[Theoretic medicine in Egypt]

Egyptian medical writings - especially those surviving on papyri - provide a rich material for historical research. They did not only serve the memory of old healing methods and practices, but that of contemporary medical theories and views as well. On the one hand, Egyptians knew illnesses caused by factors physicians could easily identify by mere empirism, or by their anatomical or physiological knowledge. (Their main physiological theory was probably based on the idea of specific materials circulating through a system of canals (mtw) in the body. It produced illness, either by the system being blocked, or by its original materials changed into the pathogenic material (wxdw). On the other hand however, they supposed the existence of illnesses, caused by the activity of supernatural forces or demons. The two different but parallel etiologies demanded different therapies. Consequently, besides physical also magical therapies were used, and in the healing process the healer him/herself played a double role. Egyptian thinking regarded both ways of healing - the physical and the magical - as equally useful and rational. This richly documented article gives an overview of the Egyptian medical heritage, as illustrated by the original texts and objects.