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MedEgypt English PDF
Contents
Page
Introduction 2
Principal so urces: Papyri and bas-reli efs 3
- The Ebers Papyrus 5
Status of doctor s 7
Training of doctors 8
Myth s, Incantatio ns an d Magi c 10
- Protective incantation s
for the W’ab priest of Sakhm et 11
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy I: Energetic medi cine, the Metou 15
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy II: Denderah, allegor ies 21
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy III: The Haty and th e Ib 24
Pathogeni c factor s 28
Therapy 31
Bibliography 34
1
Introduction
The medi cine of the Anci ent Egyptians i s a domai n for wh ich we p ossess
authenti c docum ent s that go b ack more t han four millenni a. It enjoyed
immense renown and, like the light hou se of Alexandria, illuminated the
ancient world: the doctors of the Phar aoh were summ oned to the court by
Cyrus and Darius; Homer, Herodotu s, Strabo, Diodorus of Sicil y al l
refer to it; Theophrastes and Galen quot e Egyptian therap eutic formulas.
Lastly, we shall explore t he mai n patho genic factors and the r emedi es
applied to ailm ent s as described in the medical literat ure of the period.
We shall not ho wev er deal wi th the surgi cal si de of Egyptian medici ne,
for this would require further more specific study based essenti ally on
the conten t of the Edwin Smith Surgical P apyrus.
2
Principal sources: Papyri and bas-reliefs
When we embark on a study of Egypti an medicine, the only written
sources av ailabl e to us are the medi cal papyri, most of which are written
in Hierati c, the m ode of writing of t he priest s. There exist however a
number of mural painti ngs, the possibilit y of studying mum mies, som e
ostraca and a certain number of bas-reli efs, in particular those on th e
ceiling of the hypostyle room of the temple of Denderah, which pro vid e
some d etail s or corrobor ation wit h resp ect to the knowledg e of Egyptian
physi cian s.
3
- On the organs
- On medici nes
- On disea ses of the eyes
- On disea ses of women
The works i n thi s library have long di sappeared from view, apart from
the famou s “Emerald Table” of Herm es Trismegistus and p erhaps the
Shaï-en-si nsin ( Book of Respirations) 1 dealing with rei ncarnation. The
Book of the Dead it self doubtl ess also had its origin s here, as well as a
Latin tran slatio n of t he Logos t eleios (The Perfect Di scour se), of which
the origin al Greek work cit ed by Lact ant ius (Div. In stit. VII. 18) i s no
longer ex tant: A scl epiu s or Hermeti s Trismegi sti Asclepi us, sive d e
natura deorum dialogus.
Thoth Djehout y
1
T ex t, t r an sl a tio n an d an aly si s b y P .J . d e H o r r ac k - Ed . K l in ck si e ck P ar i s 1 8 7 7 an d
A r b r e d ’ O r – G en ev a 2 0 0 5
2
Ci t ed b y Er n e st Bo s c in I s is D év o i l é e o u l’ Eg y p to lo g i e sa cr ée – N ic e 1 8 9 1 an d
A r b r e d ’ O r – G en ev a 2 0 0 5
4
The Ebers Papyrus
It is reason able to su ppose that cert ain o f the papyri i n our po ssessio n
correspond to fragment s of t he books of Thoth-Hermes. This certai nly
was the opinion of Ebers, a great Egyptol ogist of the ni neteenth century,
in resp ect of the m edical papyrus t hat h e bought in 1873 from an Ar ab
who claim ed to hav e found it ten years earlier between the l egs of a
mummy.
Now hou sed in Leip zig, the Eber s Papyr us dat es back to 1550 B. C. and
is the mo st complet e sci entific t ext kno wn to us, containing copi es o f
treatises goin g back at least to the beg i nning of the third millennium
B.C.
These papyri general ly bear the name of the person who “discover ed”
them, or their p lace of origin or where th ey are kept. The actual author s
of the m edical p apyri are never cited 4. The writing of th e papyri i s most
often attributed to a divi ne transmission, t o which each of them refers.
3
Tr an s cr ip t io n , tr an s l it er at io n an d tr an s la t io n o f th e Eb er s P ap y r u s: D r . B er n ar d
La l an n e an d S y lv i e G r if f o n 2 0 0 3 . Th e " Eb er s P a p y r u s" c it a tio n s b e lo w ar e t ak en
f r o m th is w o r k .
