Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX pp. 35 to 49

EGYPTIAN MEDICAL PAPYRI

SAMIR VAHIA EL-GAMMAL*

ABSTRACT

Many valuable medical papyri on the remote civilisation of theancient Egyptians have discovered during a period of more than 100years ago. This immortal Egyptian medical civilisation shows awonderful type of specialisation in pharmaceutical and medicalprofessions and also in medical scientific writing together with anadvanced surgical art. A study of these papyri shows that. the art ofpreparing the drugs and medicaments together with the knowledge ofthe properties of the medicinal plants was much earlier than the art ofanatomy and surgery. These papyri are considered as the pharmaco-poeias of those ancient periods.

Many valuable rolls of medicalpapyri have been discovered duringa period of more than 100 years ago,which gave light on the remote civili-sation of the ancient Egyptians, thusproved the wrongly belief that theancient Greek civilisation was the firstone to appear in all the world, andthat Egypt was the real cradle andorigin of civilisation.

Going through these papyri, theyshow that the art of preparing thedrugs and medicaments together withthe knowledge of the properties ofthe medicinal plants was much earlierthan the art of anatomy and surgery.Copying of these papyri was madeby professional scribes who had alimited knowledge of medicine (non-

physicians). This denotes that theancient Egyptian pharmacy was theoldest therapeutical profession,practised by herbalists since veryremote ages, before medicine andsurgery was practiced.

These papyri are considered asthe Pharmacoepias of those ancientperiods. They constitute very valuableeternal heritage. showing how theancient Egyptians reached a highstage of glory in their therapeuticalcivilisation. in prehistoric ages. whilethe European ancestors were dwellingin the darkness of knowledge.

This immortal Egyptian medicalcivilisation shows a wonderful typeof specialisation in pharmaceutical

*Historian. P. O. Box 136. Maddi, Cairo. EGYPT.

36

and medical professions and also inmedical scientific writing togetherwith an advanced surgical art. Thanksto these medical papyri which werepreserved for the present generationand the generations to come, whichin the past were copied and adoptedby the near-by countries of the MiddleEast and crossed the Mediterraneansea where it went deep in ancientGreek and Mid of Europe and becamea part of their folk-traditional curativeformulae and thus shows the influenceof the ancient Egyptian medical civi-Iisation on the whole of the civilisedworld.

Both Edwin Smith and Eberspapyri were discovered together inone jar. The former was consideredby the ancient Egyptians as the Text-Book of Surgery ~while the latter astheText Book of Medicine.

These medical papyri are:1. Ebers medical papyrus:

It was discovered in 1862 insomewhat good condition, bought bythe German, George Ebers in 1872and was named after him. It is thelongest, most important and famoushistorical and medical document. Itis kept in Liepzig University. It isneatly written denoting good care inits writing, in red and black ink, andcomments on some of the prescrip-tions, describing them as good, whichmight be the work of a pharmacistwho found it beneficial while prepa-ring some of its recipes.

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

It is believed to have been writtenin 1550 B.C. at the beginning of the18th dynasty, evidenced by the appea-rance of the name of the king of thattime. It clearly shows that it wascopied from an older manuscript. Itis written in Hieratic writing of theEgyptian language, with heads of thesubjects in red ink. It also consti-tutes the oldest proof on the highlevel of civilisation in the art of phar-macy in ancient Egypt. (Translatedby Wreszinski in 1913 and again byB. Ebbell in 1937).

One can observe the following:a) The medical prescriptions werearranged according to the differentorgans of the human body. Thistabulation is the primary step in thepathway of development for the sakeof science.

b) The papyrus begins with threeincantations. Here we find the firstseparation between magic and medi-cine, since it contains about 877medical prescriptions and only twelveincantations. This is a clear evidencefor the dependance on drugs ratherthan magic and proves that the phar-macist was the only one in charge ofthe preparation of the prescription'singredients.

c) It also contains the ways oftreatment of the diseases, caused byworms, haematuria, vitiligo, leprosy,ophthalmias (endemic diseases inancient Egypt from remote periods),

Egvptian Medical Pepvri=Semir Yahia £I-Gamma!

also against wounds, turnouts, boils,nasal and ear affections, gynaecology.. etc., drugs against termites, scorpi-ons, lizards, rats ... etc.

