Ancient Egyptian Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abelle Vinel and Jacques Pialoux
Ancient Egyptian Medicine
and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Conferen ce given at the R.E.F.S. Congress
(Registre Europ éen et Françai s de Sinerg étique),
on 31 October 2005 in Aix- en-Proven ce
Contents
Page
Introduction
2
Principal so urces: Papyri and bas-reli efs
3
- The Ebers Papyrus
5
Status of doctor s
7
Training of doctors
8
Myth s, Incantatio ns an d Magi c
10
- Protective incantation s
for the W’ab priest of Sakhm et
11
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy I: Energetic medi cine, the Metou
15
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy II: Denderah, allegor ies
21
Anatomo-ph ysiol ogy III: The Haty and th e Ib
24
Pathogeni c factor s
28
Therapy
31
Bibliography
34
1
Introduction
The medi cine of the Anci ent Egyptians i s a domai n for wh ich we p ossess
authenti c docum ent s that go b ack more t han four millenni a. It enjoyed
immense renown and, like the light hou se of Alexandria, illuminated the
ancient world: the doctors of the Phar aoh were summ oned to the court by
Cyrus and Darius; Homer, Herodotu s, Strabo, Diodorus of Sicil y al l
refer to it; Theophrastes and Galen quot e Egyptian therap eutic formulas.
In the course of t his presentati on of Eg yptian Medi cine, we shal l first
see wh at sour ces ar e avail able to us on the subject, and then look at th e
training and statu s of the physi cian in An cient Egypt.
With thi s information, we shall address anatomo-physiology and t he
parallel s with Egyptian “energ etic medici ne”.
Lastly, we shall explore t he mai n patho genic factors and the r emedi es
applied to ailm ent s as described in the medical literat ure of the period.
We shall not ho wev er deal wi th the surgi cal si de of Egyptian medici ne,
for this would require further more specific study based essenti ally on
the conten t of the Edwin Smith Surgical P apyrus.
2
Principal sources: Papyri and bas-reliefs
When we embark on a study of Egypti an medicine, the only written
sources av ailabl e to us are the medi cal papyri, most of which are written
in Hierati c, the m ode of writing of t he priest s. There exist however a
number of mural painti ngs, the possibilit y of studying mum mies, som e
ostraca and a certain number of bas-reli efs, in particular those on th e
ceiling of the hypostyle room of the temple of Denderah, which pro vid e
some d etail s or corrobor ation wit h resp ect to the knowledg e of Egyptian
physi cian s.
The Ebers Papyrus
The original so urce can in all likelihood be traced b ack to 4 2 books by
Thoth Djehout y, the Greek Hermes T rismegi stus. Residing in t he
libraries of th e “Ho uses of Lif e”, centres of scholar ship l ocat ed close t o
the great templ es, they comprised a sort of cosmology, an official
religious ency clopaedia, a “ philosophy” grouping the t hree kn owledges,
Theology, Astrolog y and Medi cine. To these Ho uses of Life flock ed
scientist s, learned m en and scholar s, scribes, physi cian-pri est s, all
philoso phers d evoted to reflection, resear ch and medit ation.
-
According to Cl ement of Al exandria, the last six of th e 42 work s of
Thoth dealt with medi cal scien ce; these b ore the following titles:
On the con stitution of the human body
On disea ses
3
-
On
On
On
On
the organs
medici nes
disea ses of the eyes
disea ses of women
The works i n thi s library have long di sappeared from view, apart from
the famou s “Emerald Table” of Herm es Trismegistus and p erhaps the
Shaï-en-si nsin ( Book of Respirations) 1 dealing with rei ncarnation. The
Book of the Dead it self doubtl ess also had its origin s here, as well as a
Latin tran slatio n of t he Logos t eleios (The Perfect Di scour se), of which
the origin al Greek work cit ed by Lact ant ius (Div. In stit. VII. 18) i s no
longer ex tant: A scl epiu s or Hermeti s Trismegi sti Asclepi us, sive d e
natura deorum dialogus.
Attributed to Apul eius of Madaurus, this translation of a dialogue
between Hermes and hi s disciple Ascl epi os deal s in parti cular with the
nature of God: “None of our thoughts,” says Thoth-Hermes to hi s
discipl e, “are able to concei ve God, nor can any language defin e him.
