As medicine developed independently in all of the ancient civilizations, it is interesting to note the many similarities in beliefs and practices; however, there were also some important distinctions in all four of the major civilizations. Although I touched upon it in my previous post, I wanted to explore and highlight the similarities and differences among the four medical sciences in more detail.
Cause of Disease
Supernatural forces: Both Mesopotamian and Egyptian medicine believed that disease was caused by supernatural forces and not natural causes. Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians alike blamed various gods, demons and spirits for disease- each spirit was responsible for one disease. Although Mesopotamians knew that various organs in the body could malfunction and lead to disease, they attributed the malfunction to an evil spirit. Likewise, Egyptians believed spirits blocked channels in the body and caused its malfunction.
Body Imbalance: Indian and Chinese medicine, on the other hand, regarded the cause of disease to be an imbalance in the body. Both cultures considered health to depend on the delicate balance between the mind, body, and spirit. Another common thought between the two civilizations was the existence of a life force or energy inside the body - the Chinese called it Qi (made up of yin and yang) and the Indians called it doshas: three different doshas called pitta, vata, kapha.
Germ Theory: Although the germ theory of disease is credited to Europeans much later, there was some knowledge of disease-causing pathogens in ancient times. Ancient Sumerian tablets indicate that they were aware of pathogens as far back as 1770 BCE and ancient Indian medical texts described microbes, with pathogenic microbes being responsible for spreading disease.
 |
| Causes of disease: gods, imbalance, and pathogens |
Treatment
Plants and herbs featured prominently in all four ancient medicine, but Babylonians and Egyptians also added prayer and rituals in healing. Although Indian medicine relied on medical agents in the texts, actual medical practice began thousands of years earlier, and with the presence of so many gods in Indian mythology, it is evident that they too used prayers as a healing process. Only Chinese medicine has no evidence of using prayer as a remedy, but spirituality remained at the essence of Chinese medicine, very much like in Indian medicine. Meditation along with exercise (yoga and tai chi) was a major part of treatment in ancient eastern medicine. Chinese medicine also relied on the unique traditions of acupuncture and cupping.
However, medicines soon became the mainstay of all medical practice with pills, lotions, ointments, enemas, inhalations, snuffs, poultices, infusions etc. emerging as early as 3500 BCE. The Sumerians are considered the originators of medication but ancient Indians had ayurvedic remedies based on medicinal herbs dating 6000 BCE.
 |
| Different medical remedies of ancient medicine |
Healers
Because of the supernatural theory of disease, the western civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt had priests (also yogis in Indian) as primary healers, but in time, doctors of medicine emerged in all four traditions of medicine. In Mesopotamia, there were two distinct healers:
- Asu: a medical doctor who treated illness empirically
- Asipu: a healer who relied upon magic as treatment
An interesting practice was used in ancient Mesopotamia where a sick man was left in public view for passers-by to give medical advice. In Herodotus' words: “They have no physicians, but when a man is ill, they lay him in the public square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had his disease themselves or have known anyone who has suffered from it, they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is allowed to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his ailment is." One can therefore argue that the general public in Mesopotamia can be considered to be healers too.
Contribution
All four branches of ancient medicine made fundamental contributions to medical science but the most important and unique contributions for each are:
Egypt: Empirical observation of disease and treatment which influenced Greek medicine (Hippocrates) and is the basis of modern medicine. Also contribution to anatomy through mummification
China: Unique medical practices like acupuncture, cupping and moxibustion
Sources:
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/687/health-care-in-ancient-mesopotamia/
Comments
Post a Comment