d) It is nearly the only papyrus thatmentions diagnosis together with theprescriptions; a matter which wasvery rare in the rest of the medicalpapyri discovered. It also shows thatthe ancient Egyptians knew how todifferentiate between closely relateddiseases, and their tend to performmany trials and experiments, as obser-ved in that prescription for the regro-wing of the scalp's fallen hair,prepared by the King Teta's mother(3rd king of the 1st dynasty), whichshows that this papyrus W2S theresult of many years of experimentsbefore it was written, probably beforethe dynastic period, and that medicalknowledge was interchangeable bet-ween ancient Egypt and other neigh-bouring countries like the city ofByblos ill Lebanon. Certain wordswere found to be orehistoric whilecopying, so a side note was addedto explain their meaning.

Ebers papyrus is 20.23 metres long,with 108 columns each of 20-22Iines.e) Also mentioned in the papyrus, a~;:escription pr -parad bv a pharmacistnamed "Khov" in Heliopolis for thecure of oecular infections. Thisproves that there existed in Heliopolis.pharmacists who used to preparecertain medicaments, c~lIed after theirnames (!S a sort of trade mark

37

registration and monopoly, same asto-day .

f) The pharmacists at that time werevery skilled in the preparation ofmedicaments and in their selection.They used fresh medicinal plants orsom=times boiled; fruits unripe, ripeand over ripe, all parts of the medicinaltrees even their spikes, thorns or resinwith special attention to the right andexact time for choosing these drugs,and their preparation time and thebest localities to obtain them.

They also added sweeteningagents so as to obscure the bad tasteof some of the drugs, by using beeror milk. They also knew how todifferentiate between simple, coldand bitter kinds of beer, and betweenfresh, sour and cooked milk fromdifferent sources such as mares, cowsor human. Also, knew sycamorelatex, simple and mineral water,linseed emulsion, flour water. natranwater .. etc.

g) The prescriptions contained dif-fernt sorts of food. skin and hairointments, pills for chewing. enemas,ear wash, body wash, nasal drops,gargles, suppositories. snuffs, incense,purification vapours. perfumes, inhala-tions, potions, cataplasrna. ophthalmicpreparations; eye ointments anddrops, Kohl and several medicaladvices.

The surgical part was written in

38

the same pattern as in Edwin Smithpapyrus.

2. Edwin Smith surgical papyrus:

It was discovered in 1862 A D.by the American Edwin Smith, toge-ther with the Ebers papyrus, and iskept now in the Historical Society ofNew York. It dates back to nearly1700 B.C, but shows that it wasrecopied from the original manuscriptwhich was written by Imhotep, thefamous physician of that age, round2800 BC., (Translated by JamesBreasted in 1930).

It shows the followinga) It comprises 17 columns, 469lines, with a length of 4.68 metres,full of ancient Egyotian drawings,vertically and horizontally orientedand believed to have been written bydifferent persons due to the insimila-rity of the writings, but looks identicalto that kind of writinq commonlyused during the Hvksos invasion.

b) It contains explanations of seve-r21 cases without mentioning thetreatment. Also other cases whichcould not be cured, description ofwounds and fractures that occur inthe different parts of the body. Alsocontains some incantations and pres-cription!' for rejuvenation of the elder

people. So it shows how remote the

ancient Egyptians' great civilisation,

and to how extent was the develop-

ment of surgery by them.

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

c) It is also concerned with thetreatment of surgical cases togetherwith some magical incantations andspells. It shows how great the humanmind war; in discovering the hiddensecrets of the human body and howprogressive were the ancient Egyp-tians in the classification of the studyof the surgical cases by first descri-bing them, then their examination,diagnosis, choice of the treatment,ways of preparation of the medica-ment and mode of use.

Concerning surgery, the ancientEgyptian surgeons were very skilledin operating on wounds, headconcussions, broken limbs .. etc. usingvarious surgical instruments ofvarious shapes such as curved knivesdrills, saws ..etc. They used to openthe skull, remove any blood clots orstop bleeding, then clean the damagedtissues and finally replace the pieceof skull and bind it in position withbandages and adhesives.

