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PubMed2006

Dwarfs in ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt was one of the most advanced and productive civilizations in antiquity, spanning 3000 years before the "Christian" era. Ancient Egyptians built colossal temples and magnificent tombs to honor their gods and religious leaders. Their hieroglyphic language, system of organization, and recording of events give contemporary researchers insights into their daily activities. Based on the record left by their art, the ancient Egyptians documented the presence of dwarfs in almost every facet of life. Due to the hot dry climate and natural and artificial mummification, Egypt is a major source of information on achondroplasia in the old world. The remains of dwarfs are abundant and include complete and partial skeletons. Dwarfs were employed as personal attendants, animal tenders, jewelers, and entertainers. Several high-ranking dwarfs especially from the Old Kingdom (2700-2190 BCE) achieved important status and had lavish burial places close to the pyramids. Their costly tombs in the royal cemeteries and the inscriptions on their statutes indicate their high-ranking position in Egyptian society and their close relation to the king. Some of them were Seneb, Pereniankh, Khnumhotpe, and Djeder. There were at least two dwarf gods, Ptah and Bes. The god Ptah was associated with regeneration and rejuvenation. The god Bes was a protector of sexuality, childbirth, women, and children. He was a favored deity particularly during the Greco-Roman period. His temple was recently excavated in the Baharia oasis in the middle of Egypt. The burial sites and artistic sources provide glimpses of the positions of dwarfs in daily life in ancient Egypt. Dwarfs were accepted in ancient Egypt; their recorded daily activities suggest assimilation into daily life, and their disorder was not shown as a physical handicap. Wisdom writings and moral teachings in ancient Egypt commanded respect for dwarfs and other individuals with disabilities.

Dwarfism↗

PubMed1995

A brief journey into medical care and disease in ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt was one of the greatest civilizations to have arisen, becoming the cradle of scientific enquiry and social development over 3 millennia; undoubtedly its knowledge of medicine has been vastly underestimated. Few artefacts survive which describe the medical organization, but from the extent of the diseases afflicting that ancient populus there would have been much to study. Evidence from papyri, tomb bas reliefs and the writings of historians of antiquity tell of an intense interest in the sciences, humanities and medicine born of an educated society which had overcome the superstitions of its nomadic ancestors.

Achondroplasia↗

PubMed1993

[Pharmacopoeia in ancient Egypt].

Ancient Egyptian pharmacological science is high part of the Egyptian medicine, as evidenced by the so-called pharmacological papyrus Ebers, which contains prescriptions with different kinds of components of vegetable, mineral and animal origin. These data suggest that Egyptian pharmacopeia had an exceptional complexity in the whole of ancient medicine. Egyptian medical knowledge influenced Mediterranean civilizations, as evidenced not only by the Greek translations of names of components but also by the Egyptian and Egyptian-like prescriptions found in the Corpus Hippocraticum.

Egypt, Ancient↗

PubMed1991

Gastroenterology in ancient Egypt.

Physicians in ancient Egypt devoted their care to disorders of individual organs. Notable among the specialties was gastroenterology, a subject matter that occupied a major portion of the surviving medical papyri. Although they did not name diseases as we know them, Pharaonic physicians described a host of gastroenterological symptoms for which an extensive array of therapeutics was prescribed. Their clinical accounts indicated an impressive knowledge of gastric and anorectal conditions. In their thinking on disease mechanism, the circulating materia peccans absorbed from feces represented a major cause of medical symptoms and disorders. This served as the rationale for the popular practice of self-purgation with enemas.

Egypt, Ancient↗

PubMed2004

Childbirth in ancient Egypt.

Medicine in ancient Egypt was much more advanced than the rest of the Biblical world, especially in trauma surgery. Care at the time of childbirth was however virtually non-existent. There were no trained obstetricians or midwives but a galaxy of gods were at hand. This article traces what we can piece together about pregnancy of childbirth from the evidence we have in tombs and papyri of Egypt.

Delivery, Obstetric↗

PubMed1993

Pharmacy and medicine education in ancient Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians knew many of the therapeutical effects of the medicinal plants. This knowledge was taught at home from father to son. So, these houses formed the first primitive pharmacy and medicine schools. Century after century, the ancient Egyptians became more and more interested in medical sciences. Temples began to establish medical and pharmaceutical schools. Priests of good and honest character with scientific background were chosen to become teachers and professors in these schools. Another medical and pharmaceutical schools teaching all the scientific courses were the Per Ankh or Houses of Life. Special schools were erected inside the Royal palaces for the education of the Royal family children, the nobles and the court officials comprising all sorts of sciences and arts, specially taught in its own Per Ankh, as in Heliopolis and Memphis palaces.

