Difference between revisions of "Ebers Papyrus" - New World Encyclopedia

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'''Ebers Papyrus''' is an preserved medical document from ancient [[Egypt]], traced to about 1550 B.C.E. Longer and more complete than the [[Edwin Smith Papyrus]], and about as old (the Edwin Smith Papyrus is dated to about 1600 B.C.E.), it is a collection of diverse medical texts that offers the most complete record of Egyptian medicine.  
 
'''Ebers Papyrus''' is an preserved medical document from ancient [[Egypt]], traced to about 1550 B.C.E. Longer and more complete than the [[Edwin Smith Papyrus]], and about as old (the Edwin Smith Papyrus is dated to about 1600 B.C.E.), it is a collection of diverse medical texts that offers the most complete record of Egyptian medicine.  
  
==Overview==
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==Description==
 
The Ebers Papyrus measures about 20.23 meters in length and 30 centimeters in height (WNI 2008) and comprises 110 pages (Demand 2000). It is much longer than other extant medical papyri from ancient Egypt. The Edwin Smith Papyrus comprises 17 pages (377 lines) on the recto and five pages (92 lines) on the verso (Demand 2000). (Recto refers to the right-hand page and verso to the left-hand page.)  
 
The Ebers Papyrus measures about 20.23 meters in length and 30 centimeters in height (WNI 2008) and comprises 110 pages (Demand 2000). It is much longer than other extant medical papyri from ancient Egypt. The Edwin Smith Papyrus comprises 17 pages (377 lines) on the recto and five pages (92 lines) on the verso (Demand 2000). (Recto refers to the right-hand page and verso to the left-hand page.)  
  
It is dated to about 1552 B.C.E. (WHI 2008) or 1534 B.C.E. (Demand 2000) based on the passage on the verso referring to the 9th year of the reign of Amenhotep I (Demand 2000). However, there is a portion of the papyrus that suggests a considerable earlier origin&mash;a reference to the Lower Egypt ''Den'' that would place an origin nearer to the First Dynasty (about 3000 B.C.E.) (Demand 2000). At any rate, the Ebers Papyrus is one of the two oldest preserved medical documents anywhere. Another important medical papyrus is the [[Brugsch Papyrus]] (around 1300 B.C.E.).
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The Ebers Papyrus is dated to about 1552 B.C.E. (WHI 2008) or 1534 B.C.E. (Demand 2000) based on the passage on the verso referring to the 9th year of the reign of Amenhotep I (Demand 2000). However, there is a portion of the papyrus that suggests a considerable earlier origin&mash;a reference to the Lower Egypt ''Den'' that would place an origin nearer to the First Dynasty (about 3000 B.C.E.) (Demand 2000). At any rate, the Ebers Papyrus is one of the two oldest preserved medical documents anywhere. Another important medical papyrus is the [[Brugsch Papyrus]] (around 1300 B.C.E.).
  
  
 
   
 
   
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It is also commonly called '''Papyrus Ebers (from its original German name)
 
It is also commonly called '''Papyrus Ebers (from its original German name)
 
The Ebers Papyrus was purchased at [[Luxor]] ([[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]]) in the winter of 1873–74 by [[Georg Ebers]] and is now in the library of the [[University of Leipzig]], [[Germany]].
 
  
 
==Medical knowledge==
 
==Medical knowledge==

Revision as of 21:54, 4 September 2008

Ebers Papyrus treatment for cancer: recounting a "tumor against the god Xenus", it recommends "do thou nothing there against".[1]

Ebers Papyrus is an preserved medical document from ancient Egypt, traced to about 1550 B.C.E. Longer and more complete than the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and about as old (the Edwin Smith Papyrus is dated to about 1600 B.C.E.), it is a collection of diverse medical texts that offers the most complete record of Egyptian medicine.

Description

The Ebers Papyrus measures about 20.23 meters in length and 30 centimeters in height (WNI 2008) and comprises 110 pages (Demand 2000). It is much longer than other extant medical papyri from ancient Egypt. The Edwin Smith Papyrus comprises 17 pages (377 lines) on the recto and five pages (92 lines) on the verso (Demand 2000). (Recto refers to the right-hand page and verso to the left-hand page.)