4
L a M éd e cin e au te m p s d e s p h ar ao n s – p . 2 1 6 – Br u n o H a l io u a 2 0 0 2
5
This honour i s very oft en attributed to Th oth Djeho uty, messenger of Re,
“that excellent scrib e, pure of hand, master of purity, who driv es
away evil, who writes that which is exact 5…” Or again to Imhotep,
“great doctor of the gods and of man”, who lived aro und 2700 B.C., no
doubt in Memp his, the residen ce of King Djoser, second Pharaoh of the
Third Dynasty. Imhot ep was deifi ed, today we wo uld say can onised,
sixteen centuries lat er. Vizier, high pri est of Heliopoli s, he was al so the
architect of the Step Pyramid at S aq qara. The patron of scribes,
magician, heal er, he was head of the cl ergy and the physici ans of the
time.
5
L e L iv r e d es Mo r ts d e s A n c i en s Eg y p t ien s ( ch ap . 1 8 2 ) . Tr an s l. P au l B ar g u et . 1 9 6 7
6
Status of the physician
Sakhmet
7
Training of physicians
In the words of Herodotus 6:
“Their medicin e i s divid ed into specia lities: each doctor attends to
one disea se and one al one. Thus the country is full of doctors,
speci alist s for the eyes, the head, the teeth, the abdomen, or agai n
for disea ses of uncertain orig in.”
While i ncant ation s and amulet s such as An kh, the cross of Life,
constit ute an important aspect of medicin e, it is al so based on the u se of
precise ther apeuti c formulas u sing mi ner als, plants and animal product s
in particular. We shal l come back to thi s subject in a moment. Gener ally
speaking, the medi cal appro ach is pur el y symptomat ic. It comprises a
diagnosis, a progn osi s in the case of a curab le condition, with the
indication of a therapeuti c formula, or, in the case of an incurable one, a
list of the incant ation s and amu let s to be employed.
A set of rul es already exist ed for the m edical professio n at this time:
under the aegi s of Thoth-Djeho uty, the person al physi cian of Pharaoh,
“greatest of the p alace ph ysi cian s”, was the chief of all the doctors (as
well as the priests) of Upper and Lower Egypt, as we have already seen
in the case of Imhot ep. Today h e woul d be styl ed “pr esid ent of the
medical council ”.
6
H e r o d o tu s I I , 8 4 : H er o d o tu s - tr an s la t ed b y A n d r ée B ar g u e t 1 9 6 4
8
A particul ar duty of the physicians at P haraoh’s Court, the w’ab u, was t o
write medical book s for teaching purposes in the “Houses of Life” an d
the training of the doctor s of th e peop le, the zuwnu, b y referring to t he
ancient s text s.
Neverth eless, for the cat egories of th erapi sts, wh ether t hey be phy sici an-
priest s, "b arefoot doctor s" or magi cian s/bone-setters, t he reli giou s myt h
remains present as the b ackgrou nd to any approach to disease.
7
L a M éd e cin e au te m p s d e s p h ar ao n s – p . 3 1 – B r u n o H a l io u a 2 0 0 2
9
Myths, Incantations and Magic
The religious myt h i s in particul ar based on the them e of “the quarrel
between Horus an d Set” 8, between good an d evil, a quarrel that followed
the death of Osiris.
Osi ris
8
Ch e st er Be a tty P ap y r u s N o 1 , X X th D y n as ty , r ei g n o f R am se s V . G u s t av e Lef eb v r e:
Ro m an s e t co n te s ég y p ti en s d e l 'ép o q u e p h ar ao n i q u e. 1 9 8 2 .
10
the hel p of hi s m other I sis, thus proved t he supremacy of t he spirit over
matter.
Ebers 1, 1 to 11:
The second text con cerns the placing of a bandage and the dang er s
caused by the taint s evoking the poi son seed of S et. The m agic formula,
a different incantati on, consist s in obligi ng Isis to int ervene in favour of
the doct or placed in a given conditi on, si milar to that of her son Horu s,
and to make him b eliev e that sh e wi ll defend her son. A direct
suppli cation i s addressed to her:
11
“A truly effectiv e method, a thou sand tho usand tim es.”
