Story

The most ancient center of Egyptian civilization was the valley of the lower reaches of the r. The Nile, the fertile lands of which stretched for 5-10 km on both sides of the river. According to archaeological data, in the VI millennium BC. e. there appeared the first settlements, which later turned into city-states. The real border of the country passed where the fertile black earth ended and the red one began. Hence the country’s self-name, Kemet, which means Black (land).

For a long period, two countries existed in the Nile Valley: Southern (Upper) Egypt (from the last fifth threshold to the first branch of the Nile Delta) and Northern (Lower) Egypt (the Nile Delta). At the end of the 4th millennium, they were united into a dual kingdom.

The modern name of the country Kemet - "Egypt" - appeared after the arrival of the Greeks and comes from the word "Aigyptos". So the ancient Greeks pronounced one of the names of its ancient capital, Hat-ka-Ptah (i.e., “The Manor of Dvoi Nick Ptah” - the first Egyptian god). Another name for this city is Men-Nefer Pepi (i.e. “The Everlasting Beauty of Pepi” - Tsar VI of the Dynasty), abbreviated as Men-Nefer, which was eventually transformed by the Greeks into Memphis.

Periodization of history and healing

The history of ancient Egypt has more than three thousand years: from the end of the fourth millennium BC. e. until 395 AD, when, after the collapse of the Great Roman Empire, ancient Egypt became part of Byzantium.

According to the established tradition, the beginning of which was laid by the Egyptian priest Manet-von (IV-III centuries. BC. E.), Compiled for the Ptolemies, the first historical description of ancient Egypt, its history is divided into four eras and several periods: the era of the Early Kingdom (ca. 3000 - ca. 2800 BC), the era of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2800 - ca. 2250 BC), the period of the First Disintegration of Egypt (ca. 2250 - ca. 2050 BC) . e.), the era of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2050 - c. 1750 BC), the period of the Second Disintegration of Egypt (c. 1750 - c. 1580 BCE), the era of the New Kingdom ( about 1580 - about 1085 BC .), the late (Libyan-Sais and Persian) period (c. 1085 - 332 BCE), the Greco-Roman period (332 BCE –395 AD.) the Byzantine period (395–638 AD), from 639, the Arab invasion of Egypt.

In the history of healing of ancient Egypt there are three major periods: the king (XXX — IV centuries. BC. E.), Greco-Roman (332 BC. E. - 395 AD.) And Byzantine (395— 638), which goes into the Middle Ages.

All the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic medical texts of the tsarist period that have come down to us are recorded in the 2nd millennium BC. e. (i.e. relate to the history of the Middle and mainly the New Kingdoms).

This chapter covers the treatment of the royal period; medicine subsequent periods of the history of ancient Egypt is described in the relevant chapters on medicine of ancient Greece, ancient Rome and the Byzantine Empire.

The development of empirical knowledge

Natural-scientific knowledge of the ancient Egyptians grew primarily from their practical experience - from the material, transforming the world human activities.

In the era of the Early Kingdom, the Egyptians learned to use the natural floods of the Nile for seasonal agricultural work, developed a system of hieroglyphic (from the Greek. Ee-ros - sacred and glyphe - that cut) letters and mastered the material of the letter for writing — papyrus (Greek. Papyros), which was used by mankind for four millennia (almost to the tenth century AD). During this period, the characteristic Egyptian culture (religious beliefs, the cult of the dead, the characteristic artistic style), which preserved throughout the history of ancient Egypt, including the Greco-Roman period, was formed.

In the era of the Old Kingdom began the construction of the pyramids. The first of them, the step pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, was erected in Sakka-Re to the design of a high official of Favaon, architect, healer and sage Imhotep (Imhotep, XXVIII century BC) (Fig. 17), who was later deified. Glory and memory of him persisted until the invasion of the Persians and Greeks, who identified him with the god of healing Asclepius.

The largest Egyptian pyramids were built during the IV dynasty (XXVIII-XXVI centuries. BC. E) pharaohs Khufu {Greek. Cheops), Half-Ra (Greek: Khafre) and Menkau-Ra (Greek: Mikerin) near the modern village of Giza near Cairo.