That which is incorporeal, invisi ble, formless, cannot be per ceived by
our sen ses; that whi ch is eternal cannot be measured by the shor t
yardsti ck of time: for God i s ineffable. He is the absolute truth, absolut e
power; an d the ab solute immutabl e cann ot be und ersto od on earth… ” 2.
This text provides eviden ce that the “ Neterou” which we classically
consi der to be the Egyptian “gods” are in fact not gods as such, but
attributes or expressio ns of the uni que God; thus they would be regarded
as Power s of Nature abl e to influence the health of man.
Thoth Djehout y
1
T ex t, t r an sl a tio n an d an aly si s b y P .J . d e H o r r ac k - Ed . K l in ck si e ck P ar i s 1 8 7 7 an d
A r b r e d ’ O r – G en ev a 2 0 0 5
2
Ci t ed b y Er n e st Bo s c in I s is D év o i l é e o u l’ Eg y p to lo g i e sa cr ée – N ic e 1 8 9 1 an d
A r b r e d ’ O r – G en ev a 2 0 0 5
4
The Ebers Papyrus
It is reason able to su ppose that cert ain o f the papyri i n our po ssessio n
correspond to fragment s of t he books of Thoth-Hermes. This certai nly
was the opinion of Ebers, a great Egyptol ogist of the ni neteenth century,
in resp ect of the m edical papyrus t hat h e bought in 1873 from an Ar ab
who claim ed to hav e found it ten years earlier between the l egs of a
mummy.
Some fifteen su ch medical papyri are in exist ence, t he mo st ancient of
which is the Kahoun papyru s written around 2000 B.C. The most
important of these scroll s are the Berli n Papyrus, the Edwin Smith
Surgical Papyru s and the Ebers Papyru s 3.
Now hou sed in Leip zig, the Eber s Papyr us dat es back to 1550 B. C. and
is the mo st complet e sci entific t ext kno wn to us, containing copi es o f
treatises goin g back at least to the beg i nning of the third millennium
B.C.
The Ebers Papyrus
(see note 3)
These papyri general ly bear the name of the person who “discover ed”
them, or their p lace of origin or where th ey are kept. The actual author s
of the m edical p apyri are never cited 4. The writing of th e papyri i s most
often attributed to a divi ne transmission, t o which each of them refers.
3
Tr an s cr ip t io n , tr an s l it er at io n an d tr an s la t io n o f th e Eb er s P ap y r u s: D r . B er n ar d
La l an n e an d S y lv i e G r if f o n 2 0 0 3 . Th e " Eb er s P a p y r u s" c it a tio n s b e lo w ar e t ak en
f r o m th is w o r k .
4
L a M éd e cin e au te m p s d e s p h ar ao n s – p . 2 1 6 – Br u n o H a l io u a 2 0 0 2
5
This honour i s very oft en attributed to Th oth Djeho uty, messenger of Re,
“that excellent scrib e, pure of hand, master of purity, who driv es
away evil, who writes that which is exact 5…” Or again to Imhotep,
“great doctor of the gods and of man”, who lived aro und 2700 B.C., no
doubt in Memp his, the residen ce of King Djoser, second Pharaoh of the
Third Dynasty. Imhot ep was deifi ed, today we wo uld say can onised,
sixteen centuries lat er. Vizier, high pri est of Heliopoli s, he was al so the
architect of the Step Pyramid at S aq qara. The patron of scribes,
magician, heal er, he was head of the cl ergy and the physici ans of the
time.
All of which bring s us quite naturally t o the status of ph ysi cians an d
their training in Anci ent Egypt.
5
6
L e L iv r e d es Mo r ts d e s A n c i en s Eg y p t ien s ( ch ap . 1 8 2 ) . Tr an s l. P au l B ar g u et . 1 9 6 7
Status of the physician
Three principal types of practiti oner co exi st in Ancient Egypt:
•
•
•
-
w’abu, physician-pri est s, doctors at the Court
zuwnu, doctors of the people
zauwt y, magicians, sorcerers, bone-setters
The w’ abu, exorcist-pri est s att ach ed to the cult of S akhmet or of
Thoth, ministered to the aristocracy and the Phar aoh him self. The
medicin e practised by the w’ab was based on both religion and the
sacred medical text s, for his heal ing powers were God-given, by Re an d
his Avat ars, and al so by his Neterou, the Powers of Natur e.
Sakhmet
-
The z u w n u, doct ors of the peopl e, “barefoot doctors”,
practised t heir art am ong t he m ore h um ble and dr ew their knowled ge
from books and their emp irical practice.
