Ancient Egyptian Approaches to Medicine Flashcards
Where did Ancient Egyptians live?
Near the River Nile
What were the lands like?
Fertile
What did the river supply?
Water to the people
Where were they positioned?
Strategic trade routes
What could merchants do due to the trade routes?
Import traded foods, herbs and plants with other societies
What did the trade and fertile land mean a plentiful supply of?
Food
What did the plentiful supply of food mean people didn’t have to do?
Farming jobs
What did the Nile flow in?
Streams
What was the river water used for?
Irrigation
What did the streams and irrigation of the Nile lead to the analogy of?
That the body had channels that flowed like the Nile
Why did a person become ill?
If the channels in their bodies were blocked or damaged
Why was society clean?
Toilets
Water supplies
Washed clothes and bodies frequently
What religion were they?
Polytheistic
What did they believe the Gods they worshipped could do?
Control, create and cure diseases
What did priests keep records of?
How to treat different illnesses and diseases
What did they believe in after death?
The afterlife
What did they do to ensure the body could be used in the afterlife?
Mummify bodies
What were removed during mummification?
Organs
What did mummification help them understand?
Human anatomy
Why was dissection forbidden?
It was damaging in the afterlife
What were they the first to use in surgery?
Metal instruments
What were taken as medicine?
Plants, food and herbs
Why were there high living standards?
Specialist doctors
Lots of food- people could do other jobs rather than farming
Sekhmet
Goddess of healing and medicine
Serket
Healed stings and bites
Isis
Goddess of magic and healing
What was unknown?
Cause of disease
What did most doctors focus on to cure illness rather than prevention?
Unblocking channels