Such operations were performedby the ancient Eqvptims, even inpre-dynastic times (a number of skullshave been found which bear evidenceof trepanning, and the patient some-times survived as the fact that thesevered section of the skull had knitto the parent bone, as was found inone of the mummies).

Other operc.tions as delicate asthis were performed by the Egyptiansurgeons, as was written in Edwin

Egyptian Medical Papyri-Samir Yahia E/-Gammal

Smith surgical papyrus (c. 1700 B.C.)which is considered the oldest bookof surgery in the world, with casesranging from injuries of the craniumto the lower spine, all methodicallyarranged. Each of its 48 cases werepreceded by a brief caption expres-sing a summary diagnosis, followedby another detailed diagnosis, a briefbut clearly formulated prognosis andsometimes the therapy. In mostcases, a later Egyptian commentatoradded one or more explanatory notesto the original text, in order tointerpret expressions difficult tounderstand or to expound obscurepassages containg words or expres-sions which have become obsoletesince the original text of the manus-cript.

This papyrus must therefore havebeen one of the standard text-booksused in the Egyptian medical schools,and was certainly much older thanthe date of the present manuscript,in fact it is most probably over 6000years old.

3. Hearst medical papyrus:

It was discovered in 1901 andwas named after the lady who paidfor the expences of Dr. Reisner'sexpedition in Egypt, and her namewas Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst ofAmerica. The papyrus contains 18columns, 273 lines and 660 prescrip-tions.

It dates back to 1500 B.C., and is

39

preserved in California museum. Itis believed to have been written atthe same time with Ebers papyrus,but is not 8 copy of it, although verysimilar in its prescriptions, but con-tains 8 lot of informations that arenot present in Ebers, and someprescriptions are literally repeated inboth of them. Also the arrangementof the prescriptions are quite differentand some of the headings in theidentical ones differs. (Translated byReisner in 1905, then by Werszinskiin 1912 then by Lutz et al in 1935).

It is clearly evident that thewriter of Hearst papyrus had t ake nhis informations from Ebers papyrusand from some prescriptions gatherdand collected by some physiciansfrom the folkloric medicine of thevillagers which was handed fromgeneration to generation, eitherverbally or in writing. (Sometimesconsidered as the practitioner's recipebook) .

Also, it is clearly evident thatHearst papyrus was written in a smallvillage in contrast to Ebers papyruswhich was written in the big andmodern city of Thebes due to thecontents of the civilised medicalinformation.

One can cleady see the following;a) The ancient Egyptians arrangedthe ways of treatment according tothe organs of the human body. withmention of the cure for expellingevil spirits, fear, anxiety ..etc.

40

b) Decoctions were prepared in theopen dew, and the ointment basesconsisted of lard, fat, olive oil ..etc.

c) Incantations were recited duringweighing of the prescription's ingre-dients, showing [how accurate theancient Egyptians were in specifyingeach dose.

d) Oil, honey and beer had specialappreciation, and whenever any ofthem was mixed with other ingre-dients, a special pray was done.

e) The patient's name was alwayswritten in red ink while the ingredientswere in black with the doses in red.f) The ancient Egyptians had specialways of treatment concerning teethinflammation, headaches, breastswelling, stomachache, heart trou-bles, broken bones, tumours, boils,bites of crocodiles, pigs, wildbuffaloes, lions, human beings, ..etc.Also for the different types of wounds,urinary infections and diuresis,bladder infection, general debility,

g) They used to cure anaemia byeating cooked hull's liver or its blood,had prescriptions for body pain. Evilspirits were expelled from the sickbodies with special prescriptionscomposed of several herbs mixedwith honey, This clearly shows thatthey did not use magic only for thatpurpose.

h) The papyrus contain prescriptionsfor the preparation of pills, potions,

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Mad, Vol. XX

dressings, cataplasma, limb plaster,diet food, creams, ointments, pow-ders, magic incantations ..etc.

i) Hearst Papyrus resembles to agreat extent the Berlin papyrus, withliteral and identical similarity to theEbers papyrus prescriptions.

4) Berlin medical papyri:(Nos. 3038 & 3027); (Ermanpapyrus) ;They were found together by the

Italian 'Gulsepoe Passalacqua' in 1825near Memphis and are kept in BerlinMuseum. They are of great similarity,specially that of No, 3038, to that ofEbers and Hearst papyri. Both werewritten in black and red ink. Theywer j considered as the most preciousvolumes in the Iibrarv of the GodImhotep in Memphis. (Translated byErman in 1901).