The zau wt y, di sciples of Serq et the Scorpion Goddess, at once
magicians, sorcerers and bone- setter s, combated the invi sibl e power s at
the source of inexpl icabl e ailm ent s or scorpion or sn ake bites, etc. They
minister ed with the hel p of magic formulas, incantations, amulets, et c.
7
Training of physicians
In the words of Herodotus 6:
“Their medicin e i s divid ed into specia lities: each doctor attends to
one disea se and one al one. Thus the country is full of doctors,
speci alist s for the eyes, the head, the teeth, the abdomen, or agai n
for disea ses of uncertain orig in.”
Diodorus of Sicily, for his part, wrote:
“They establi sh the treatment of disea ses accordin g to fixed written
precept s, transmitted by a great number of famous ancient doctors.
If, when following th e precepts of th e sacred book, they d o not
succeed in saving the patient, they are declared innocent and exempt
of all reproach. If they act contrary to t he written precepts, they may
be accused and condemned to death.”
While i ncant ation s and amulet s such as An kh, the cross of Life,
constit ute an important aspect of medicin e, it is al so based on the u se of
precise ther apeuti c formulas u sing mi ner als, plants and animal product s
in particular. We shal l come back to thi s subject in a moment. Gener ally
speaking, the medi cal appro ach is pur el y symptomat ic. It comprises a
diagnosis, a progn osi s in the case of a curab le condition, with the
indication of a therapeuti c formula, or, in the case of an incurable one, a
list of the incant ation s and amu let s to be employed.
Ankh, the Cross of Life
A set of rul es already exist ed for the m edical professio n at this time:
under the aegi s of Thoth-Djeho uty, the person al physi cian of Pharaoh,
“greatest of the p alace ph ysi cian s”, was the chief of all the doctors (as
well as the priests) of Upper and Lower Egypt, as we have already seen
in the case of Imhot ep. Today h e woul d be styl ed “pr esid ent of the
medical council ”.
6
8
H e r o d o tu s I I , 8 4 : H er o d o tu s - tr an s la t ed b y A n d r ée B ar g u e t 1 9 6 4
A particul ar duty of the physicians at P haraoh’s Court, the w’ab u, was t o
write medical book s for teaching purposes in the “Houses of Life” an d
the training of the doctor s of th e peop le, the zuwnu, b y referring to t he
ancient s text s.
The transm ission of medical knowled ge i s performed in t he fir st instance
orally, from father to son. In the case of the w’abu, the phy sici anpriest s, the training can th en be compl eted in the “Hou ses of Life”,
veritable un iversities of the time, which, i n addition to practitioner s of a
high level, empl oyed cop yist s, scribes able to deci pher and transcribe
the anci ent text s on papyru s.
The principal hou ses of life were alway s situat ed in t he shado w of th e
great temples: for exampl e at Hel iopoli s, Sais, Memphi s, Thebes, etc.
Treatment of th e stu dent s was rough: according to the adage “the boy’ s
ear i s on his back, he list ens when he i s b eaten” 7, there was frequent use
of the stick!
Neverth eless, for the cat egories of th erapi sts, wh ether t hey be phy sici anpriest s, "b arefoot doctor s" or magi cian s/bone-setters, t he reli giou s myt h
remains present as the b ackgrou nd to any approach to disease.
7
L a M éd e cin e au te m p s d e s p h ar ao n s – p . 3 1 – B r u n o H a l io u a 2 0 0 2
9
Myths, Incantations and Magic
The religious myt h i s in particul ar based on the them e of “the quarrel
between Horus an d Set” 8, between good an d evil, a quarrel that followed
the death of Osiris.
Osi ris
Osiris was t he son of th e Virgin Nout, f ecundat ed by the Divin e Spirit,
Toum. According to the legend, Osiri s was assassinated by his halfbrother Set, who then put Osiris’ s bod y in a coffin and cast i t into the
sea, which carried it to t he shores of Lebanon. Thi s i s where Isi s, hi s
sist er-wife, found it, caught in t he root s of an acacia, and brought i t
back to Egypt.
Set however, taking advantage of the absence of Isi s, succeeded i n
getting hold of Osiri s’s bo dy, and in order to be rid of him once and for
all, cut it up into fourteen pieces which he spread over the delt a of t he
Nile. Isis managed to find all the pieces except one, the phallus whi ch
had been d evoured by th e oxyrin chus, t he phagrus and the lepi dotus,
three fishes alli ed to Set. She reassembled the fragment s of Osiri s’ s
body and, with the hel p of her si ster Nephthys, brought it b ack to lif e
through magic. Osiri s then became the Master of the Douat, the resting
place of the dead.
