Another epidemic disease, malaria, must have existed in
ancient Egypt, when conditions for the mosquito carrier were
probably more favorable than today. No traces on mummies
and no mention of relevant symptoms (such as the charac-
teristic recurrent fever at three- to four-day intervals) in the
medical papyri occur. Th e application of a particular test on
embalmed mummies from diff erent periods of pharaonic
history has suggested that certain affl ictions might have been
caused by malaria.
Similarly, osteomyelitis and poliomyelitis, two well-
known infections, are rare in skeletal remains. On a funerary
stela from the Eighteenth or Nineteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550–
ca. 1196 b.c.e.), the owner is depicted with a grossly wasted
and shortened leg and deformity of the foot. He is accompa-
nied by his wife and son. Some favor the view that this is a
case of poliomyelitis contracted in childhood. It is interesting
that the deformed man appears to be holding a stick, which
could be used as a crutch, and that his disability had not pre-
vented his attaining high offi ce, marrying, and having at least
one child.
Even for seriously aff ected patients medical treatment
in an isolated environment, such as a sanatorium or healers’
camp, was not done only for rational reasons. Th e sanatorium
was a precinct where patients could be totally or partially im-
mersed in healing holy water or practice incubation (temple
sleep) in the hope of having a dream in which a deity would
indicate a cure. Such practices are known mainly from the
middle of the fi rst millennium b.c.e. onward, and the only
archaeologically attested example is within the temple enclo-
sure of the Great Temple of Hathor at Dendera, a sacred site
in southern Egypt. Th e structural remains show a number
of cells around a sunken corridor. Th ese cells are presumed
to have been for incubation, and the corridor leads to a se-
ries of basins that were fi lled with water from the sacred lake
nearby.
Healing statues with inscribed magical and medical in-
cantations were used as mediums for the healing process. Th e
sacred water was poured over the statue and collected in a
basin, which then was used for the immersion of parts or all
of the body. Th e infl uence of the inscriptions would be ab-
sorbed into the water and their eff ects obtained by drinking
the water. Magic played a very important role in treatment
of the sick. Malign infl uences were thought to be the cause
of many diseases, and it was common to invoke the help of a
benign deity to counteract the malign infl uence. Sometimes
a spell was recited in isolation and at other times in conjunc-
tion with conventional medical therapy.
THE MIDDLE EAST
BY MARKHAM J. GELLER
Epidemics are not well documented in the ancient Near East,
nor do we have any text even remotely comparable to the
Greek historian Th ucydides’ detailed fi rsthand account of the
great plague of Athens in 430 b.c.e. Hardly any of the scat-
tered references that exist to ancient Near Eastern plagues
and epidemics can be related to any dated historical event;
most merely express a general fear of epidemics or make omi-
nous predictions of plagues. Literary accounts dealing with
plague, such as the biblical 10 plagues in Egypt, are not sup-
ported by historical data that can substantiate when, or even
whether, such plagues actually occurred.
Th e strongest evidence for epidemics in ancient Mesopo-
tamia comes from the epistolary archives of the city of Mari
on the Euphrates. Dating from about 1700 b.c.e., these texts
refer to epidemics aff ecting various towns and cities in the vi-
cinity. For example, they tell of a serious plague in the city of
Terqa, though no remedy (such as quarantine) is mentioned.
On a personal level one letter records that every member of
the Bahlu-Gawum family or clan had died from a plague. We
can safely suppose that plagues were considered to be mani-
festations of divine anger, since an epidemic is referred to as
ukulti ili, “the devouring of a god.” Th e only specifi c symptom
associated with plague is fever, but we can only assume that
these reports refer to a contagious pestilence. Some reports
of “plague” refer to animals as well as humans being aff ected.
Two letters from Mari refer to attacks by rabid dogs.Terra-cotta fi gure of an animal thought to be a dog (ca. 700–500
b.c.e.), from Mesopotamia; fi gures of dogs were considered magically
protective, especially against rabies, which was becoming widespread
in Mesopotamia at this time. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)822 pandemics and epidemics: The Middle East