The Edwin Smith Papyrus is the oldest medical treatise in existence, and it is believed to have been written in the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550 B.C.E. {before common era}). Many regard this paryrus as a copy of an original document that was created as early as the First Dynasty. Depending on what time line one uses to date the First Dynasty of Kemet, this medical text could have been written as early as 4200 or as late as 3100 B.C.E.
In any event, the appearance of a highly sophisticated text had to have been preceded by hundreds of years of observation, research, and refinement. The ancient physician/priest of the Nile Valley were said to have been instructed in temples which were called "Per Ankh". In today's language they woould be called the "House of Life". Of the thousands of medical papyri originally written, the Ebers Papyrus, and the Edwin Smith Payrus are deemed the most profound.
The Edwin Smith Papyrus was published in 1930 by James Henry Breasted, who had spent ten years translating the document. This papyrus describes 48 different injuries to the head, face, neck, thorax and spinal column, and the appropriate surgical methods for attending them. It is suspected that the Eighteenth Dynasty scribe who was responsible for copying the original text only wrote the first 48 cases dealing with the upper third of the body. There are more than 90 anatomical terms referenced in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and there are more than 200 terms listed in various Nile Valley medical literature. This papyrus is also of great importance because of its use of the word "brain" and references to the neurological relationship between the brain (spinal cord and nervous system) and the body.
The Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1500 B.C.E.) explores a broad range of medical science and includes chapters on the pulse and cardoi-vascular system, dermatology, dentistry, gynecology, ophthalmology, obstetrics, tumors, burns, fractures, intestinal disorders, and much more. There is also considerable evidence that physicians in Kemet practiced circumcision, brain surgery, and were extremely well versed in gynecology and obstetrics.
By 200 B.C.E. physicians in Kemet had already created an effective organic chemical contraceptive. This product consisted of acacia spikes, honey, and dates, which were mixed in a specific ratio, and inserted into the vagina. Modern science has since diiscovered that acacia spikes contain lactic acid, which is a natural spemicide.
Pregnancy and fetal test were conducted by Nile Valley physicians who soaked bags of wheat and barley in a samlple of a woman's urine. Urine from a pregnant woman was known to accelerate the growth of certain plants; if the barley sprouted, it meant that the woman was pregnant and was going to give birth to a female chld, and if the wheat sprouted it meant that she would give birth to a male child. The urine pregnancy test was not rediscovered by modern science until 1926 and the wheat/barley sex determination test was not developed until 1933.
In 1987, the National Academy of Sciences published a report by the National Academy of Engineers entitled Lasers: Invention to Application. This publication featured on its cover a photograph of a stella0 of Akenaton and his wife Nefertiti basking in the soothing rays of the sun disc, the Aton. The cover art is quite interesting because one of the rays of sun is chromatically highlighted so as to give suggestion of a laser beam.
In a chapter entitled "Lasers in Medicine," the author, Rodney Perkins, M.D., suggest that a form of laser therapy was actually used in the Nile Valley. Dr. Perkins states that
Residents of the Nile Valley who often journeyed in caravans across the desert were advised to chew a root called "amimajos", which provided extra protection from the intense sun by increasing the amount of melanin in the skin. Modern scientific research has shown that the ami-majos root contains an organic chemical substance called 8-methoxypsorate, which stimulates melanocytes and increases skin pigmentation. (text taken from Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization: vol I by Anthony Browder)
Theses two papyri detail an indepth knowledge and understanding of medicine and healing. While the actual meaning of the contents of these Papyri might be debated, the time line cannot. This is significant because, Hippocrates has been referred to as the father of modern medicine. It is for this reason that all who enter into the field of medicine are required to recite the Hippocratic Oath. However, it is the record of Hippocrates life that raises question about the title "father of modern medicine". Historical record shows the life of Hippocrates as roughly 460 - 377 B.C.E. If in fact this is accurate, even if 300 hundred years were added making his life 760 - 677 B.C.E. (just to insure fairness), his life would still be several hundred years after the dates of this indepth recorded information.
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