The first one (No. 3038) which isthe most important of them, is of5.16 rretres long, with 15 columns,and dates back to 1550 B.C. Aheading at its beginning denotes thatit was an "Introductory for medicalprescriptions aqiinst pain", and thatit was copied from an old papvrusthat was found at the feet of the GodAnubis in Osim (Imbaba to-day, asubsrb of Greater Cairo), during thereign of the King Athothis, the 2ndking of the 1st dynasty, (who wasalso a physician and wrote a valuablevolume on anatomy), then that oldpapyrus b .came the possesion ofKing Send. (Galen referred much in

Egyptian Medical Papyri-Samir Yahia EI-Gammal 41

his medical books about this oldpapyrus). (contains 279 lines and204 prescriptions). It was written bythe physician "Neterhotep". One canobserve the following in this papyrus:a) It contains prescriptions againstpain, evil spirits, painful micturitionand haematuria (Bilharziasis). andintestinal worms (Ascaris & tapeworms), against vomiting, fever,breast tumours, stomach and hearttroubles, scorpion bites, burns, earpain ..etc.

b) Liniments were used orally in twoprescriptions.

c} It also contains 8 prescriptionsfor detecting women's ability topregnancy, thus proving the greatinterest of the ancient Egyptians inthat matter, to the extent that theycalled the God Imhotep "childrengiver to those who have none".

d) It also contains 3 magical in-cantations; one of them to be recitedbefore the oral intake of drugs, thesecond to alleviate pain, and the thirdagainst stomach pain.

The other Berlin medical papyrus(No. 3027) dates back to 1350 B.C.,and is composed of 21 columns, 3prescriptions and 30 incantations.(Translated by Wreszenski in 1909).

5) london medical papyrus:(No. 10059);It is a small papyrus roll, found

in 1860 A D., and is preserved in the

British Museum. It is written in theHieratic writing, and mostly deterio-rated, with many incantations andfew prescriptions, dating to 1350B.C. (63 prescriptions, 11 of themwere mentioned in Ebers papyrus).It was thought first that it belongedto the 4th dynasty (2720 B.C.) dueto the mention of the name of theKing Khufu (Cheops), but it wasfound from the pattern of the writingthat it was written in the 19th dynasty.Most of the prescriptions were copiedfrom older texts, but due to theabundance of magical spells, it showsthat magic at that time was dominantover medicine and drugs. (Translatedby Wreszenski in 1912).

One can deduce the following;a} One of the incantations wasagainst strong fever, in which a pleadto the Gods was made to remove thebad glands from the patient (mostprobable a tumour).

b) It contains 11 prescriptionscomposed of cataplasma and dres-sings, 6 ointments, 26 incantations. etc.

c) The medical prescriptions are fewand simple in their formulae, usingherbs which were available at homesuch as wheat, barley, lard, lettuce,honey, carob, sycamore latex, palmpollen grains. etc.

d) Chemicals such as heavy metalswere introduced in the prescriptions

42such as white lead, red lead oxide,antimony sulphide ..etc.

e) Most of the prescriptions weremeant for the treatment of burns,wounds, using lead salts, poppy plantfor gangrenous burns.

f) It is composed of 19 columns.

6) Chester Beatty medical papyrus:This papyrus dates back to 1250

B.C. It was bought by Chester Beattyat the end of the 19th century andwas given as a gift to the BritishMuseum. It consists of 8 columns,each with 14 lines, and contains 41prescriptions for the treatment of theanal diseases. The scientific opinionsin this papyrus resembles very muchthose ones which Hippocrates adoptedin his works concerning the analanatomy and diseases. Also theprescriptions are classified into sub-jects, with similar pattern, denotingthat the writer was a specialist in theanal diseases. (Translated by Jon-kheere in 1947).

The scientific level of this papyruscoincides with that at Ebers andKahun papyri, and with same impor-tance as Berlin papyrus. It does notcontain any new medical informationsbecause the anal diseases werementioned in Hearst, Edwin Smithand Ebers papyri.