It seems that the fire and the wat er of whi ch it is question her e refer just
as mu ch to the desires of th e seethi ng Set and his baleful seed as to the
fire of the disease and to its secretio ns that only the help of Isis can
overcome.
Isis
Other text s show th e particular relati ons that bind th e pati ent and hi s
doctor in the face of a comm on peril; for example t he following passage
from the Hear st Papyrus (160) int ended to ward off a sk in disease, whi ch
is entitled: “mechep ent-subst ance incant at ion”:
“Flow out! Get ou t! You that shall have n o fruit, get away, you that shal l
have no arm s in your possession, keep y ourself (al so) away from me! I
12
am Horus. So b ack, (for) I am the son of Osiri s and my mother’ s magi c
formulas are th e protection of the differ ent places of my body. (Thus)
nothing malig nant will develo p in my superficial flesh, no mechepent-
substance will be in the various places of my body. Flow out!”
“(Say) seven times. Words to be recit ed on “conyza”. (This) is boiled,
ground and appli ed to it.”
Horu s
This in cantation i s followed by a parag raph en titled “it s rem edy (i.e.
again st the mechep ent-subst ance)”, proposing a series of product s with
which to anoint the di seased part: “fermented honey, dry oliban,
coriander seeds. (This) i s grou nd with t h e lees of pa-ou r-liquid. Anoint
with (that)”.
Thus th ese incantati ons are designed fir st and foremo st t o prot ect th e
doctor. Only when he has b een protected and im muni sed by the use of
conyza, in all probabilit y a pl ant int ended to cast out t he evil from th e
patient’ s body and thus to k eep it away f rom the do ctor, can he put hi s
hand on the taint to be treated 9; our modern asep si s you might say!
“Back, massacrers! No breath will reach me, such that those (the
demons) who come in anger again st me shall be ca st out. I am H oru s
who passes throu gh the wandering demons of Sakhmet!"
“O Horu s, ouadj e (sceptre) of Sakhmet, I am the uniqu e one, th e son
of Bastet. I shall not die because of you (Sakhmet)."
9
Bar d in et p . 5 1
13
“(These) word s (are) t o be spoken by the man (to b e prot ected) who wil l
hold in hi s hand a branch of the khed-des tree. He will then go out and
walk around hi s hou se. He will not die as a result of the annual disease.”
The Brooklyn Papyru s for its part gives a very detailed descriptio n of
serpen ts, bot h in r esp ect of their appearance (Brooklyn 28: horned vi per
…47a: bl ack-collared cobra …) and the manifestations of their bit es
(Brooklyn 60: skin ch anges … 72a: swelli ng… 76: drowsiness, et c.) with
the following incantati on:
"Rem edy to rest ore the healt h of one who has been hurt by any serpent :
itjerou pl ant (Cappa ri s decidu a)… Recit e upon it the incantat ion: “O
itjerou-plant that grows on Osiri s’s side, coming from the bodily
secretion s of those who a re in the Douat, kill the venom of the
abominable one (the Red One, Set). May Set fall! May the cat
(Bast et) cut him up!”
Set
14
Anatomo-Physiology I: Energetic medicine
The Metou or met ducts
According to Lefébvre (1952 p. 7), the word met has several meanings:
- Primarily it designat es the bundl es of fibrous ti ssues th at we cal l
ligament s, and the con tractil e ones that form the muscles.
- Another (the most frequent) meaning of met is “vessel ” in the
sen se in whi ch the Egyptian s understood t his word 10…
This would suggest that in 854 e we are dealing wit h two of the fou r
chann els of th e t emples d escribed in 854c. We thus hav e 12 met-
10
M ig h t th i s n o t a lso b e th e o n e d es cr ib ed b y th e Ch in e se : th e d u c t f o r l if e en er g y !
15
chann els for the organic fluids, a figu re that is redolent of the 12
meridians in Chinese energeti c medici ne.