Isis and Osiris h ad a son, Horus, who in the cour se of ni ne labour s
attempted to avenge hi s f ather and reconquer the throne usurped by Set
his uncl e. Horus, the archety pe of the man on the path of evolution, with
8
Ch e st er Be a tty P ap y r u s N o 1 , X X th D y n as ty , r ei g n o f R am se s V . G u s t av e Lef eb v r e:
Ro m an s e t co n te s ég y p ti en s d e l 'ép o q u e p h ar ao n i q u e. 1 9 8 2 .
10
the hel p of hi s m other I sis, thus proved t he supremacy of t he spirit over
matter.
Protective incantations for the w’ab priest of Sakhmet
This is the m ythical canvas on which the magi cal incant ation s for th e
physi cian are built. The Ebers P apyru s begins with three of these
formulas. In the first, the doctor addresses Re, the Divin e Principl e
itself:
Ebers 1, 1 to 11:
“Begi nning of the incantati on concerning the application of a remed y on
all parts of the body of a man:
“I went out from Heliopoli s with the Gr eat Ones of the Great Templ e,
the possessors (of means) of pro tecti on, the sovereigns of eternit y, an d
yea, I went out from Sais with the mother of the gods. They gave m e
their means of protection…
“I belong to Re and he said to me: ‘It is I who protect him against hi s
enemies, Thoth i s hi s guide, h e who ma kes it possible for the writing
to speak, who makes (medical) books, he who gives the power to the
learned on es and the doctors in hi s reti nue, to deliver (from disease).
He who is loved by God, him he will keep alive.’ I am a beloved of
God, thus he will keep me alive.
“Words t o be recit ed when applyi ng a r emedy to all p arts of a man’s
body who i s suffering, a truly effective method a thousand thou san d
times.”
Here it mu st b e under stood not that th e doctor i s sick, but t hat th e
powers of evil have assailed him and ent ered hi s body, thu s putting hi s
health in danger. The incantat ion exi sts in order to protect him.
The second text con cerns the placing of a bandage and the dang er s
caused by the taint s evoking the poi son seed of S et. The m agic formula,
a different incantati on, consist s in obligi ng Isis to int ervene in favour of
the doct or placed in a given conditi on, si milar to that of her son Horu s,
and to make him b eliev e that sh e wi ll defend her son. A direct
suppli cation i s addressed to her:
Ebers 2 (1, 12-20) and 2 (2-1):
"Anoth er incantat ion for t he rem oval of all bandages, so as to be
continually delivered by Isi s:
“O Isis, great one of magic, may you deliver me of all that i s
malignant, bad, red, cau sed by t he m aleficent schemings of a god, th e
maleficent sch eming s of a goddess, caused by a d ead man or wom an, b y
an oppo nent, m an or woman, who comes within me to scheme agai nst
me, just as you delivered and just as you relea sed your son Horu s
and becau se I entered into the fi re and from the water I came out, I
cannot fall into the trap of this day.
11
“A truly effectiv e method, a thou sand tho usand tim es.”
It seems that the fire and the wat er of whi ch it is question her e refer just
as mu ch to the desires of th e seethi ng Set and his baleful seed as to the
fire of the disease and to its secretio ns that only the help of Isis can
overcome.
Isis
A third t ext entitled “ Incantation for d rinking a remedy” (Ebers 3 [2,
1-6]), accompanies the taki ng of m edi cine. Her e too, the do ctor i s
assimilat ed to this “acting Horus” we found in th e previous magi c
formula and whom S et sometim es man ages to mistr eat. For preventive
magic can be inad equat e, and th e evil m ay somet imes assail the doctor,
in which case t he u se of medi cine i s just ified. Such m edicin e i s spiced
with threat s ag ain st Set, remindin g him that he was condem ned by t he
Grand Tribun al of Helio poli s an d th at Horus was acquitted and washed
clean of all suspi cion of wrong…
In certain text s, the patient i s compared t o Horus. This i s then Horus as
a very small chil d hidden b y hi s moth er, unabl e to protect himself, th e
“submi ssive Horu s”. Only lat er in life wil l he b e abl e to st and up ag ainst
the forces of disorder. There is thus a similarity of circum stan ces
between the doctor an d his pati ent, they are combati ng side by side, but
the physi cian never takes hi s patient’ s disease upon him self.