Other Chester Beatty medicalpapyri (Nos 10690, 10695, 10698),

Bul!. Ind. tnst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

are also preserved in the BritishMuseum; the 1st one totally dedicatedto prescriptions against sexual weak-ness, while the other two are onmedicine and magic.

7) Kahun medical papyrus:It was discovered in 1889 and

is considered the oldest medicalpapyrus, written circa 1900 B C. Itdeals with diseases of women. Thedescription of each disease beginswith the chief symptoms. The lastpage mentions methods of ascertain-ing pregnancy and sex of foetus. Itis 1 meter long and 32.5 em wide,composed of three columns. Itresembles the texts of the othermedical papyri and does not containany description of surgical treatment,but with many drugs. (Preserved inthe British Museum). It contains154 lines, 34 prescriptions. (Tran-slated by Griftith in 1898). Thispapyrus proves to be the origin fromwhich Ebers and Edwin Smith papyrihave copied, due to the similarity ofthe prescriptions.

Another papyrus wa s discoveredby the same person, and was calledKahun veterinary papyrus. It treatsfish, birds and animals. Also preser-ved in the British Museum. It datesback to the same period as themedical one (Also translated byGriffith in 1898).

Ramesseum papyri:These are five small medical

Egyptian Medical Papyri-Samir Yahia £I-Gamma/

papyri. each with about 20 lines, andcontains prescriptions for the treat-ment of different diseases of the eyes,burns, urine, pain, worms ..etc. Theydate back to the 19th dynasty.

lieden papyrus:This medical papyrus is preser-

ved in the Lieden Museum, Holland,and dates to the same period as thatof Berlin papyrus (No. 3038). i. e.round 1350 B.C., but less importantsince the medical prescriptions arefew and the incantations are many,composed of 10 columns.

louvre medical papyrus:This medical papyrus is preserved

in the Louvre Museum. France. It isvery short, composed of 3 columns.

Turin papyrus:It is a small papyrus with many

incantations.

The Greek medical papyrus:It is a big papyrus, preserved in

Lieden Museum, Holland. It containsprescriptions similar to those in Berlinpapyrus (No. 3038). composed ofointments and mixtures, mostly aboutsex problems, written in Greek.

The Lieden Greek papyrus:It was written in the 1st century

A.D. in Greek, found in Upp ir Egyptand is preserved in Lieden Museum,Holland.

Gardner medical papyrus:It was written circa 2000 B C.,

43

and composed of 29 lines, deals withgynaecology and midwifery.

Carlsberg medical papyrus; (No.8):It is composed of deteriorated

bits of papyri, preserved in the Uni-versity of Copenhagen, Denmark,dates back to the 19-20 dynastyThe front columns contains pres-criptions ophthalmology while theback on gynaecology, with deliverysymptoms, sex of the babv ..etc. Itresembles that of Berlin papyrus(No. _038) and that of Kahun papyrus,(Translated by Erik Inversen in 1939and by H. Grapow).

Many of the theories enclosed inthis papyrus were copied by Hippo-crates, which were later found in theEnglish folkloric medicine of the 12thcentury A D., and in the German folk-loric medicine of the 17th century AD,Most of these informations on medi-cine were distributed in Europe bythe famous physician ConstantinusAfricanus who was a graduate of thefamous school of medicine of Salerno,Italy in 1200 AD, and were found inhis belongings after his death. Thisschool played a great role in thespread of the ancient Egyptian medi-cine in the whole of the Europeancontinent, thus proving that the anci-ent Egyptian medicine was adoptedby the Greeks which was later trans-f erred to the Romans.

Carlsberg medical papyrus wasliterally copied from the Ophthalmo-chapter of Ebers papyrus.

44Of the later medical papyri, which

were copied from the earlier ones arethe following:

1) The London Demotic medicalpapyrus:It was written in the Demoting

writing of the Egyptian language, anddates back to the 3rd century A.D.It contains a good some of the oldmedical informations, and preservedin the British Museum.

2) The Golenishef papyrus:It dates back to the Roman period,

round the 3rd century A.D., anddevoted to gynaecology, written inGreek.

3) Cattawi papyrus:It is devoted to surgery, written

in Greek, and dates back to the 3rdcentury AD.