Howev er, if the two channel s in 85 4e are distinct from the other twelv e,
that would then m ake fourteen met-chan nels in all, havin g an analogy
with the “14 kau of Re”, the fourt een sp iritual aspects, the expressions
of God in th e Univer se 11. With which we are reminded t hat Chinese
energeti c medi cine al so speaks of fourteen meridi ans: t welv e mai n
meridians and two marvello us vessel s, Du Mai, the governing vessel,
and Ren Mai, the concept ion vessel 12. This then i s the hypoth esi s of
choice.
Thirdly, Ebers g ives a further descript ion, this time concerning the
breath s of life and death. Eight channel s are described here:
11
Bo o k o f th e D ead . Ch ap . 1 5 o p . ci t .
12
F o r f u l l d e t ai l s o f Ch in es e en er g et i cs an d acu p u n ctu r e , se e th e “G u id e to
A cu p u n ctu r e an d Mo x ib u s t io n ” p u b li sh ed b y A cu p u n ctu re sa n s fro n t i èr es
S w it ze r la n d f o r it s t ea ch in g m iss io n s in d ev elo p i n g co u n tr ie s.
16
- 8 met-channel s for the breaths of life an d death:
- Ebers 854f: There are fou r met-channel s for hi s two ea rs, an d
two met-chann els fo r hi s ri ght should er and two for hi s l eft
shoulder. In his right ear enters the b reath of life, and in his
left ear enters th e breath of death. Another fo rmulation: in hi s
right shoulder enters the b reath of li fe, in his left shoulder
enters the breath of death.
Here th e eigh t marvel lous vessels of Chi nese energetic medi cine find a
curious analogy with t he eight met-ch an nels of th e should ers and ear s
for the “breaths of life and death”, 4 yin to the right and 4 yang to th e
left.
All the more so si nce the text continues thus:
- 12 met-chann els for the arms and for the legs:
- Ebers 854 g: Six m et-channel s lead to the arms, three at th e
right, three at the left, and then lead to his fingers.
- Ebers 854 h: Six met-chann els lead to the legs, three for the
right leg, three for the left leg, down to the soles of the feet.
Legs and arm s, Yin and Yang: a simpl e way of describing the three great
bilateral yin meridian s, which in traditi onal Chinese medicine cour se
from the legs to the arms and t he hands… and the three great bil ateral
yang meridian s, which co urse from the hands to the leg s and the feet.
The description of the met-channel s conti nues with a group rel ated to t he
bodily product s:
17
- Ebers 854 i: Th ere are two met-chann el s for his testi cles: it i s
they that give the sperm.
- Ebers 854k: There are two met-channel s for the buttocks, one
for one buttock, the other for the other buttock.
- Ebers 854l: There are fou r met-channels for the liver: it is they
that give the fluid and the breath.
- Ebers 854m: There are four met- channels for the trachea-lung s
and for the spl een (al so fou r [thus eight in al]) 13: it is they tha t
give the fluid and the breath.
- Ebers 854n: There are two met-chann el s for the bladder: it is
they that give the urine.
- Ebers 854o: Fou r met-chann els op en up for the anus: it i s they
that give that which produces the fluid and the breath for it.
Still in Ebers, but thi s time wi th regard to the circul ation and the
treatment of th e ou khedo u-“perverse energi es”, we find another
descri ption:
The Berlin Papyrus, for its part, confi rms this d escription, st ill in
relation with the oukh edou-perverse energies, but with one omi ssion,
that of the met-ch annel s of th e neck, thu s reducing their number to 20.
In addition, an important modifi cation – t wenty-two met-ch annel s for th e
heart, instead of twel ve – appear s t o indi cate an error of transcription i n
Ebers 856b:
18
haty and (thus) it is they that give the breath to each place in
the body. 15
Thus the twenty-two met-channel s descri bed in the det ail of the Eber s
Papyrus 16 would indeed appear to correspo nd to the twenty-two ch annel s
(or vessel s) whi ch “d raw the breath to his h eart-haty… ” and “give
breath to each place in the body”.
By analogy with what we have di sco vered above, we are dir ectl y
reminded, in Chin ese energetic medicine, of the 10 functions/organs an d
viscera and 12 meridi ans (6 great doubl e bilater al meridi ans)… i.e. a
total of twenty-two fun ction s in all!
