricably linked with religious beliefs. In general, this state of affairs is characteristic of many ancient civilizations. It was believed that Egyptian medicine was the brainchild of the god of wisdom, Thoth, who created 32 Hermetic books for people, six of which were devoted to medicine. Unfortunately, the news of this storehouse of knowledge of the ancients came to us only in indirect references. The labors themselves were lost.
Ancient Egypt: Medicine and Biological Knowledge
In addition to these books, knowledge of biology and anatomy also existed on papyrus. The most famous of them are the papyrus Smith and Ebers. They came to us from the middle of the 2nd century. BC. Ebers Papyrus contains general medical topics, prescriptions and prescriptions. Smith’s legacy contains valuable insights into the treatment of bruises and wounds. In addition, some works on gynecology and pediatrics were also found by archaeologists. However, the medicine of ancient Egypt
had weaknesses. Despite the constant practice of opening and embalming the dead, knowledge about the anatomy of the human body and its physiology have not received much development. First of all, this was due to the existence of many prohibitions regarding a dead body. They significantly impeded his study. Actually, embalming was not even done by doctors, but by individual specialists, for whom the body was not of interest from the point of view of treating diseases.
Ancient Egypt: Medicine and Disease Treatment
Until modern days, texts have reached that contain fairly complete information about various diseases, as well as how to treat them. At the same time, the development of medicine was hindered by ideas about human ailments, which were based on the ideas of instilling evil spirits into a sick person. Other causes could include poisoning and weather. Therefore, the most important component of treatment was magic rituals and conspiracies. In surgery, only the simplest procedures were performed: splinting, reduction of dislocations. Nevertheless, the diagnosis was quite well developed. So, the Egyptians learned to determine the pulse in different arteries. They had a fairly complete picture of blood circulation, realized the importance of the heart. What reached heights in ancient Egypt was pharmacology, which existed in the form of various types of medicinal potions. A fairly large number of drugs were known. Their necessary doses for various diseases have been clarified. For example, olive, castor oil, opium and saffron are used today.