![]() The free eBook Life in the Ancient World guides you through craft centers in ancient Jerusalem, family structure throughout Israel and ancient practices across the Mediterranean world.ĭespite the dearth of evidence of ancient cancer incidences compared to other medical conditions, we do have some indication that the disease affected human populations in antiquity. “The virulence of the disease impeded her to carry out any kind of labor,” el-Damaty said, “but she was treated and taken care of during a long period until her death.” The woman lived at the end of the sixth dynasty (2200 B.C.E.) in Elephantine, an island town in the Nile River known as a religious site throughout ancient Egypt. Further study of the bones revealed that the damage was consistent with that caused by the spread of breast cancer. ![]() Working in the elite necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa across from modern Aswan in southern Egypt, University of Jaen (Spain) archaeologists discovered the skeleton of an adult woman that displayed extensive deterioration. Mamdouh el-Damaty announced in 2015 that archaeologists excavating in an ancient Egyptian cemetery have found the earliest evidence of breast cancer. Photo: Courtesy Ministry of Antiquities.Įgyptian Antiquities Minister Dr. This 4,200-year-old skeleton possesses the oldest evidence of breast cancer discovered to date. Pictured is the skeleton of a woman from the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis in Egypt. Our search for curing vision-threatening diseases continues today.Ancient cancer incidences are rarely found in the archaeological record. is that of a blind harpist with seven blind choral singers sitting behind him.īlindness was a troublesome problem for the ancient Egyptians. One of the most famous paintings of the blind from 1500 B.C. It is well-known that blind musicians were admitted to the harems of kings and nobles. ![]() ![]() Milk, blood, urine, and animal excrements were also part of the ancient Egyptian pharmacopoeia.īlindness was also depicted in Egyptian paintings and on monuments. Other remedies for lid disorders included sulfite of antimony and a variety of copper solutions. Bending of the hairs of the lid (trichiasis) and eversion of the flesh (ectropion) involved pulling the hairs out of the lid margin when they became too long and injured the eye. Pterygium and cataracts also were mentioned in both of these scrolls but there was no indication that surgery was ever considered in either of these disorders. Chalazion, or little grain, was treated with ointments. Leukoma or a white spot of the cornea was treated with a variety of animal galls, specifically that of the tortoise. These treatments were used by Greek and Arab physicians later. The condition was treated with oily or fatty ointments, which contained myrrh, resin, malachite, yellow ocher, and red natron. Eye blurriness in both acute and chronic forms is mentioned in the Ebers papyrus. Both of these scrolls provide insight into what the Egyptians knew during the period around 2000 B.C.Ĭhronic trachoma was most likely a serious disease of the period. The Edwin Smith papyrus is approximately 4.5 meters in length and thought to be a copied text that was originally made in 3000 B.C. The other well-known one is the Edwin Smith papyrus, dating from approximately 1600 B.C., which can be found at the New York Academy of Medicine. Today it is housed at the University of Leipzig. In the late 1800s he obtained the 20-meter papyrus, which dates from approximately 1550 B.C. The Ebers papyrus was named after George Ebers, a German professor. Most of the medical information from this early period comes from two papyrus scrolls, each of which is named after its archaeological discoverer or the person who purchased it.
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