Howev er, the contradi ctions found in both Ebers and Berlin requir e us t o
ask the following question: does knowledge progressively fade as tim e
goes on, b ecoming in part l ost, so t hat only scraps of i t subsist,
preventing us from complet ely kn owing what the met-du cts correspon d
to: 10 + 12 or 8 + 12?
In effect, looked at from an other viewpoi nt, both Ebers 856b et seq. and
Berlin 1 63b et seq. show a different conf iguration for th e met-channel s,
which is in conformity with Eb ers 85 4f-g and h as defin ed above: 8 +
12. In Berlin there is no m ention of met-channel s of the neck; Ebers,
which does speak of them, does not specify their numb er (we hav e
suppo sed th at there were two as for the other locali sations). Are they
perhap s synon ymou s wit h tho se of th e nape of the neck? In thi s case
their number is indeed reduced to twen ty.
15
Ber l in 1 6 3 b : Tr an s l at io n b y Th ier r y B ar d in e t 1 9 9 5
16
Eb er s 8 5 6 c to 8 5 6 g
19
Du Mai: The Governing Vessel
Thus the papyri transmit a global visi on o f the met-channel s. But they do
not go into detail, neither as far as their descripti on is co ncerned nor the
therapies emplo yed: the o nly detai ls are certain region s menti oned i n
passing, int erior-ib, heart-haty, nose, anu s, finger s, toes, et c. in r elation
to two major sy stem s, one for the circulation of the organic fluids, the
seco nd for that of the “breaths”.
In the case of t he chann els for the breat h s, their organi sation, according
to various poin ts of view, indeed seem s to be the same, as we hav e
discovered, as that of the energi es in tradi tional Chin ese medici ne:
Did the Egyptian doctor s have more det ai led knowl edge of th e functions
pertaining to each of these duct s? A prior i, this does not seem to be the
case. But the di scov ery of new papyri could of course provi de a whol e
new playing field.
20
Anatomo-Physiology II: Denderah
Traditionally, these bas-reliefs have been read from right to l eft, going
backwards from the effect s to their cau ses, from the statement of the
apparent t o the di sco very of that which i s hidden in the shad ow of th e
origins. But for a better und erstanding in line with our present mode of
thinking, we cho se to read th em from l eft to right, in a d evel opmen t
going from the origins of thing s to their o utcome.
In a first phase, four primordial power s, four Net erou, are appli ed in a
pattern analogous to the three warmers and the three burner s of Chinese
energeti c medici ne:
21
governing Thoth, the Messen ger of Re, (analogous to the origi nal,
alimenta ry, respiratory and a ncest ral energi es of the Chinese
tradition).
• Further on, the three mal e Net erou hol di ng the bo dy of a second
Serpent are the three Powers th at serve to tran smute t he four
powers already p artly digested by the three Jackal s, “in order t o
make man”. The two Serpent s are hi s quintessence; no uri shin g
and prot ective Power s of the Being beco ming incarnat ed, they ar e
also anal ogous to t he t wo primordi al serpent s, Kem Atef, “One
whose breath i s accomplished”, and Ir T a , his son, th e “Creator of
the Earth”. In the middl e boat, th e Net er helm sman, Thoth the
Ibis, Master of scribes, recall s that science, the knowledg e of laws
and rules, i s applied here to Man in t he process of becoming,
represented by Horus und er a nao s, with four Power s, the Net erou
that follow, two male and two female, represented by Isi s and
Maat, Divine Mother and Consciousness. A ferryman with his pole
and the Cyn ocep halu s of Thoth, at the prow, guide h im under the
aegi s of Celestial Law.
- The Neter helm sman in the first of the f our boats i s present wit h
his two ru dders – di scernm ent and practi cal appli cation – to affirm
and direct the appli catio n of the Cosmi c Law: the eight Neterou
that follow are the symbols, archet ypes of “the four met-duct s for
the Breath s of Life and the fou r met-ducts for the Breath s of
Death” of the Ebers Papyrus, but al so of the eight marvello u s
vessel s of Chi nese acupuncture. As fractals of the eight Frogs and
Serpents, t he children of Kem Atef and Ir Ta, Mast ers of t he
“Eight Cel esti al Places” of Egypt, ho noured in the city of
Khmunu, later to b ecom e Hermopolis, th ese eig ht Net erou transmit
the two Primordial Powers of the two serpents, the nourishing and
protective, yin and yang, centrifugal and centrip etal en ergies.