Education, Medical↗

PubMed2005

Reproduction concepts and practices in ancient Egypt mirrored by modern medicine.

The treasured ancient papyri provide a glimpse into understanding of common concepts and practices in ancient Egypt. The Kahun gynecological papyrus and other texts unveil the traditions of reproduction, conception and delivery. This article addresses the rationale of beliefs and practices of that era. Frequently, the reason for common traditions exercised at the time is based on medical knowledge of female anatomy and physiology during pregnancy. Surprisingly some of the remedies commonly used in ancient Egypt were recently explored and found intriguing. This paper was aimed to look at the reflection of archaic practices and concepts of ancient Egypt by the modern mirror of evidence-based medicine.

Contraception↗

PubMed2004

[Concepts of the heart in Ancient Egypt].

The heart was regarded in Ancient Egypt as the organic motor of the body and also the seat of intelligence, an important religious and spiritual symbol. It was considered as one of the eight parts of human body. Counter to other organs it had to be kept carefully intact in the mummy to ensure its eternal life. In Ancient Egypt, the concept of heart included three constituents: heart-haty, heart-ib, and the spiritual seat of intelligence, emotion and memory. The hieroglyphs representing the heart early in the first dynasty were drawn with eight vessels attached to it. Egyptian doctors have elaborated an original conception of cardiovascular physiology which endured 30 centuries.

Cardiology↗

PubMed2004

Infectious diseases in ancient Egypt.

Techniques for studying infectious disease in the ancient world are discussed. A brief survey of infectious diseases, such as schistosomiasis and malaria, in ancient Egypt is presented, and the physical traces of these diseases are examined. A discussion of the ancient Egyptian physician's response to infectious disease is included. There are two substantial sources of evidence for infectious diseases-physical remains and descriptions in Egyptian medical papyri. This preliminary survey suggests that ancient Egypt was far from the idyllic paradise on the Nile that some historians would like to imagine.

Bacterial Infections↗

PubMed1995

Sexual attitudes, preferences and infections in Ancient Egypt.

This socio-sexual review of Ancient Egyptian society aims to increase awareness that the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is largely determined by the way a society is structured and how that structure functions. The prevalence of STDs in Ancient Egypt has been found to be low. This state of affairs was maintained for centuries. Although the structure of their society was rigidly hierarchical, Egyptian people made it function in an acceptable way. What might be learned is concerned more with prevention than cure. Whether this has any relevance today is discussed.

Attitude↗

PubMed1994

[Sexuality in Ancient Egypt].

The present article explores the sexuality in ancient Egypt. In particular in this article are presented the ways of concubinage (marriage, concubinage, adultery), the incest, loves of the pharaohs and of the common people, the freedom of choice in garments, the status of the hetairas and of the whores, the sexual perversions (male and female homosexuality, necrophilia, sodomism, bestiality, rape, masturbation, exhibitionism), the operations of the genitals (circumcision, excision, castration) and finally the level of knowledge in gynaecology, fertility, contraception and obstetrics that even today demands our admiration.

Castration↗

PubMed2005

[Under the primacy of funerary cult? Surgery in Ancient Egypt].

Rational, natural-philosophical disease theory places ancient Egyptian medicine above the magical-demonistic perceptions of other contemporary advanced cultures. The rational element emerges even more strongly in teaching about wounds--traumatology. It was this that gained Egyptian medical science such high regard in the ancient world. In both areas (internal medicine and traumatology), written sources provide us with a really useful picture. By contrast, details of an operative, elective surgery are almost completely lacking. Illustrative sources and anthropological finds do, nonetheless, feed the suspicion that elective surgery could have been measured in traumatology. However, this image is relativised by an anthology and discussion of all tangible finds, and their classification into the overall source context. Even if the technological capacity for elective surgery had been entirely available in ancient Egypt, it appears that ancient Egyptian physicians generally abstained from operative surgery--a voluntary abstention, the roots of which are to be found in the religio-cultural customs and in the religious obligation to keep the body intact for the afterlife. Even in their most rational form, ancient Egyptian medical science was, therefore, limited by beliefs about the after-life and funerary cult.

Egypt, Ancient↗

PubMed1965