Seminar: Medicine, Health and Disease in Ancient Egypt

One of those oh-so-synchronicitous (is that a word?) events.  While I was blogging here earlier today about the brewing of beer in Nubia and the ancient Middle East that contained the antibiotic tretracycline and how ancient cultures probably used this specially brewed beer to treat various infective conditons, an email was parked in my inbox that I saw just now - about an upcoming seminar on Medicine, Health and Disease in Ancient Egypt.

Mr. Don and I attended a walking tour and lecture on the subject of medicine in ancient Egypt at the Met during our vacation to New York in May, 2009 and it was absolutely fascinating, and astounding too, the extent of their practical medical knowledge.  The ancient Egyptian nurses and doctors may not have understood the "science" behind their remedies but they knew what often worked.

Did you know that the kohl ancient Egyptians used to line their eyes contained a chemical not harmful to humans but that acted as a repellant to the flies that carried the microbe that caused Nile River blindness?

Unfortunately, I was not able to figure out how to copy the PDF accompanying the email notifying me of this event here.  So, here is a summary of the pertinent information.  Too bad, some of the graphics in the flyer are pretty cool. 

Medicine, Health and Disease in Ancient Egypt
A study day presented by Joyce Filer BA; Dip.Arch; M.Sc; M.Sc
formerly Curator of Human and Animal Remains, Dept. of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum, London

Saturday, 6 November, 2010
11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
University of London, Bloomsbury, London WC1

Please note: As places are limited, bookings must be received no later than 22 October 2010.
Cost  30 Pounds, to include afternoon refreshments.

Application Form:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEDICINE, HEALTH & DISEASE in ANCIENT EGYPT STUDY DAY at: University of London

Hughes-Parry Hall (The Garden Halls), 19-26 Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury, London, WC1H 9EF
On: Saturday: 6 November 2010 : 11am - 5pm


Please send me ______ ticket/s for this event. I enclose a cheque/postal order for (total)
£ _______ made payable to Joyce Filer Cost £30

All personal details specified below, and a stamped addressed envelope are required when applying.

Send (with an SAE) to:

Joyce Filer
Accountability
4 Lowndes Court
London W1F 7HE

From:

Name: .........................................................
Address: .....................................................
..................................................................
Tel/email: ..................................................

Please note: Cheque payments must be received no later than: 22 October 2010
The Study Day is aimed at Adults. Children of secondary age need to request permission from the Organizer.

For further information please contact Richard email: rikki_promo@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07973 695 168

Ancient Use of Antibiotics

People in ancient times were just as "smart" (or not) as we are today.  They had the ability to observe, experiment, and reach conclusions the same way we do.  They were keen observers of nature and their environments. What people wrote down in "recipe" books hundreds of years ago - all those botannicals and herbals just packed with information - that knowledge didn't just pop into being overnight - it was based on thousands of years of oral tradition, passed down generation after generation.  For all we know, some of the traditions may have come from Ice Age shamans.

The art of making antibiotics is nearly 2000 years old
Washington, Sept 2 (ANI): Scientists have discovered green fluorescence in Nubian skeletons indicating a tetracycline-labelled bone, a finding that shows that antibiotics were already in use nearly 2,000 years ago.

A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians showed they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer.

"It's becoming increasingly clear that this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents. I have no doubt that they knew what they were doing," said Emory anthropologist George Armelagos.

In 1980, he discovered what appeared to be traces of tetracycline in human bones from Nubia dated between A.D. 350 and 550. Armelagos and his fellow researchers later tied the source of the antibiotic to the Nubian beer. The grain used to make the fermented gruel contained the soil bacteria streptomyces, which produces tetracycline.

Mark Nelson of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc found that the bones of these ancient people were saturated with tetracycline, showing that they had been taking it for a long time.

The ancient Egyptians and Jordanians used beer to treat gum disease and other ailments, Armelagos said, adding that the complex art of fermenting antibiotics was probably widespread in ancient times, and handed down through generations.

"Now we're going to compare the amount of tetracycline in the bones, and bone formation over time, to determine the dosage that the ancient Nubians were getting," he concluded.

The research is published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. (ANI)

Further coverage.

Evidence of Early Successful Amputation

Another fascinating article. 

When Mr. Don and took a special guided tour at the Met during our last visit in 2009 that focused on ancient Egyptian medicine, it was impressive to learn just how much practical wisdom the Egyptians had acquired in prevention of certain conditions (such as using khol around the eyes, which had chemical properties that repelled a species of fly that carried a virus that could cause blindness) and considerable expertise in other areas.  From the treatment of wounds to birth control, the Egyptians had solutions that worked.  They also performed various surgeries, as surviving collections of sophisticated and delicate medical instruments and medical texts attest. 

Egyptian physicians (who were of both sexes, females were not excluded from the profession) knew about what we today call sepsis, that is, infection, which kills a person who otherwise would likely survive a surgery.  They had various precautions against it, such as the use of vinegar, which kills bacteria.  But what the survival rate of surgeries was?  I cannot tell you.  Even today, in what we consider our advanced times, patients die after surgery by the thousands every year, many of them from sepsis! 

And so this article is particularly impressive.  Mind, I don't know if it actually represents that neolithic people were routinely carrying out successful amputations!  But at least in this instance, someone did, and the patient evidently received excellent care and was treated over a period of time in order to prevent the development of infection while the wound left by the surgery healed.  How long would that have taken?  It sounds as if the patient was rather 'old' at the time, suffering from advanced arthritis.  We know that older people take longer to heal - so the effort to keep this patient alive and infection-free was quite an undertaking.  Wow, I'm impressed just thinking about it --

From The Epoch Times
Sophisticated Amputation Methods Used During Stone Age
By Zubyre Parvez
Epoch Times Staff Created: Jun 28, 2010

Stone Age doctors prove to be more medically advanced than we first imagined, as new evidence of surgery undertaken almost 7,000 years ago comes to light. Confirming advanced medical knowledge in 4900 B.C., the findings challenge the existing history of surgery and its development.

In a Neolithic site excavated in 2005 at Buthiers-Boulancourt, 40 miles south of Paris, scientists found the skeleton of an old man buried almost 7,000 years ago. Tests showed an intentional and successful amputation in which a sharpened flint was used to cut the man’s humerus bone above the trochlea indent.

Impressively, the patient was even anesthetized. The limb was cleanly cut off, and the wound was treated in sterile conditions. It has been common knowledge that Stone Age doctors performed trephinations (that is, cutting through the skull), but amputations have been unheard of up until now.

According to a research paper published in the Antiquity Journal, the macroscopic examination has not revealed any infection in contact with this amputation, suggesting that it was conducted in relatively aseptic conditions.

Scientists found that the patient survived the operation, and although he suffered from osteoarthritis, he lived for months if not years afterward.

According to the Daily Mail, researcher Cécile Buquet-Marcon said that pain-killing plants such as the hallucinogenic Datura were possibly used, and other plants such as sage were probably used to clean the wound.

The loss of the patient’s forearm did not exclude him from the community. His grave measures an above average 6.5 feet and contains a schist axe, a flint pick, and the remains of a young animal, which point to a high social rank.