The 3rd epoch of the Middle Kingdom was recorded as the most ancient Egyptian natural-scientific works that have come down to us - mathematical and medical papyrus.

In the era of the New Kingdom, the period of the brightest flourishing of the ancient Egyptian civilization began. Ancient Egypt reached its highest economic and "political power during the time of the reigns of the pharaohs of the XVIII-XXth dynasties, among them Men-heper-Ra (Greek Tutmoses III) and User-Maat Ra Ra-ssep-en-Ra (Greek Ramses II) .

The need to calculate the periods of rise and fall of water in the Nile led to the development of Egyptian astronomy. This is evidenced by the maps of the starry sky, preserved on the ceilings of the tombs of the pharaohs of the XIX — XX dynasties (XIV — XII centuries. BC). Based on the practical needs of agriculture, it was the Egyptians who first divided the day into 24 hours (12 noon and 12 noon) and created the most perfect calendar of their time. According to the Egyptian calendar, the year consisted of 365 days (12 months of 30 days each and 5 additional days at the end of the year). The Egyptian calendar was adopted in the Roman Empire (from 45 AD), retained its value in medieval Europe, and was used by N. Copernicus in its lunar and planetary tables.

The era of the new kingdom includes the majority of extant papyruses of medical content.

Sources on history and healing

The main sources on the history and healing of ancient Egypt are: descriptions of historians (Man-von, Herodot) and the writers of antiquity (Diodorus, Polybius, Strabo, Plutarch, etc.); archaeological research (including the study of Egyptian mummies); records and images (fig. 18 and 19) on the walls of pyramids, tombs, sarcophagi and funeral stelae, texts of papyrus scrolls (Table 6).

The study of ancient Egyptian texts began relatively late - after 1822, when the French scholar Jean-François Champollion (Champol-lion JF, 1790–1832) solved the mystery of the Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

Currently, more than ten papyrus scrolls are known, which are partially (which does not allow calling them “medical”) or are entirely devoted to healing. All of them, as already noted, are recorded in the periods of the Middle and New Kingdom (II millennium BC. E.) - However, this does not exclude the possibility of the existence of earlier lists (i.e. copies) of these papyrus already our days are not preserved. Thus, Georg Ebers (Ebers, Georg, 1837–1898) considers that the papyrus named after him was originally composed between 3730 and 3710. BC e., and scientists Egyptologists admit that the papyrus of Edwin Smith (Smith, Edwin, 1822-1906), could be a copy of the earlier text, compiled at the beginning of III millennium BC. e. (Perhaps Imhotep - healer and architect of the pharaoh Jo-ser, who ruled ca. 2780 - ca. 2760 BC. e.). Imhotep was not the only known healer of the Old Kingdom. Thus, the inscription in the tomb of Nomarch Mechen - a dignitary of Pharaoh IV of the dynasty Snofru (XXVIII century BC. E.) Indicates that he was the famous "doctor-um (swnw) of the nome people". In that

In the 19th century, the healer of the teeth of the Heractats lived on papyrus scrolls during the Old Kingdom period. The inscription on the wall of the tomb of Wash-Pta ... and the chief architect of the king V dynasty, Neferirka Ra (XXV "BC), also reports. the record says that Uash-Ptakh died suddenly in the presence of Pharaoh, this is the most ancient mention of a disease that resembles a stroke or myocardial infarction. Ancient historians tell us about the ancient treatises that have not reached us. that the second king I dinas ii Atotis (XXVIII in. BC. e.) was a skilled healer and made the text on papyrus scrolls on the structure of the human body.

Mythology and healing

The ancient Egyptian religion has existed for almost three and half a thousand years.

A significant place in the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians occupied the cult of animals. Each nome (city-state) had its own sacred animal or bird: a bull, a cat, a crocodile, a ram, a lion, a falcon, an ibis, a kite, etc. The deceased cult animal was embalmed and buried in sacred tombs. The killing of a sacred animal was punishable by death.

