thought to promote youthful skin. Th e washing of clothing
was also frequent; a clean, white outfi t was the indication of
high status. Funerary trappings portraying the deceased de-
pict them in fi ne clothing of this type to perpetuate an elite
appearance for all eternity.
Maladies and their causes varied. Sand brought about
several physical ailments for the ancient Egyptians. Th e den-
tal health of the Egyptians was enormously poor, owing to
sand and not sugar. Teeth cleaning may have been done with
twig “toothbrushes” or a cloth. Sand within food and par-
ticles of stone from stone-ground grains were the culprits in
the wearing down of teeth. Over time, such wear would cause
abscesses (a collection of pus and related infl ammation) and
infections. Th e eye makeup worn by men and women to help
with the glare of the sun also had antiseptic properties to
prevent infections of the eyes caused by blowing sand. An-
other result of sand in the air was pneumoconiosis, a disease
of the lungs caused by inhalation of sand and other irritating
particles.
Th e Egyptians suff ered from skin ailments as well. Head
lice found in the hair of mummies suggest that shaving the
head and wearing wigs may have been an attempt to prevent
this, but the Egyptians were also known to wear wigs over
their natural hair. Shaving body hair may also have been
practiced for hygienic reasons. Lice on the head or body
would have caused rashes prone to infection from persistent
scratching. Other conditions of the skin may have included
the highly contagious smallpox. Smallpox may be the cause
for the skin condition visible on the face of the mummy of
King Ramses V (r. 1156–1151 b.c.e.).
Parasitic infection was a serious problem in ancient
Egypt. Th e Nile’s waters also harbored hookworms, guinea
worms, and the schistosome worms. Ingesting these parasites
or allowing them to gain entrance into the body by wading in
the Nile or through contact with soil from the river, insects
and animals harboring the worms, or an infected person were
sources of much illness in the population of Egypt. Schisto-
somiasis, with symptoms ranging from fever and cough to
fatigue, abdominal pain, and enlargement of the liver and
spleen, is evident in the examination of ancient mummies.
Th is disease is still a great problem to modern-day Egyptians
who venture into the still areas of the Nile.
Other parasites came from the land. Feces, which was
used as fertilizer, was also the source for parasitic illness in
ancient Egypt. Hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms
transferred to humans via crops grown in manure. Heat can
encourage the breeding of fl ies, thus promoting the spread
of disease. Th e hot climate of Egypt also made a breeding
ground for fi larial worms, which can cause blindness in hu-
mans harboring the parasites.
Even the home could be an unsanitary environment.
Overcrowded living quarters, sometimes shared with live-
stock, promoted the spread of such illnesses as tuberculosis.
(Representations of humpbacked people may indicate suff er-
ers of spinal tuberculosis.) Bedbugs and fl eas were certainly
frequent household pests, causing chronic skin irritations.
Rodents invading household food storage were also respon-
sible for spreading illness of all types, including plague.
Treatments for ill health took the form of a combination
of prescribed medicines and magical rituals. Cures may have
involved something as simple as wearing a magical amulet,
or charm, in conjunction with taking a prescribed medicine.
Th is dual physical and spiritual approach to health is espe-
cially apparent in the cases recorded in the London Papyrus
(dating to the early 14th century b.c.e.).Th at both methods of
treatment were contained in the one document suggests that
the Egyptians did not consider either approach to be the sole
cure. Th e occurrence of physical injury and fi rst aid is the fo-
cus of the Edwin Smith Medical Papyrus (dating to the 1600s
b.c.e.). Th is papyrus records the injuries of several laborers,
including diagnoses of their injuries, decisions concerning
whether they should be treated, and the prescribed course of
treatment, if any.THE MIDDLE EAST
BY MARKHAN J. GELLER
Our information about medicine in the ancient Middle East
derives almost entirely from Babylonian sources. One of the
noticeable diff erences between the Hippocratic medicine
of Greece and Babylonian medicine is the lack of any texts
dealing with diet and health regimens. While Greek medi-
cine invested a great deal of interest in diet and exercise and
ways to preserve one’s good health, Babylonian medicine was
primarily focused on how to treat or alleviate symptoms and
distress caused by disease that had already been diagnosed.
Disease, in Babylonian terms, could be either physical or
psychic and could express itself through symptoms such as
pain and fever and loss of appetite or through anxiety, in-
somnia, impotence, or other maladies d’esprit, or “illnesses
of the soul.”
One reason why Babylonian medicine did not address
itself to health regimens or healthy living is that prevention
was considered to be the bailiwick of magic and exorcism,
rather than medicine. Incantations were essentially intended
to ward off demons and misfortune that might arise in the fu-
ture. Hence, Babylonian health therapy was divided between
the activities of the ashipu, the “exorcist,” and the asû the
“physician,” each operating within his own area of expertise
though not in a way intuitively obvious to modern medical
practitioners. Th e ashipu was responsible for magical preven-
tion of attacks by demons, angry gods, or even witchcraft and
unfavorable omens, but he also acted as the attending physi-
cian who visited the patient on his or her sickbed to give a
prognosis, predicting the nature and course of the disease.
Th e ashipu also had the social advantages of being a priest.
Th e asû, on the other hand, was more of an apothecary who
prepared the complicated recipes for healing treatments and
drugs, though we have little information regarding his con-
tacts with patients. As a layman, he had no access to the tem-548 health and disease: The Middle East