Ancient Egypt

Question 1

What natural beliefs did the Ancient Egyptians have about what caused disease?

Answer 1

They based their natural beliefs on the Nile and the irrigation systems. They believed that like the Nile, the body was also made up of channels. When these channels became blocked the person would become ill, similar to how plants cannot grow if one of the channels become blocked in the Nile.

Question 2

What supernatural beliefs did the Egyptians have about what caused disease?

Answer 2

They believed that Gods and Spirits caused disease - similar to Prehistoric times.

Question 3

What were the two main beliefs about what caused disease in the Ancient Egyptian era?

Answer 3

• Gods and Goddesses.

- The Channel Theory (based on the River Nile).

Question 4

What natural treatments did Ancient Egyptians use?

Answer 4

• Purging, vomiting and blood-letting in order to unblock the channels when someone came ill.
• The Egyptians knew that diet was important, for example, some medical procedures included recommended foods.

Question 5

Why were natural beliefs about treatments of/observations of disease and infection generally not accepted in the Ancient Egyptian era?

Answer 5

-As they were not accepted by all and those who did believe them did not abandon supernatural treatments.

Question 6

How did the Egyptians record information?

Answer 6

-They had papyrus paper which they could write in using hieroglyphs. For example, Priests kept books which contained accepted treatments and spells. Instructions were exact - what should be done/what medicines given/what words should be used when talking to the patient.

Question 7

What is an example of a drug used in Ancient Egyptian times which is used today?

Answer 7

-Opium, however it was probably used back then to drive away evil.

Question 8

How did the Egyptians preserve bodies?

Answer 8

-Through mummification. The Egyptians believed that the body was needed in the afterlife. They did this by : extracting soft organs, such as the brain and the intestines, then drying what remained with salt. This gave e Egyptians some knowledge on anatomy.

Question 9

Why was dissection not permitted in the Ancient Egyptian era?

Answer 9

-They believed that destroying someone’s body me at that they wouldn’t go to the afterlife, so experimental dissection was not allowed.

Question 10

What was the effect of not permitting dissection in the Egyptian era?

Answer 10

-It limited the amount of knowledge they could gain about surgery and anatomy.

Question 11

What evidence is there to show that they performed simple surgery in the Egyptian era?

Answer 11

• Egyptian papyrus paper has been found to outline simple surgical procedures.
• Carvings in temples have also been found which show a variety of surgical instruments.

Question 12

Who looked at the patients in the Ancient Egyptian era?

Answer 12

-Doctors. The Egyptians were the first to have doctors.

Question 13

What did diagnosis mean in the Ancient Egyptian era?

Answer 13

-The observation of a patient and the recognition of their symptoms.

Question 14

What evidence is there to show that the Egyptians used diagnosis in their medical rituals?

Answer 14

-Egyptian writings demonstrate that they included diagnosis in their medical rituals.

Question 15

How did the Egyptians keep clean?

Answer 15

• Cleanliness was valued.
• They bathed, shaved their heads and had toilets.
• Also changed their clothes regularly.
• Egyptian toilets have also been found.

Question 16

How do we know that Egyptian public health had a religious significance?

Answer 16

-Priests washed their hands more often than others.

Question 17

Why couldn’t Egyptian developments in medicine be passed on to other civilisations?

Answer 17

-Because, their writing - Hieroglyphs - was not recognised by other civilisations, so therefore they could not read their written developments so couldn’t be passed on. They could only be passed on by word of mouth which was unreliable, as the truth could be changed, by multiple people so end result would be very different to start result, or people could exaggerate the truth so it is made to be bigger than what it actually is, or making it unbelievable also, it is a lot slower than just writing things down, but writing things down can also be slow due to the fact that you have to make exact copies which can be slow and in those days would be unreliable as they didn’t have technology to do this automatically so they had to do this by hand which would lead to changes especially in drawings/diagrams.

Question 18

What factors help improve medicine in the Ancient Egyptian period?

Answer 18

-Science & Technology - ability to write on papyrus could record all medical knowledge, e.g. treatments. Meant priest doctors could be trained and learn from the medical papyri of others who had seen similar illness and undertaken similar treatments before. Priest doctors could take out simple procedures, such as cutting out swellings or sewing up wounds. Carried out trephining - ease pains or swellings - as a result of the sharper, stronger bronze surgical instruments. This understanding and refinement of their tools stemmed from their improved metal-working skills that had been gained from making weapons, fine jewellery and tools for builders.
-Individual Genius - pharaoh’s Doctor Ir-en-akhty specialised in eye diseases and problems of the stomach and rectum. Enabled doctors to become familiar with what treatments were effective on different parts of the human body - then be recorded on medical papyri to ensure knowledge is preserved and improved/passed on to future generations.
-Government/Science&Technology - doctors could specialise due to trade on the River Nile. (S&T - big vessels to trade with). Meant doctors were wealthy enough to spend their time improving medical knowledge by purchasing medical papyri and discussing cases.
-Attitudes - Enquiring - development of the ‘Channel Theory’ resulted from observation of the irrigation channels that Egyptians used to supply water to their crops. Used theory to develop a wide range of treatments to clear the channels of the body, believing when they became blocked a person became ill. Some were effective, some weren’t, such as bleeding a patient, this actually harmed the immune system + made them more susceptible to illness.
Attitudes - Religion - great care to stay clean, and at peace with the gods. Washed twice daily + every night before their meals. Used soda, scented oils + ointments. Women shaved their bodies with bronze razors + used eye make up with emerald-green copper ore which reduced eye infections. Helped Egyptians maintain a good health in the Egyptian period.
-War - knowledge of surgery improved by examining wounded soldiers/workers injured on building projects. Allowed Priest doctors to develop understanding of some of the processes in the body such as bleeding and to see some aspects of the body, such as muscles. Regularly treated injuries, and recorded these on papyrus which allowed the Egyptians to improve their ability to treat wounds.

Question 19

What factors hindered medical improvement in the Ancient Egyptian period?

Answer 19

• Science&Technology - Egyptian writing not understood by other civilisations, doctors from other countries couldn’t read it, so other countries, like Greece couldn’t learn much from Egyptian medicine.
• Attitudes - Religion - Egyptians continued to associate certain gods with illnesses. This prevented priest doctors from looking for better/scientific treatments, so slowed down improvement of medicine. The embalming process meant they could learn about the structure of the body and it’s key organs, but embalmed were excluded in society as they were regarded as unclean, so any knowledge they gained could not be passed on to the priest doctors. They knew about key organs, but did not know what they did. Due to the fact that their religion said that the body was needed in the afterlife, dissection was not permitted, therefore hindering any medical knowledge from improving.
• Government - Pharaoh and his government didn’t do anything to protect his people, didn’t invest in public works, for example, to provide toilets and bath houses. Meant individuals were responsible for their own health, rather then the government looking after them. Meant wealthier Egyptians had better facilities, such as a room for washing in and a servant to pour water into a bath while bathing. Did not have plumbing though - waste worried carried out a hole in the wall into a sunken vase on the floor. Did ensure drinking water wasn’t infected by the waste water though. Poor would use wooden stools over a cup half-filled with sand. Again, meant watercourses would not be infected by the waste.