The subject of a special cult were snakes. The serpent goddess - Cobra Wagit (Egyptian. Green), the patroness of Lower Egypt - was revered as a protector against all enemies. She "was part of the royal emblem (Urey) and was depicted on the headdress of Pharaoh (Fig. 20) as the patroness of the royal power, along with a falcon, a bee and a kite. On amulets (Fig. 21) Isid) and the god Usnri {Greek Osiris) - revered as the lord of the sky and air, and portrayed as a falcon or a man with a falcon head. The art of healing he received from his mother, the goddess Isis, who was considered the inventor of magical healing and the patroness of children. She personified motherhood and fertilized nature. ie the name of Isis, .byli known 'even in ancient Rome and are mentioned in the books of Galen (II c.).

The spouse (and brother) of Isis, a descendant of the sun god Ra Osiris was worshiped as the god of the afterlife and depicted as a living mummy. Before him, the god of embalming In-pu was considered the lord of the ancient Egyptian necropolis. Anubis) - the inventor and first master of mummification, who prepared (according to legend) the first Egyptian mummy - the mummy of Osiris. Anubis was depicted as a black dog or a jackal, as well as a man with a jackal head.

Among the main deities of ancient Egypt, who had to do with doctoring, was the god of writing and knowledge of Je- • Huti {Greek. That one). He was depicted as a man with the head of an ibis bird or as a baboon (both are symbols of wisdom in ancient Egypt). According to legend, He divided mankind by language and invented writing, invented mathematics and astronomy, religious rites, music and healing by natural means; he was credited with compiling the most ancient Egyptian medical texts.

In addition to the main deities in ancient Egyptian mythology, there were also gods of healing. This is the patroness of the healers, the mighty Sohmet, or Sakh-met (Egyptian. Mighty) —the war god, the spouse of the supreme god, Memphis Ptah (she was worshiped as a lioness or lion-headed woman; fig. 22) and the patroness of women and women in labor, the goddess Tauert (she was portrayed in the form of a female hippo; Fig. 23). Small figurines of the goddess Tauert always. placed near the newborn, whether it be the heir of the great Pharaoh or a simple Egyptian.

A striking feature of the Egyptian religion was the requiem katlt, which arose back in the pre-dynastic period and is the key to understanding all Egyptian culture.

The ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife and considered it a continuation of the earth. They believed that the human afterlife manifests itself in several forms: one of them - the soul (Egyptian Ba, depicted as a bird with a headed human) - exists at the body of the deceased, but may temporarily leave the tomb and go up to heaven to the gods; the other is the “twin”, or the vital force of man {egy. Ka), lives in a tomb, the other world, and even settles in the statues of the deceased. The notion that after the death of a person his afterlife substances are connected with the place of burial caused a desire to save the body from destruction, that is, to embalm it (from the Greek. Balsamon - balm).

Mummification in ancient Egypt was carried out by special people whom the Greeks called tarichets. Their embalming secret is lost forever, but the corpses of the dead, processed thousands of years ago, have survived to this day. The embalming procedure, which took 70 days, is described in detail by Herodot in the middle of the 5th century. BC e. However, studies conducted in the XX century, made some adjustments and additions to this classic description.

It is clear that not many had the opportunity to embalm the corpse of a deceased relative. The people of Egypt, from the pre-dynastic period, buried the dead in the sand of the neighboring desert of the Nile. The bodies of the dead, wrapped in mats (without a coffin and mutation), remained for a long time almost unchanged: the sand dried them, preventing them from further destruction.

According to the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, every deceased appeared before the court beyond the grave (the idea of ​​the court took shape in the era of the New Kingdom). The aftermath court (Fig. 24) was headed by the god Osiris. The god of knowledge, Thoth, acted as the accuser. God Anubis was weighing the heart of the deceased. If it was lighter than an ostrich feather (a symbol of law and justice), the deceased had access to the world of the gods.

The requiem cult of ancient Egypt has no equal in any of the religions of the peoples of antiquity. Nevertheless, the Egyptian people always remained cheerful and strong. According to the Russian Egyptologist B. A. Turayev, every Egyptian thought about death throughout his life and, collecting everything necessary for the afterlife, “mainly prepared not to die despite death”.