- In the prow of the first boat, too, may be not ed the pr esence of
Thoth himself, Messenger of Re, Mast er of Divine Words, holding
in his hands the Cubi c Stone, symbol of the Earth and terrestrial
incarnati on.
o The first ten, nin e male and one femal e, t his last givi ng life
as the heart distribut es it, are the sy mb ols of the internal
22
met-duct s of Man, the functi ons of the organs in Chinese
energeti c medici ne.
o The other t welve, femal e, with the sol ar disc as head-dress,
symboli se the peripheral met-ducts, analogous to th e
meridian s in acupu ncture.
Further pursuing the an alysis of the vital breaths, another soffit on the
ceiling of t he temple of Denderah then deals wi th their application i n th e
transmi ssi on of life: t here are 64 breaths, like t he 64 p arts of the eye o f
Horus, Ou djat, like the 64 codons of th e genetic cod e, and al so lik e th e
64 hexagrams of the Chin ese I Ch ing. With this we have ventured from
the field of medicin e to that of genetics, all the while remaini ng in the
domain of univer sal mathemati cs.
23
Anatomo-physiology III: Haty and Ib
As regards th e ib and its r elation ship with the heart-ha ty, our knowledg e
of “the way of water and cereal s” of Chinese en ergetic medi cine will
permit a parti cular light t o be thrown on the con tent of the Eber s
Papyrus.
For Bardin et, in con clu sion (p. 71): “The ib is a whole system. It
includes th e totalit y of the body p arts lo cated b ehind t he heart-haty, i n
that great hol low of the body forming wh at the Egyptians call the Shet.”
This “totalit y of the body parts… ” would appear to indi cate the totalit y
of the organs an d the viscera.
18
B. Lo n g : L e " ib " et le "h a t y " d an s le s t ex t es m é d ic au x d e l' Eg y p te an c i en n e p.
483 § Q
19
S tr a c m an s: Bd E 3 2 ( M el an g es Mar i e tt e) p 1 2 5 t o 1 3 5 .
20
P ian k o f f : L e " c œ u r " d an s le s t ex te s ég y p ti en s d e p u is l 'A n c ien ju sq u 'à la f in d u
N o u v e l Em p ir e, p . 4 3
24
A particul ar detail concerning the liver , lungs and heart is found in
Ebers 855d (99, 21-22):
“As reg ard s anger, wh ich a ri ses in the heart-haty, it is a twisting (of
the met-channel s) towa rds the limit o f the trachea-lung s and th e
liver."
Furthermore, Yoyotte 21 cites a compl ement ary text from the canopic jar
of Mendes con cerning Qebekh- sennuef and the intesti nes:
In a word, whil e b earing in mind the pr imacy of the stomach and the
intesti ne for their rol e in “t he way of t he wat er and cereal s”, we can
agree almost compl etely wit h Bardinet (p.81) when he says:
21
Y o y o tt e : T an i s, l'o r d es p h ar ao n s p . 1 7 2
25
“The interior-ib is prolonged in all th e members, anim ating th em and
bringing them the vital force… The haty, ‘our cardiac mu scle’, i s in fact
the operat ing el ement of t he will t hat i s seated in the depth s of the
interior-ib. By virtue of it s o wn power t h e heart-haty sends the dynamic
currents t o the met-duct s, transm its th e t hought el aborated in the d epth s
of the interior-ib and executes it… The interior-ib and the haty are
indissoci ably l inked, and any dam age to t he on e mu st have repercussion s
on the other."
All that is lacking i s for the vi sion of the haty as “cardiac mu scle” to be
specified as the “Blood” function and “Chen” funct ion of t he heart, th e
physiol ogical and mental function s. Indeed, Bardi net seem s to be
implying thi s when he speak s of the hat y, “the operating elem ent of the
will (the kidn eys in traditi onal Chinese medicin e) which is h oused d eep
in the interior-ib" .
