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[Medicine in ancient Mesopotamia--part 1]
1Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa.
Acta Medica Portuguesa
|March 31, 2010
Summary
Ancient Mesopotamian medicine viewed illness as divine punishment, employing amulets and exorcisms. Healers used practical treatments and divination, blending magic with early rational observation for disease diagnosis and prognosis.
Area of Science:
- History of Medicine
- Ancient Civilizations
- Cuneiform Studies
Context:
- Explores Mesopotamian medicine from writing's inception to the early Common Era.
- Based on deciphered cuneiform texts from Babylonian and Assyrian empires.
- Provides perspective on political and social evolution influencing archaic civilizations.
Purpose:
- To summarize key aspects of ancient Mesopotamian medicine.
- To detail the concept of disease, roles of healers, and medical practices.
- To highlight the blend of supernatural beliefs and rational observation in early healing.
Summary:
- Disease was attributed to divine punishment or malign influences, leading to preventive measures like amulets and offerings.
- Treatments involved exorcisms by clergymen-exorcists (ãshipu) followed by practical interventions by healers (asû), including physical manipulation, surgery, and prescriptions.
- Diviners (bârû) provided final decisions through animal organ examination, while rational knowledge from systematic observation contributed to diagnosis and prognosis.
Impact:
- Reveals the sophisticated, albeit religiously influenced, medical practices of ancient Mesopotamia.
- Demonstrates the early development of systematic observation and record-keeping in medicine.
- Offers insights into the origins of diagnostic and prognostic methods still relevant today.
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