4) Coptic papyri:They are papyri or parts of big

volumes, written on parchment paper,found in different parts of Egypt andcontains many medical prescriptions,giving a clear idea on the medicineduring the 1st-8th century A D, allwritten in the Upper Egypt copticlanguage.

a) EI-Mashayekh or Chassinatpapyrus; (9-10th cent. A.D) :It is one of the important refe-

rences on the drugs and medicaltreatment, written during the 9-1 Othcenturies A D. and was found inUpper Egypt in 1890. It is 2.48 metres

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

long and 27 cm wide with 240 linesand 237 prescriptions.

It resembles very much the earlierancient Egyptian papyri and containsmore about the Greek knowledge onmedicine and the Arabic civilsation,evidenced by the abundance of Arabicnames of drugs in the text. It ispreserved in the French Institute ofOriental Antiquities, Cairo. (It wastranslated by Chassinat). It is charac-terised by the extensive use of opiumas a sedative in gynaecology andophthalmology.

b) Zijega medical papyrus;(7-8th centuries A.D.) :It is preserved in the Vatican

library, and consists of two papers ofparchment in 4 pages, and contains45 prescriptions on dermatology. Itwas a part of a big and importantvolume (245 p) which was lost. It iswritten in the Coptic language, afterbeing translated from that pharaonicvolume which was preserved inlmhotep library in Memphis. with theapproval of its keepers. (It is preser-ved in Italy and was translated byZ6ega).

It clearly shows the influence ofChristianity on the pattern of writingof the text. in which the names ofthe Pharaonic Gods were replacedwith the names of Christian archan-gels (Isis. Horus to Gabriel, Rafael,Israel, Michael ...etc.).

Egyptian Medical Pepvri=Semir Yahia EI-Gammal 45

This papyrus explains the waysof preparing the drugs, uses of sulphurbaths in hot water for the treatmentof Scabies, and the extensive uses ofminerals in topical usage.

c) Xenon papyrus:A small medical papyrus, found

in a deteriorated state.

Other medical papyri are distri-buted in the museums of Paris,London, Turin, Berlin, Budapest,Vatican and others, which show manyof the medical traditions that are stillin use up till now in Egypt, in thesame way, and even in Europe.

Other papyri which are found inthe British museum and in Turincontain almost identical sections andseem to have been transcribed fromone master book.

Conclusion:1) These medical papyri are conside-

red as documents and text books,semi-official, copied from earliervolumes with or without somemodifications. They were valuedas educational references, that laiddown strong cultural bases to theprofession of Pharmacy and allmedical branches including sur-gery. They were considered asthe Pharmacoepias of those pe-riods.

2) Some of these papyri are whollymedical such as Ebers, some sur-

gical like Edwin Smith and somewith magical incantations andspells like Berlin papyrus.

3) Some of them are well arrangedscientifically, in the followingmanner:a-type of disease.b-method of examination.c-diagnosis.d-description of the treatment.e-method of preparation of the

prescription.f-mode of use.

A mere glance to one of the casesin Edwin SMith papyrus on sur-gery shows how accurate werethe ancient Egyptians in theirscientific knowledge.

4) All of the medical papyri containsdrugs of plant, animal and mine-rai origin, with more than half ofthe former.

5) Many of the plants used in thedifferent prescriptions areunknown up till now, becausemany of them were given secretdiscriptive names, many havestopped to exist in Egypt, othershave been imported from theneighbouring countries, ..etc.

6) All these medical papyri are won-derful and immortal heritage toEgypt and to all the civilisedworld, showing how gloriouswere the ancient Egyptians in

46

their medical knowledge sincevery remote historical periods, andalso gives a good example aboutthe specialisation in professionsand in medical writing and alsoabout the great development insurgery they achieved.

7) The information contained in allthese medical papyri were copiedand recopied by all the neighbou-ring countries of the mediterra-nean region, going deep into thethe heart of Europe, evidenced bythe strange similarity of theirfolkloric recipes to those of theancient Egyptians, thus showinghow much they owe to the Egyp-li::;n civilisation.

It must be pointed out that, avery great deal of the Greek medicinehas been taken over from the ancientEgyptians. This is especially conspi-cuous in materia medica; an over-whelming number of remedies in themedical papyri are found in Diosco-rides book of herbs and are prescri-bed against exactly the same disea-ses, so there can be no doubt thatthe Greeks must have borrowed themfrom the Egyptians.

