Roger Forshaw

Rosalie David

Medicine and Healing Practices in Ancient Egypt provides a new perspective on healthcare and healing treatments in Egypt from the Predynastic to the Roman periods. Rather than concentrating exclusively on diseases and medical conditions as evidenced in ancient sources, it provides a ‘people-focused’ perspective, asking what it was like to be ill or disabled in this society? Who were the healers? To what extent did disease occurrence and treatment reflect individual social status? As well as geographical, environmental and dietary factors, which undoubtedly affected general health, some groups were prone to specific hazards. These are discussed in detail, including soldiers’ experience of trauma, wounds and exposure to epidemics; and conditions - blindness, sand pneumoconiosis, trauma and limb amputations – resulting from working conditions at building and other sites. Methods of diagnosis and treatment were derived from special concepts about disease and medical ethics. These are explored, as well as the individual contributions and professional interactions of various groups of healers and carers. Medical training and practice occurred in various locations, including temples and battlefields; these are described, as well as the treatments and equipment that were available. Ancient writers generally praised the Egyptian healers’ knowledge, expertise, and professional relationship with their patients. A brief comparison is drawn between this approach and those prevailing elsewhere in Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome. Finally, Egypt’s legacy, transmitted through Greek, Roman and Arabic sources, is confirmed as the source of some principles and practices still found in modern ‘Western’ medicine. Combining information from the latest studies on human remains and the authors’ biomedical research, this book brings the subject up to date, enabling a wide readership to access often scattered information in a fascinating synthesis.

Medicine and Healing Practices in Ancient Egypt

Andrew Chamberlain

Campbell Price

Paul Nicholson

This volume, published in honour of Egyptologist Prof. Rosalie David OBE, presents the latest research on three of the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian civilisation: mummies, magic and medical practice. Drawing on recent archaeological fieldwork, new research on Egyptian human remains, reassessments of ancient Egyptian texts and modern experimental archaeology, these essays try to answer some of Egyptology's biggest questions: How did Tutankhamun die? How were the Pyramids built? How were mummies made? A number of leading experts in their fields combine both traditional Egyptology and innovative scientific techniques to ancient material. The resulting overview presents the state of Egyptology in 2016, how it has developed over the last forty years, and how many of its big questions still remain the same.

Multidisciplinary Essays for Rosalie David

Mummies, Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt

This volume, published in honour of Egyptologist Professor Rosalie David OBE, presents the latest research on three of the most important aspects of ancient Egyptian civilisation: mummies, magic and medical practice. Drawing on recent archaeological fieldwork, new research on human remains, reassessments of ancient texts and modern experimental archaeology, it attempts to answer some of Egyptology's biggest questions: how did Tutankhamun die? How were the Pyramids built? How were mummies made? Leading experts in their fields combine traditional Egyptology and innovative scientific approaches to ancient material. The result is a cutting-edge overview of the discipline, showing how it has developed over the last forty years and yet how many of its big questions remain the same.

Multidisciplinary essays for Rosalie David

Mummies, magic and medicine in ancient Egypt

The Saite Dynasty (664-525 BC) represents a dynamic but lesser-known era in the history of ancient Egypt. In less than a decade Psamtek I reunified the country after almost 400 years of fragmentation. The Saite rulers promoted trade and embarked on important reforms, allowing Egypt to regain a major role in the Mediterranean world.

Roger Forshaw

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