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Mesopotamian medicine.

F P Retief1, L Cilliers

  • 1Medical School of the University of the Free State.

South African Medical Journal = Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif Vir Geneeskunde
|March 24, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Ancient Mesopotamian medicine, though less understood than Egyptian, involved diviners, exorcists, and healing priests. Treatments focused on supernatural causes and appeasement, with early codification evident in Hammurabi's Code.

Area of Science:

  • History of Medicine
  • Ancient Civilizations
  • Mesopotamian Studies

Background:

  • Mesopotamian medicine remains less researched than Egyptian due to cuneiform source material challenges.
  • Healers were integrated into the priestly fraternity, comprising diviners (barû), exorcists (âshipu), and healing priests (asû).

Observation:

  • Illness was attributed to divine retribution or malevolent supernatural forces.
  • Treatments involved identifying the supernatural cause, appeasing deities through amulets and incantations, exorcism, and some empirical therapies.

Findings:

  • Medical practice was codified early, notably in Hammurabi's Code (18th century BC).
  • Key texts like the Diagnostic Handbook reveal a rationale based predominantly on supernatural concepts, with discernible empirical elements.

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  • Rudimentary empirical medicine was present alongside supernatural explanations.

    • Implications:

    • Mesopotamian medical practices may have influenced Egyptian medicine.
    • Greek rational medicine likely developed independently, with minimal Mesopotamian influence.