Ancient Egypt
3000 BC to 500 BC
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Mediterranean Sea
.
Alexandria
The Egyptian Empire
.
Thebes
Africa
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Egyptian society
The Egyptian Empire grew up around
the lower reaches of the River Nile. The
rich, fertile lands in the river’s flood plain
allowed farmers to produce full harvests
every year. This made Egypt a very
wealthy country, with strong rulers who
took over other lands. They built large
cities and traded with distant countries
such as China.
The wealthier people were educated, and could afford
doctors to treat their illnesses. They believed in cleanliness
and followed a structured religion which dictated that they
needed their bodies in an afterlife.
What would you expect the state of medicine and
health to be in Ancient Egypt?
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Wealth, trade, communications and religion all had a big
impact on medicine. Copy this table and use it to make
notes from the information on the next two slides.
Positive effects
Negative effects
Wealth
Trade
Communications
Religion
Use your notes to write a brief summary of how
Egyptian medicine differed to that in prehistoric Britain.
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Egyptian medicine
Egypt’s wealth enabled some in society to study and
research medicine and to become doctors. There were
also skilled craftsmen who could make medical
instruments.
Their widespread trading links brought them new medicinal
plants. They could also gather ideas from different
countries.
The new discoveries that the Egyptians made could be
written down on papyrus, a type of paper made from
reeds which they invented. This meant that their
discoveries could be passed on to other doctors.
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Egyptians believed in life after death and that they would
need their bodies in that afterlife. To preserve them they
embalmed them. This involved removing all the organs,
except the heart, treating the body with spices and then
wrapping it in bandages as a mummy.
Egyptians, therefore, learnt something about the make up
of the body (anatomy), but because they needed to
preserve the whole body quickly (because of the heat),
they did not dissect it or try to find out how it worked.
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Egyptian’s medical knowledge and beliefs
The Egyptian’s religion and system brain
of embalming led to a reasonable
lungs
knowledge about the vital organs
such as the brain, liver, lungs and
heart – but they did not know their liver
function.
They knew about the pulse and
that the blood carried air and water.
They believed, however, that the
blood flowed from the heart to all
parts of the body through more
than 40 channels.
Copy and label this diagram in
your book.
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heart
stomach
bowels
Channels
carrying
blood
from the
heart
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Blocked channels – the cause of disease
They also believed that illness was brain
caused by food rotting in the bowel,
lungs
which produced bad gases. These then
travelled along the channels.
This, they thought, blocked the
liver
channels, stopping the flow of blood
and causing disease. For example, a
red, swollen knee told them a
channel in the leg was blocked just
above the knee.
It is thought that doctors were
influenced by the farming methods
used in the Nile delta. They knew that
irrigation channels from the Nile had to
be kept unblocked to keep their crops
watered and alive.
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heart
stomach
bowels
Channels
carrying
blood
from the
heart
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Egyptian treatments
Preventing illness:
The Greek historian, Herodotus, writing in the 5th century
BC:
“…[the Egyptians] purge themselves … for they think that all
diseases stem from the foods they eat … They wear newly
washed linen clothing. They practise circumcision for the
sake of cleanliness. Twice a day and every night they wash
in cold water.”
Explain how these actions helped prevent disease
(think about the climate). Do you think the Egyptians
knew why cleanliness was a good idea?
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Herbal, animal and mineral treatments
The Egyptians recorded on papyrus thousands of remedies
made from plants, animals, minerals and other ingredients.
For example, from medical documents of 1900 to 1500 BC:
“To drive away inflammation of the eyes, grind the stems of
the juniper of Byblos, steep them in water, apply to the eyes
of the sick person and he will be quickly cured.”
“For diseases of the bladder: Bread in a rotten condition. The
doctor must use it to fight the sickness…”
“For restoring hair growth: Mix fat of lion, fat of cat, fat of
crocodile, fat of ibex and fat of serpent.”
From general knowledge, why might mouldy
bread help cure infections? How effective do you
think the last remedy might be? What do these
sources tell you about Egyptian medicines?
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Surgical treatments
Egyptian surgery was limited to mending broken bones.
Little was known about the inside of the body because the
need to keep the body intact meant that embalmers
extracted organs through small incisions, or in the case of
the brain, through the nose.
Treatment for a broken nose from the Papyrus, 1550 BC:
“…clean his nose with two plugs of linen and then insert
two plugs soaked in grease into his nostrils. You should
make him rest until the swelling has gone down, you
should bandage his nose with stiff rolls of linen and treat
him with lint every day until he recovers.”
This remedy is more than 3,500 years old. How would
you say it compares with modern day treatments?
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Magical and religious treatments
Egyptians, like prehistoric Britons and Aborigines, believed
in the presence of spirits, and many wore charms or
amulets to ward off the evil ones.
They also believed that gods could both
cause and cure disease. Temples were
built where the sick could bathe in holy
water or sleep overnight in the hope that
their god would send a cure.
Left: Imhotep, personal doctor to the
Pharaoh c. 2600 BC, was made a god
and worshipped as the founder of
Egyptian medicine. People believed that
leaving gifts before his statue in temples
would ensure a cure for their illness.
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Activities
The Egyptians had many remedies for illnesses. They
also relied on charms and worshipping gods. What does
this tell us about the effectiveness of their remedies?
The Egyptians’ medical knowledge was far superior to
that of the ancient Britons or Aborigines, yet their life
expectancy was only marginally better. Why might
medical progress not result in improvement in health?
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