History of Science 2220 Study Guide - Final Guide: Prehistoric Medicine, Taweret, Embalming
28 Dec 2018
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Prehistoric Medicine:
• Mainly supernatural theories of Medicine although had an idea of simple
treatment for EVERYDAY INJURIES[a]
Supernatural Theories
• Illnesses explained spiritually
• Pointing bone[b]: if an enemy pointed the bone at you, you receive an illness. It
would draw your spirit or give you a bad spirit.
• Medicine Man: He was the doctor of the tribe. He would try to locate the pointing
bone, or give treatment.
• Examples of Supernatural Treatment:
• Trephinning: a hole was cut into the persons skull while they are still
alive to release the bad spirit
• Charms: they used various charms to keep bad spirits away
• Examples of Simple treatment for bruises etc:
• Cuts and bruises were covered in animal fat and bound up with bark
Egyptian Medicine:
They had supernatural and natural theories of medicine unlike the Prehistoric who just had
supernatural but had an idea of simple treatment for everyday illnesses.
Supernatural:
Thoth: he was an Egyptian God who they believed gave physicians the skill to cure
Sekmet: he was an Egyptian God who was thought to cure and cause disease
Examples of Supernatural Medicine:
• They had spells and magic potions (i.e. Papyrus Berlin)
• They also had charms to ward off evil spirits such as Tawaret[c], the goddess of
childbirth
Natural:
1. Doctors examined patients carefully (i.e. examination, diagnosis and treatment)
2. They knew about the importance of the blood, the heart and the pulse
3. They had an understanding of the anatomy through embalming[d]BUT, their religion
stopped them from dissecting the main internal organs
4. Natural THEORY OF DISEASE: Blocked Channels Theory- this stated that the
body was full of channels like the Irrigation system on the River Nile. They knew
that blood passed into vessels in the body through embalming, but thought that if one
of these vessels (channels) got blocked, then the person would be ill until it was
unblocked ∴ Egyptian doctors believed vomiting could clear the blockages in the
vessels in the body. They also deliberately bled the patient by cutting a vein to clear the
blockages
5. Herbs and Drugs used through trade routes in the River Nile to cure disease
6. SIMPLE SURGERY: they knew how to treat dislocated limbs
7. They had an understanding of public health, because Priests were the cleanest
people (i.e. they had to wash 3 times a day and shave regularly) ∴ This was because
they were closest to God ∴basic understanding of public health
Greek Medicine:
They had supernatural and natural theories of medicine. The supernatural theories were
the Asclepions and the main natural theory was the Four Humours by Hippocrates.
Importance of Hippocrates
1. He came up with the Four Humours Theory[e], which was a Natural Theory of Disease.
He stated that there were four humours in the body[f](Phlegm, Black Bile, Yellow Bile
and Blood) and each humour was linked to a season and an element. ∴ Hippocrates was
important because he moved away from supernatural theories of disease.
Hippocrates gave natural treatment such as the bleeding cup to restore the imbalance
2. Natural Treatment: E.g. the Bleeding cup: the cup was heated and then cooled and placed
over a cut ∴ it would draw blood into the cup if you had too much blood in spring
3. Clinical Observation[g]: Doctors had to follow FOUR STEPS when examining the
patient:
• Diagnosis: studying the patients symptoms
• Prognosis: Predicting what course the illness will take
• Observation: Noting any changes in the patients behaviour and comparing it
with the Prognosis
• Treatment: Treatment is then given to the patient if the observation matches the
prognosis
4. Hippocratic Oath: this was a code of conduct for doctors set up by Hippocrates
5. Healthy lifestyle: Hippocratic books[h]stated that a eating healthily and doing exercise
was important BUT the Greeks knew this already
Progress made During Greek Medicine (i.e. At Alexandria[i])
• Alexandria was the Capital city of Egypt
Why was Progress Made here?
• The Great library of Alexandria set up there had knowledge from a huge empire
• Dissection was allowed for a short period of time ∴ Greek doctors could now dissect the
main internal organs that the Egyptians could not dissect ∴Progress made, better
understanding of the anatomy
Why did the Progress Spread (Therefore, lead to an advancement in medicine)?