The development of medical knowledge

An integral part of the bright and unique culture of ancient Egypt was healing. It arose from the practical experience of the people. The medical papyrus that have reached us are concise practical guidelines for healers.

The first ideas about the structure of the human body (anatomy) of the Egyptians were obtained from the practice of embalming, which also testified to the achievements in the field of chemistry (scientists believe that the modern word "chemistry" comes from the ancient name of Egypt - "Kemet", or "Khemet" ).

The knowledge of the ancient Egyptians in the field of body structure was sufficiently high for its time and comparable only with the achievements of the ancient Indians, with the proviso that the Egyptian texts date back to the 2nd millennium BC. Oe., and Indian medical treatises - the first centuries of our era.

Already in the middle of the II millennium BC. e. The ancient Egyptians described large organs: the brain, heart, blood vessels, kidneys, intestines, muscles, etc. However, they did not subject them to special study, which is most likely due to the influence of religious dogmas.

Egyptians own the first surviving description of the brain. It is cited in E. Smith's papyrus, in which the brain movement in an open wound is compared to boiling copper. The ancient Egyptians noticed that brain damage causes a painful condition of other parts of the body (for example, paralysis of the limbs), and, thus, laid the foundation for natural-scientific ideas about the brain.

A special role in the life of a person they assigned to the heart and vessels: “The beginning of the doctor’s secrets is knowledge of the progress of the heart, from which vessels go to all members, for every healer, every priest of the goddess Sohmet, every spellcaster, touching the head, neck, hands, palms, legs - everywhere it touches the heart: vessels are directed from it to each member ... ”- says papyrus G. Heber-sa. Thus, the ancient Egyptians in the middle of the II millennium BC. e. possessed the art of identifying diseases by the pulsation of the vessels, i.e. the pulse, which they observed at various points in the body. It is known that pulse diagnostics reached its peak in the ancient world in ancient China (texts of the 3rd century BC. And later).

The causes of disease were associated by the ancient Egyptians with natural phenomena (unhealthy food, intestinal parasites, weather changes), and with supernatural ideas (for example, the introduction of the evil spirit of the deceased in the body of the sick). According to Herodotus, they were convinced that "all human illnesses come from food." That is why “they cleanse their stomach every month for three days in a row, taking laxatives, and preserve the health of vomit and klister” (the invention of the enema is attributed to the Egyptians).

The most extensive information about internal diseases and medicinal healing in ancient Egypt is contained in the great medical papyrus by G. Ebers (16th century BC), discovered in 1872 in Thebes and named after the scientist who studied it. Glued from 108 sheets, it reaches a length of 20.5 m and fully justifies its design.

\ title "The Book of making medicines for all parts of the body." Papyrus contains about 900 medications for treating the digestive organs, respiratory tract, ear, throat and nose, burns and bleeding, eye diseases, skin, parasitic and many other diseases. In the preparation of medicines, plants (onions, poppies, dates, lotus, pomegranate, aloe, grapes, papyrus), minerals (antimony, sulfur, iron, lead, soda, alabaster, clay, nitrate) and parts of many animals were widely used. So, the medicine for expelling worms (“killing worms”) contained, among other components: date seeds - Y8, plants of diet-SART-U8, sweet beer - 25 parts. Record ended with the words: "cook, mix, drink - will be released immediately." The cure for blindness included bull liver and honey. Some recipes were extremely complex and included up to 37 components. The basis for the preparation of drugs were milk, honey, beer. Many components of medicinal products have not yet been identified, which makes their study much more difficult.

Most of the recipes in the Ebers papyrus are accompanied by references to magic spells and plots that the Egyptians believed were frightening evil spirits. For the same purpose, substances often unpleasant to the taste were included in the composition of the drug: parts of the mouse's tail, excretions from the pig's ears, excrement and urine of animals, etc. The intake of such drugs was accompanied by awesome incantations and spells.

