{"id":3667,"date":"2018-06-30T07:03:08","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T07:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/?page_id=3667"},"modified":"2025-05-27T11:19:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:19:29","slug":"ancient-egyptian-medicine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/schoolshistory.org.uk\/topics\/medicine-through-time\/ancient-egyptian-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Egyptian Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient Egyptian medicine\u00a0provides us with some of the earliest written evidence of medical practice. Medicine was prescribed, surgery performed and ailments were diagnosed. Along the banks of the Nile, medicine began to develop, alongside innovations in Public Health. In Ancient Egypt there were sophisticated methods of treating some illnesses. There was surgery that seems hard to believe possible some 5000 years ago. There was a system of providing water and removing waste in many places. Perhaps most importantly for historians of the history of medicine<\/a>, the ancient Egyptians began to write down their medicines and the way that they should be used.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Doctors in Ancient Egypt<\/a><\/p>\n

Alexandria<\/a><\/p>\n

Surgery in Ancient Egypt<\/a><\/p>\n

Religion and Medicine\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Mummification<\/a><\/p>\n

Evidence of Egyptian Medicine<\/h2>\n

Evidence of medicine in Ancient Egypt comes in several forms. Firstly there are scrolls. These, written on papyrus, are among the earliest written records of medical practice. The most famous of these scrolls are the Papyrus Ebers and the Papyrus Edwin Smith. These scrolls show us a number of things. The types of medicines and potions used are recorded. The prayers or chants that accompany the taking of the medicine are also recorded. For surgical procedures, the precise method of conducting the operation is recorded.<\/p>\n

\"Mummification.<\/a><\/figure>\n

The papyrus evidence hints at a strong link between medical practice and religious beliefs. This is re-enforced by the second form of evidence. That is the paintings that remain. Here we see images of the gods alongside doctors. In tombs the evidence shows that there is a large link with a belief in the afterlife. This explains the careful process of mummification<\/a> that took place throughout much of the Egyptian Civilisation.<\/p>\n

Teaching Resources<\/h2>\n

Our teaching resources section includes a number of free and premium\u00a0resources on medicine in Ancient Egyp<\/a>t. You can find those\u00a0worksheets and online lessons on this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Compare the Egyptians with\u00a0medical practice in the Roman Empire<\/a>\u00a0to identify examples of continuity and change in medicine.<\/p>\n

Medicine through time<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Prehistoric Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Egyptian Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Greek Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Roman Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Medieval Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Medicine in the Renaissance<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fight against Infectious Disease<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Public Health in the Industrial Revolution<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Modern Medicine<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Revise for Medicine through time GCSE<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0GCSE History of Medicine resources<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ancient Egyptian medicine\u00a0provides us with some of the earliest written evidence of medical practice. Medicine was prescribed, surgery performed and ailments were diagnosed. Along the banks of the Nile, medicine began to develop, alongside innovations in Public Health. In Ancient Egypt there were sophisticated methods of treating some illnesses. There was surgery that seems hard… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3915,"parent":32,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3667","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t