• Because doctors from all over the world who had studied in Alexandria went back to
their hometowns∴ took their knowledge with them ∴progress spread
Supernatural Theories of Greek Medicine (Asclepions):
Some Greek people who had an illness would pray at Ascpelions[j], temples that were built
to worship Asclepios (the God of Healing).
The activities of People who went to Asclepions:
• They would make a sacrifice to Ascelpios (the God of Healing)
• They would then bathe themselves to be clean
• They would then sleep in the abaton for one night, where they would then hope to be
cured over night by Asclepios
• They would finally exercise in a stadium after being cured
Roman Medicine[k]/Public Health
They made HUGE ADVANCEMENT to Public Health and Galen (a Roman Doctor) carried on
the work of Hippocrates in search of a Natural Theory of disease ∴ Progress made
• The Romans believed prevention of disease was BETTER than cure
Examples of Roman Public Health (i.e. What they built and its purpose):
• They built 14 aqueducts: which transported clean water∴ knew of the importance of
clean water
• They built Public Toilets: excretion as a group∴sewage taken away by the Sewers
• They built Roman Sewers: built to take the sewage into the river ∴keep the city clean
• They built Roman Public Baths: this helped people be clean∴ links to the ‘Healthy
mind is healthy body’ idea which the Romans had
• They built Military hospitals: had extremely good hygiene to keep the army fit and
healthy
Why did the Romans build such good Public Health facilities[l]:
Need
Enabling Factors
Military needs: the army needed to be fit
and healthy (i.e. Military hospitals with
extremely good hygiene)
Money was available
They believed prevention was better than
cure ∴ wanted to make a statement about
their beliefs
They had a strong government
They believed a ‘Healthy mind was a
healthy body’∴ it would satisfy the people
People had good engineering and building
skills (I.e. building 14 aqueducts)
They wanted to make a statement about
the power and size of Rome
They knew about a link between dirt and
disease
Claudius Galen:[m]
1. He drew on the work of Hippocrates and other previous doctors
2. He wrote many books, which survived with a list of different cures (he gave opposites
as cures to restore the balance of humours). They survived because he talked about God
as the ‘Creator’∴ it fitted in with all religions and so his work was
spread∴ PROGRESS MADE
3. He wrote powerfully[n] in his books and dealt with any objections
4. He provided a complete theory of medicine (i.e. anatomy, diagnosis, treatment, surgery
and physiology)
5. He followed the Hippocratic laws but took it a step further by giving opposites as cures to
restore the balance of the humours. (i.e. gave pepper for a cold)
6. His knowledge of the study of bones and anatomy was good BUT when he visited
Alexandria (because he could not dissect in Rome) dissection was NOT ALLOWED due
to religious reasons∴ he could only study bones∴He resorted to dissecting
animals (apart from the Flood that washed corpses from a nearby cemetery to his house)
and a lot of his theory was wrong because of this.
Medicine in the middle Ages:
The only improvements were in Surgery. Medicine however seemed to digress ∴ little medical
progress was made in the middle ages
Surgery in the Middle Ages (Why did it Advance):
Document Summary
Prehistoric medicine: mainly supernatural theories of medicine although had an idea of simple treatment for everyday injuries[a] Illnesses explained spiritually: pointing bone[b]: if an enemy pointed the bone at you, you receive an illness. It would draw your spirit or give you a bad spirit: medicine man: he was the doctor of the tribe. They had supernatural and natural theories of medicine unlike the prehistoric who just had supernatural but had an idea of simple treatment for everyday illnesses. Thoth: he was an egyptian god who they believed gave physicians the skill to cure. Sekmet: he was an egyptian god who was thought to cure and cause disease. Examples of supernatural medicine: they had spells and magic potions (i. e. papyrus berlin, they also had charms to ward off evil spirits such as tawaret[c], the goddess of childbirth. They had supernatural and natural theories of medicine.