The Ebers Pap yrus can then specify the metho d to be used for
examination of the ib and the hat y (Ebers 854a [99, 2 to 5]):
“As regard s the fact that every doctor, every w’ab-priest of Sakhmet,
every magi cian, places his hand s, his fingers, on the head, on the
neck, on the hands, on the place of the ib, on the legs, on all (places
of the body), the object of his examination is the heart-haty, because
there are met-chann els for ea ch hi s (m an’s) body part s, and it is a
fact that it (the heart) expresses itself before the met-channel s
(“before” in th e sense of on the surfa ce, at the a pparent, controllable,
level, of the met-channels) of each place of the body.”
“As to the expression ‘thou exam inest a man’, this means to perform
a general examination on someone, to obtain an overview of
(different) things with the oipé-measure 22…”
Here it is a quest ion of taking the pul ses in various places of the body .
Did the Egypti an therapist s count the p ulse rat e (63/64 of oip é?!) with
the help of th e clepsy dra, the water clo ck invented under Tutmosi s III
(18 t h Dynasty: fifteenth century B.C.) , and did they establish a
quantitati ve and qu alitativ e account of these pul sati ons? It is probable,
despit e the fact th at Herop hilos, of the Al exandria scho ol (fourth centur y
B.C.), is traditionally consi dered to b e the first to have used the
clepsydra for this purpose. But at the present time, we cannot be sur e of
the facts.
22
Th e o ip é- m e asu r e i s r e la t ed to th e O u d j a t ey e an d i ts f r ac t io n s f r o m 1 /2 to 1 /6 4 .
26
This very naturally brings us t o look at the pathogeni c fact ors and
therapy as presented in the medical papyri of Ancient Egypt.
27
Pathogenic factors
The aaa are bod y fluids th at may b e dangerous i n this sense th at they
can promote certain pat hologies.
According t o Ward (1978, p. 108) cited b y Bardinet (p. 121), this would
be the sebum.
All in all, it seem s that the aaa correspon ds to variou s bodil y secretion s
such as sebum, sweat, cerumen, etc. and that these secreti ons promot e
the developm ent of parasites or v ermin, and al so of specific “p erverse
energies” such as the oukhedou of whi ch we shal l have more to say later.
The set et are “pat hogeni c bei ngs", perv erse energies that circulate i n the
body. Ebers 102 or 296:
“If thou examinest someon e who i s un der (the effect) of the set et,
(these acting) a s (though he had ea ten) un-notched figs of the
sycamore, his abdomen i s hard as a result of that (the set et), he
suffers from the entrance of hi s "ib", and the setet that a re insid e hi s
body cannot find a way out… Thi s should not be transform ed int o
vermin… (If) this is evacuated by him, it becomes comfort able for him.”
28
The setet t hus move around and cause pain: They si mply n eed to b e
expelled from the body.
In Berlin (142-143). “Remedy for drivin g out the setet in the affected
places… Another remedy to remov e th e setet (from th e body) wh en
defecating.”
As for the oukh edou, these ar e demons that g naw away the bod y
substance, the same sub stance that is elabor ated by th e blood (b y
blending the variou s elem ents ingest ed with the food). “Taint ed
blood” may ho wever act in the sam e way as the ou khedou.
This gnawing action will giv e rise to concretio ns, to obst acles that
themselves may be transformed in to “ouhaou-pu s” or local
inflammation.
Nekh bet
Ebers 86: “Remedy to smash the oukhedou that are in the body: fresh
(literally, ‘alive’!) bovine m eat: 5 ro; resin of turpentine: 1/64; melilot :
1/8; juniper b erries: 1/ 16; fresh bread: 1/ 8; sweet beer: 25 ro. Filt er and
then take for four days.”
As regard s the ouhaou, concr etion s or pus cau sed by the ou khed ou,
these need to be expelled, extirpated, or k illed.
Ebers 91-92: “Another (remedy) to expel the ouhaou, when there is a
weight on the surface of the body (the menace of the ouha ou) and to
kill them truly within the body… Another remed y to extirpat e the
ouhaou that are in the body or (to) kil l them: figs: 1/32; salt of th e
29
Delta: 1/8; fresh bread: 1/8; sweet beer: 25 ro. (This) is boil ed, filtered,
then taken ov er the day.”