The Ebers Papyrus is dated to about 1552 B.C.E. (WHI 2008) or 1534 B.C.E. (Demand 2000) based on the passage on the verso referring to the 9th year of the reign of Amenhotep I (Demand 2000). However, there is a portion of the papyrus that suggests a considerable earlier origin&mash;a reference to the Lower Egypt Den that would place an origin nearer to the First Dynasty (about 3000 B.C.E.) (Demand 2000). At any rate, the Ebers Papyrus is one of the two oldest preserved medical documents anywhere. Another important medical papyrus is the Brugsch Papyrus (around 1300 B.C.E.).


It is also commonly called Papyrus Ebers (from its original German name)

Medical knowledge

The Ebers Papyrus is written in hieratic Egyptian writing and preserves for us the most voluminous record of ancient Egyptian medicine known. The 110-page scroll contains some 700 magical formulas and remedies. It contains many incantations meant to turn away disease-causing demons and there is also evidence of a long tradition of empirical practice and observation.

The papyrus contains a "treatise on the heart". It notes that the heart is the center of the blood supply, with vessels attached for every member of the body. The Egyptians seem to have known little about the kidneys and made the heart the meeting point of a number of vessels which carried all the fluids of the body — blood, tears, urine and sperm.

Mental disorders are detailed in a chapter of the papyrus called the Book of Hearts. Disorders such as depression and dementia are covered. The descriptions of these disorders suggest that Egyptians conceived of mental and physical diseases in much the same way.

The papyrus contains chapters on contraception, diagnosis of pregnancy and other gynaecological matters, intestinal disease and parasites, eye and skin problems, dentistry and the surgical treatment of abscesses and tumors, bone-setting and burns.

Remedies

Ebers Papyrus treatment for asthma: a mixture of herbs heated on a brick so that the sufferer could inhale their fumes.

Examples of remedies in the Ebers Papyrus include:

Asthma
A mixture of herbs heated on a brick so that the sufferer could inhale their fumes.
Belly
"For the evacuation of the belly: Cow's milk 1; grains 1; honey 1; mash, sift, cook; take in four portions."
Bowels
"To remedy the bowels: Melilot, 1; dates, 1; cook in oil; anoint sick part."
Cancer
Recounting a "tumor against the god Xenus", it recommends "do thou nothing there against".[1]
Clothing
Clothing may be protected from mice and rats by applying cat's fat.
Death
Half an onion and the froth of beer was considered "a delightful remedy against death."

Modern history of the papyrus

Like the Edwin Smith Papyrus, the Ebers Papyrus came into the possession of Edwin Smith in 1862. The source of the papyrus is unknown, but it was said to have been found between the legs of a mummy in the Assassif district of the Theban necropolis.

The papyrus remained in the collection of Edwin Smith until at least 1869 when there appeared, in the catalog of an antiquities dealer, an advertisement for "a large medical papyrus in the possession of Edwin Smith, an American farmer of Luxor." (Breasted 1930)

The Papyrus was purchased in 1872 by the German Egyptologist and novelist Georg Ebers (born in Berlin, 1837), after whom it is named. In 1875, Ebers published a facsimile with an English-Latin vocabulary and introduction, but it was not translated until 1890, by H. Joachim. Ebers retired from his chair of Egyptology at Leipzig on a pension and the papyrus remains in the University of Leipzig library.

See also

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Pommerening, Tanja, "Altägyptische Hohlmasse Metrologisch neu Interpretiert" and relevant phramaceutical and medical knowledge, an abstract, Phillips-Universtat, Marburg, 8-11-2004, taken from "Die Altägyptsche Hohlmasse" in studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, Beiheft, 10, Hamburg, Buske-Verlag, 2005
  • Scholl, Reinhold, Der Papyrus Ebers. Die größte Buchrolle zur Heilkunde Altägyptens (Schriften aus der Universitätsbibliothek 7), Leipzig 2002; ISBN 3-910108-93-8.


whonamedit.com (WNI). 2008. http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/443.html Ebers' papyrus


Demand, N. H. 2000. Medicine in Ancient Egypt; Medical papyri. The Ebers Papyrus. Asclepion. Retrieved September 4, 2008.


  1. 1.0 1.1 U. S. National Medical Library at the National Institutes of Health.

External links

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