The Ebers papyrus contains but

minute parts of nosology and patho-

logic doctrines. It is difficult to

make out how much of the rest of

Greek medicine is a loan from the

Nile valley.

Bull. Ind. Inst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

The Kahun medical papyrus spe-aks of the different diseases of wo-men as being due to morbid states,or wanderings of the uterus; exactlythe same statement is found in theHippocratic work "de morbis mulie-rum", 2nd book.

At the beginning of Edwin Smithpapyrus, various injuries to the skullare described, quite systematicallyarranged: first, the superficial woundsand then successively the deeper-going wounds. This recalls the des-cription in the Hippocratic writing"de capitis vulneribus".

According to Ebers papyrus,prescriptions 36-43, affections of"mouth of the stomach", may beaccompanied by diseases in differentorgans. Herewith may be comparedAlexander Traltianus ' statement VII,chapter 1; .. "that when the mouth ofthe stomach is ill, it becomes a sourceof many ailments, bringing aboutepilepsy, cramps ..etc". The surgicalsection in Ebers papyrus (106-110).treating the different kinds of swell-ings, reminds one of Galen's work"de tumoribus contra naturarn", andmay, no doubt, be considered as aforerunner of the same.

Indeed, even the ancient doctrine

of the disease-producing humours as

the cause of different diseases, as

concerning tho Phlegm theory, shows

that it has come from Egpyt. (Ebers

a

Egyptian Medical Papyri-Samir Yahia £I-Gamma/

papyrue 25 and the Hippocratic work"de glandulis", chapter 14).

So the Greek medicine has takenover very much from the Egyptianmedicine and can only be lookedupon as a further development of thelatter. The best evidence of the highvalue of the Egyptian remedies, isthe fact that, they have been able tohold their ground during thousandsof years; a great many of them arefound in the works of Dioscorides,Hippocrates, Galen ...etc., and fromthem, they have been handed downto later times.

So Egypt and not Greece must beconsidered the original home of themedical art, and we ought not to setup the Greek Asklepios as the patrongenius of medicine, but rather the

47physician whom the Egyptians gavethis dignity, that is Imhotep.

This immortal Egyptian civilisa-tion shows a wonderful type of spe-cialisation in pharmaceutical andmedical professions, and also, inmedical scientific writing togetherwith and advanced surgical art.Thanks to these medical papyri whichwere preserved for the present gene-rations which were copied by all theneighbouring countries thousands ofyears ago and went very deep intheir culture specially the Greeks andmid of Europe, and so became a partof their folk-traditional curative for-mulae thus proving the great influ-ence of the ancient Egyptian medicalcivilisation on the whole of the civi-lised world.

48 Bull. Ind. tnst. Hist. Med. Vol. XX

REFERENCES1-The Technical Sciences of the Ancients; by Albert Newsberger (1930).2- The Divine Origin of the Herbalists; by Budge.3-The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus; by Breasted (1940).4-The Four Thousand Years of Pharmacy; by Charles H. Lawall.5-Un Papyrus Medical Copte; by E. Chassinat.6-W. R. Dawson.7-The Papyrus Ebers; by EbfelJ.8- Egyptian Murnies; by Eliot Smith.9-Lectures in the History of Medicine; by Georgy Sobhy.

10- Lectures in the Book of Simple Drugs; by Georgy Sobhy.11-Die Garten Pflanzen im Alten Aegypten; by L. Keimer (1924).12-AII Medical Papyrus; by Wreszinski.13-Die Flora das Juden, 5 vols.: by Law (1924).14-Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries; by Lucas (1948).15- The Ancient Botany; by P. E. Newberry.16-0rigins and Development of Applied Chemistry; by Partington.17-The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides; by Robert T. Gunther.18- De La Flora Pharmaceutique; by Schwein Fusth (1882).19- Les Vegetaux Antiques; by Victor Loret.20-Chronicles of Pharmacy, 2 vols.; by Wooten.21-A History of Medicine; by A. Castigloni (1947).22-Drugs of Ancient Egypt; by Saber Gabra (1951).

Egyptian Medical Pepvri=-Semir Yahia EI-Gammal 49

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