Ebers 138: “Another (remedy) to driv e out the aaa that are in a man,
kill the oukh edou, driv e out the inju ries (ouhaou) that befal l the
man, tend to the anu s and freshen it: sam (plant): 1/ 8; juni per berries:
1/16; honey: 1/3 2; sweet beer: 10 ro. Filter, take for four days.”
30
Therapy
“With few except ions, t he diffi culty of interpreting mo st of th e dru g
names proposed by the text s prevent s u s from speaking of t he presum ed
modes of action of the various substances included in th e
pharmaco poei a 23.”
Nekh bet
Ground, kneaded, boiled or raw, alm ost always mixed wit h honey o r
sweet beer, some of these product s are lef t exposed to the dew ov ernigh t
23
Bar d in et 1 9 9 5 p . 1 5 7
24
G a l en a: n atu r a l l ead su lf id e ; M al a ch i t e : co p p e r car b o n a te ; M in iu m : l ead o x id e ;
N a tr o n : so d iu m c ar b o n a t e.
31
and, filtered or not, are then applied or taken int ernally, for four days on
average.
Fruits and pl ants are prepar ed with honey and sweet beer, or composed
of fresh past e, fat, honey, wax, etc., to “retain”.
- To relieve ank ylosis in old age: nat ron, beans, oil, fat of
hippopotam us, cro codil e, mullet or catfish; turpentine, sweet
oliban, honey, etc, whi ch are boiled and applied over several days.
- Reed an d pyr ethrum are pr eferred for all that is “vermin” (boiled
in honey and eaten).
- Headaches are treated with seeds of coriander, bryony, pyrethrum,
sam plant; n atron (ground in fat, honey and wax), resin of
turpentine. Pine, juniper, lotu s, ochre and malachit e are also very
much employ ed (applied externally).
- For dental condition s: ochre, malachit e, notched fruit of th e
sycamore and honey, etc.
- For bruises an d swellings, honey may be sufficient, but al so cl ay,
resin of turp entine, bul l fat, human urin e, date win e, malachite,
natron, etc. (applied ext ernally).
- For the bones: natron, ouch ebet-mineral, black flint, bul l fat,
honey, etc. (applied externally).
- Simple di slocation s an d fractur es are fir st reduced man ually, th en
splinted and treated by applicat ion of fresh meat on th e first day ,
and then fat, honey and veget able dressings until healed.
- Abscesses ar e treat ed with “cautaries”, and then in t he same way
as for wound s. The latter are stitched and then treated by
application of fresh meat, witho ut a dressi ng or medicin e, until the
painful period has passed.
- Burns may be tr eated with black mud, the dropping s of smal l
bovines, resin of acacia, barley, etc. (appl ied externally).
Ricin was particu larly prized, the root or seeds being ground and used in
multiple way s, to treat the int est ines or headaches, skin ailm ents,
disorder s of the hair, etc.
A number of texts d eal with fumig ation. The Egyptians believed that
every i ndividual could readil y be impr egnated by a great vari ety of
nefariou s breath s and by the demons and pathogenic substances to whi ch
they giv e rise. The new air wit h whi ch t hey are impregn ated appears t o
be intended both to expel them and intoxi cate them.
- Fumigation s ar e thus included in the mi n istrations to be given to
the interior-ib of a man wound ed by a sn ake or a scorpion. Here,
fumigation i s above all direct ed toward s the symptom ( abdominal
pain) and is int ended to restore the breath to the victim’s body.
32
- For coughs i n children: fumigation s of “ realgar”, men-resin and
of aaam-plant, which ar e ground and placed on hot ston es.
- Regul arly used in gyn aecologi cal treatment, fumigation s are th en
based on turpentin e, fat and fresh oil.
Ebers 852 (98, 12-14b): “A fumigati on pr epared ren der the odour of the
house or clot hes pleasant: dry myrrh; peret-cheny(-fruit) ; resin o f
turpentine; ru sh-nut; wood of ti-chepes; chebet; reed of Phoenicia;
inketoun; djemeten; genen (-part) of th e meni ben (-tree). Grind finely,
prepare in a homogeneous mass. Put it on the fire.”
This same prep aration with the additi on of honey, boil ed, mix ed and
made into pastilles will make the mouth o dour pleasant.
33
Bibliography
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