A separate section of Ebers papyrus is devoted to cosmetics. It provides prescription medications to smooth wrinkles, remove moles, change skin color, color hair and eyebrows, enhance hair growth, and even correct strabismus. To protect the eyes from the scorching sun and some contagious diseases, the Egyptians (both women and men) covered their eyelids with green pas.toy containing antimony salt and malachite powder, while giving the eyes an almond shape. The Egyptians wore wigs that were worn over short-cropped hair (which helped prevent lice). The wig consisted of many tightly intertwined braids and, protecting it from the scorching sun, replaced the headpiece. Prescription of these traditions gives grounds to consider ancient Egypt the birthplace of cosmetics.

In ancient Egypt, some severe infectious (smallpox, malaria, plague) and parasitic 'diseases were common. This is evidenced by the descriptions of historians, smallpox pustules on the face of Ramses II, the plague bacillus found during the examination of mummies, and other indisputable evidence.

The Nile Valley was a major focus of severe helminthic diseases - urinary and intestinal schistosombs. These diseases are described under the name Sta in the papyrus of Ebers, Hirst ,. Berlin and London. Ancient texts report that the presence of worms in the body, the appearance of blood in the urine (Egyptian hematuria), rectal lesions, and diarrhea were characteristic signs of aaa disease. The existence of schistosomiasis in ancient Egypt is confirmed by the study of Egyptian mummies' (20th dynasty, 12th century BC), in the kidneys of which a large number of calcified eggs of its pathogen Schistosoma haematobium were found.

Today it is known that the pathogen of schistosomiasis is spread by water through an intermediate host, the mollusk. Hence it is clear why the construction of irrigation systems in ancient Egypt contributed to the wide spread of this disease throughout the country. From the original range in Egypt, schistosomiasis has spread to other parts of Africa and Asia. An extensive center of urinary schistosomiasis originated in ancient Mesopotamia, where irrigation systems were also constructed. In the XVI — XVIII centuries. He was brought to America. Historians of the medieval Arabic-speaking East and French doctors who accompanied Napoleon on his campaign to Egypt wrote about this disease. Currently, about 200 million people on our planet are affected by schistosum disease; over 500 million are at risk of infection. Targeted program to combat this disease is carried out under the leadership of the World Health Organization since 1958 at the suggestion of Egypt - a country whose population is still most affected by schistosomosis.

In ancient Egypt, the most ancient extant text on the structure of the human body and surgical treatment (surgery) was composed of Edwin Smith's surgical papyrus, dating from the 16th century. BC.

In 1930, the American Egyptologist J. G. Brasted (Breasted J. N.) first published his hieratic (half-written) text, transliteration in hieroglyphs, and an English translation with extensive commentaries in the form of a separate volume (Fig. 25).

The text of the treatise is located on a papyrus tape 4.68 m long and about 33 cm wide. It consists of 17 columns in which 48 cases of traumatic injuries of the bones of the skull, brain, cervical vertebrae, clavicle, forearm, chest and spinal column, as well as methods of their treatment in the complete absence of elements of magic and mysticism.

The medical ethics of Egypt at that time demanded that the healer, after examining the patient, openly informed him of the expected outcome of the treatment in one of three phrases: 1) "this is a disease that I can cure"; 2) “this is a disease that I may be able to cure”; 3) "This is a disease that I can not cure."

In cases where a cure was possible, the author of the papyrus gives clear recommendations to the healer on how to act.

At the same time, the Smith papyrus clearly described hopeless cases of traumatic injuries, which are of theoretical significance for the physician. Among them is the oldest description of paralysis of the upper and lower extremities with loss of speech and hearing, which the author of the papyrus explains brain damage: as a result of the tragic fall of a person from great height, the head entered the shoulders, the spine was broken in three places, the vertebrae were pressed into one another.

In the treatment of fractures, the ancient Egyptians used wooden splints ("tires") and the tight bandaging of damaged limbs with linen cloth, resin-impregnated.

However, in general, the sources that have come down to us give a very limited idea of ​​surgical interventions in ancient Egypt: wounds are treated (E. Smith's papyrus), ritual circumcision (reliefs on the walls of tombs and temples), and eunuchs are castrated for pharaonic harems.

