Medicine, Magic, and Science in Ancient Near East Final

medicine

knowledge and practice of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and illness

Frazer’s definition of magic

magic coerces, religion supplicates

Durkheim’s definition of magic

magic is private, religion is communal

Mauss’ definition of magic

magic is prohibited, religion is accepted

Bailey’s definition of magic

magic is an unstable category

science

collection of knowledge, prediction, and causal explanation

health

absence of disease, able to function according to society

disease

deviation of norm with a diagnosis

illness

perception of disruption of health

body in Mesopotamia

net of chords around body- sheranu, filled with organic tissue; blood and wind must move through body; healthy body linked to social status

body in ancient Egypt

body as network of tubes (mtwt), must keep body clear of wekhedu

emic

insider/native

etic

outsider/non-native

materia medica

collection of how natural substances work for medical purposes

cosmology

study of origins, dynamics, and future of universe as we know it

King in Mesopotamia

Has the most direct access to the gods

Priests in Mesopotamia

Can work between people and the gods; asipus were often these

Temples in Mesopotamia

Acted like a state run institution where priests gain knowledge and sorts of training

sumerian

first written language; became the elite written language

Akkadian

civilization and used the same writing system as sumerians

Aramaic

was conquered by Akkadian; became the lingua franca

demons in Mesopotamia

Lamashtu, Pazuzu, Namtar

theodicy

question of divine justice

Marduk

Mesopotamian god of wisdom and judgement; head of the divine council

Gula

Mesopotamian goddess most linked to medicine; cures ailments but can also bring disease

Assaluhi

Mesopotamian god associated with magic and childbirth; child of Enki/Ea

Enki/Ea

Mesopotamian god of magic and arts; known to cure certain illnesses

Lamashtu

Mesopotamian demon that targets babies and pregnant women

Pazuzu

Mesopotamian underworld spirit and protector against Lamashtu

ghosts in Mesopotamia

kubu is ghosts of infants killed by Lamashtu

Dreckapotheke

gross stuff for cures or secretly medical code

incantations in Mesopotamia

read with applied medical ingredients, are specific to disease

dissection in Mesopotamia

There is no theoretical discourse on physiology, so believed that mesopotamians didn’t do these

dissection in ancient Egypt

Herodotus said they didn’t, however needed some sort of knowledge to do mummification

sheranu

net of veins, muscles, and tendons that encompass the body

libbu

heart or stomach

eyes in mesopotamia

powerful sisters separated by mountain

apotropaic

intended to dispel harm or evil

asu

physician/pharmacist in mesopotamia; independent, had the ability to travel

asipu

healthcare provider in mesopotamia that worked in temples; was a professional priest and looked at signs from gods

masmassu

asipu term used in private letters

sabsutu

midwife in mesopotamia

baru

diviner in mesopotamia that reads messages that might be signs from gods

ka.pirig

asipu with house visits

gallubu

barber; probably did the surgeries in mesopotamia

mtwt

Egyptian idea of the body being a network of tubes; brain provides liquid for tubes that met at heart and anus

wekhedu

build up of poisonous substance in mtwt; want to clear this in healthcare

mummification

removing wekhedu from deceased body, and preserving the body for the afterlife

Ka

Egyptian idea of a spirit that would inhabit statues in tombs and would take nourishment for the deceased

Canopic jars

jars labeled by the different sons of Horus that hold different organs that held wekhedu

sakhmet

Egyptian goddess of disease and plague

priests in Egypt

were docters in temples for part time, and docters in community for other part time

Isis

Egyptian goddess of healing and protection, adopted by romans

incantations in Egypt

spells are presented as myths, must read myth to get medical effect

Horus

Egyptian god - giver of health and prosperity

Eye of Horus

restored eye that was ripped out by seth; symbolizes good health

Serqet

Egyptian goddess associated with scorpions; can inflict or heal bites

swnw

Egyptian medical practitioner for the elite

wab-priest

Egyptian medical professional associated with temples; concentrated in communication between the gods and afflicted

sau

medical professional associated with the royal court and military

hrp srq.t

controller of serqet; scorpion charmer in Egypt

rh.yt

wise women in Egypt

Maat

Egyptian goddess and idea of order, justice, and balance; feather is used in balance

Heka

Egyptian idea of access to divine power

per-ankh

The house of life, thought of as a scribal school

Mesopotamia

civilization between euphrates and tigris rivers

Euphrates

river west of mesopotamia

Tigris

river east of mesopotamia

Upper Egypt

Southern Egypt; start of the Nile river

Lower Egypt

Northern Egypt; end of Nile river; fertile delta area

Nile

river on which ancient Egypt was centered upon

Assyria

one of last ancient civilizations in mesopotamia; was the most northern

Babylonia

middle civilization in mesopotamia

Sumer

first civilization in mesopotamia, most southern

Herodotus

Greek historian that observed ancient mesopotamia and Egypt

Tale of Atrahasis

Mesopotamian creation myth saying that humans were made to work for the gods

Hammurabi’s code

18th century Babylonian legal code; had laws that applied to Asus

diagnostic texts in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian text in standard if then construction

therapeutic texts of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian text with symptom description, instructions for administering remedy, prognosis

Prescriptions in Mesopotamia

can be incantations, amulets, or treatments from materia medica

UGU extract series

extraction from large Mesopotamian diagnosis catalogue thats measured from head from toe

Myth of Enki and Ninmah

Sumerian myth in which gods created disabled people to see if they could be given a role in society

Metternich Stela

Stone with engraved story of Horus that cures scorpion stings and snake bites

Isis and the secret name of Re

Isis gives scorpion sting to Re to get the secret name that gives magic; used to cure scorpion stings

Ebers Papyrus

Egyptian collection of treatments for illnesses

Edwin Smith Papyrus

Egyptian guidebook for illnesses with surgical and incantation cures

priests in the Hebrew Bible

medical professionals that try to decipher and impart messages of god to people

temples in Hebrew Bible

there is only one temple of god

Hebrew

language of the hebrew bible

Ugaritic

language of Ugarit

body in Hebrew Bible

blood and breathing important, kidneys are origin of thoughts and feelings

mesopotamian concept of teeth

worms in teeth cause decay

extispicy

done by Barus, reading animal parts

God of the hebrew bible

ultimate healer in hebrew bible, all sickness and healing under their domain

rephaim

ghosts of ancestors or healers in hebrew bible

Purity in Leviticus

non diseased

Prophets

have direct connection with god, works outside the temple, has pharmaceutical recipies

Esarhaddon

mesopotamian king with chronic illness; still represented as strong

blood and breathing

main components of the body in the Hebrew Bible

kidneys

origin of feeling and thought in the Hebrew Bible