To refer to patients in the ancient Egyptian language there was a special word Herides. Literally, it meant “the one who is under the knife,” but was used in a broader sense. So called and bitten by a snake and other patients who needed medical care "without a knife."

In ancient Egypt, the profession of the healer of teeth has long existed - “he who cares about teeth” (Fig. 26). Diseases of the teeth and gums are described in the papyri of the Middle and New Kingdoms. Egyptians (as already noted) attributed the toothache and tooth decay to the presence of a “worm that grows in a tooth”. Dental treatment was conservative. It consisted in applying medical pastes and solutions to the sore tooth or gums. In the Ebers papyrus, 11 prescriptions of such drugs are given, which contributed to the improvement of the oral cavity and the strengthening of the teeth, healed the inflammation of the gums and relieved the toothache, that is, they had a local healing effect, but this did not stop the further development of the disease.

The ancient Egyptians are not. they treated carious teeth and did not know operative dentistry, as a result of which severe inflammatory diseases of the periosteum were widespread, leading to changes in the jaw (Fig. 27) and in vivo loss of teeth. Even among the pharaohs, in which "the main dentists of the Great House" served (Greek for first, the big house; hence the pharaoh), no traces of filling carious cavities or filling teeth with gold or other metals were found. The only evidence of the use of gold in dentistry in ancient Egypt is the discovery of two lower molars interconnected by a thin gold wire along the neck of both teeth.

Great importance in ancient Egypt was attached to the observance of traditionally established hygienic requirements and the closely related prevention of diseases. Traditions and customs prescribed tidiness in everyday life and moderation in food: “The Egyptians ... drink only from copper vessels that are cleaned daily ... The dress is linen, always freshly washed, and this is a matter of great concern for them. Prune themselves for the sake of cleanliness, preferring to be neat rather than beautiful. In a day, the priests cut their hair all over their bodies in order not to have either lice or any other filth on themselves while serving the gods. The clothes of the priests are only linen and papyrus shoes ... They wash twice a day and twice a night ”(Herodotus).

It is not by chance that the Greeks (Greeks) considered the Egyptians to be the "inventors" of medicine, and especially medicine as a warning.

The transfer of medical knowledge in ancient Egypt was closely connected with the teaching of complex hieroglyphic writing, which was carried out in special schools of scribes at temples and high schools of scribes - “houses of life” (Egyptian perkh) in large cities: Heliopolis, Sais, etc. As knowledge wore mostly applied nature, in schools they taught mathematics, architecture, sculpture, healing, astronomy, as well as the secrets of cults and rites. Pupils studied and copied the ancient papyruses, mastered the art of calligraphy and stylistics, comprehended the "rules of beautiful speech" (oratory). At the same time, medical knowledge continued to be transmitted by inheritance - from father to son.

The houses of life were also a storage place for ancient papyrus, many of which were considered sacred. Only the third or fourth lists of these ancient scrolls have reached us.

At the time of Herodotus, Egyptian schools accepted well-trained wealthy foreigners, which contributed to the wide dissemination of the medical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians in other countries of the ancient world. Subsequently, the outstanding philosophers and writers of the ancient world noted the historical significance of the culture of ancient Egypt for the development of ancient Greek culture.

Egyptian healers were universally recognized in the ancient world. The rulers of many countries invited them to serve in the court. According to the szi-deed of Herodotus, the Persian king Cyrus II the Great (558-529 BC) asked Pharaoh Amasis (570- 526 BC) to send him the "best in Egypt" healer of eyes. “Medical art,” Herodotus wrote, “is divided in them in such a way that each healer cures only one disease. Therefore, everywhere they are full of healers; some treat the eyes, others head, third teeth, fourth stomach, fifth internal diseases. ”

Herodotus visited the Nile Valley in the 5th century. BC Oe., when the ancient culture of Egypt totaled at least three millennia.and tended to decline its glorious history (while Hellas was just entering its heyday - classical • period). By that time, Egypt had already (and throughout its history continued to exert) a huge influence on the development of culture and medicine of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Europe.