Other text s show th e particular relati ons that bind th e pati ent and hi s
doctor in the face of a comm on peril; for example t he following passage
from the Hear st Papyrus (160) int ended to ward off a sk in disease, whi ch
is entitled: “mechep ent-subst ance incant at ion”:
“Flow out! Get ou t! You that shall have n o fruit, get away, you that shal l
have no arm s in your possession, keep y ourself (al so) away from me! I
12
am Horus. So b ack, (for) I am the son of Osiri s and my mother’ s magi c
formulas are th e protection of the differ ent places of my body. (Thus)
nothing malig nant will develo p in my superficial flesh, no mechepentsubstance will be in the various places of my body. Flow out!”
“(Say) seven times. Words to be recit ed on “conyza”. (This) is boiled,
ground and appli ed to it.”
Horu s
This in cantation i s followed by a parag raph en titled “it s rem edy (i.e.
again st the mechep ent-subst ance)”, proposing a series of product s with
which to anoint the di seased part: “fermented honey, dry oliban,
coriander seeds. (This) i s grou nd with t h e lees of pa-ou r-liquid. Anoint
with (that)”.
Thus th ese incantati ons are designed fir st and foremo st t o prot ect th e
doctor. Only when he has b een protected and im muni sed by the use of
conyza, in all probabilit y a pl ant int ended to cast out t he evil from th e
patient’ s body and thus to k eep it away f rom the do ctor, can he put hi s
hand on the taint to be treated 9; our modern asep si s you might say!
Another formula m akes it possibl e to drive away t he breath- wind s
belonging t o the morbid br eath s of the massacrer s and i ncendiaries,
those messeng ers of Sakhm et (Smith 18, 11-16):
“Back, massacrers! No breath will reach me, such that those (the
demons) who come in anger again st me shall be ca st out. I am H oru s
who passes throu gh the wandering demons of Sakhmet!"
“O Horu s, ouadj e (sceptre) of Sakhmet, I am the uniqu e one, th e son
of Bastet. I shall not die because of you (Sakhmet)."
9
Bar d in et p . 5 1
13
“(These) word s (are) t o be spoken by the man (to b e prot ected) who wil l
hold in hi s hand a branch of the khed-des tree. He will then go out and
walk around hi s hou se. He will not die as a result of the annual disease.”
The Brooklyn Papyru s for its part gives a very detailed descriptio n of
serpen ts, bot h in r esp ect of their appearance (Brooklyn 28: horned vi per
…47a: bl ack-collared cobra …) and the manifestations of their bit es
(Brooklyn 60: skin ch anges … 72a: swelli ng… 76: drowsiness, et c.) with
the following incantati on:
"Rem edy to rest ore the healt h of one who has been hurt by any serpent :
itjerou pl ant (Cappa ri s decidu a)… Recit e upon it the incantat ion: “O
itjerou-plant that grows on Osiri s’s side, coming from the bodily
secretion s of those who a re in the Douat, kill the venom of the
abominable one (the Red One, Set). May Set fall! May the cat
(Bast et) cut him up!”
Set
14
Anatomo-Physiology I: Energetic medicine
The Metou or met ducts
According to Lefébvre (1952 p. 7), the word met has several meanings:
- Primarily it designat es the bundl es of fibrous ti ssues th at we cal l
ligament s, and the con tractil e ones that form the muscles.
- Another (the most frequent) meaning of met is “vessel ” in the
sen se in whi ch the Egyptian s understood t his word 10…
For Jonckh eere (1947 p. 17, n 9):
- met is an om nibu s anatomical word, for t he Egyptians ref erring as
much to the vessel s, tendon s or muscles as to “canali cular ”
formations in general.
For Bardinet (1995 p. 64, 65)
- The Egyptian word met refers to the v ari ous duct s an d vessels of
the body.
- These are not solid cord s, but are there only to transmit the
dynamic current (that is to say the source of movemen t, i.e. as a
syst em of conducti on). Through the body’s met-duct s pass all th e
nourishin g elem ents, the diff erent bodil y fluids and the breath of
life.
The Ebers and Berlin Papyruses give a number of different description s
of these met-duct s, their locatio ns and their courses.
In Ebers, firstly, we find a description of the met-channels rel ating to
the mucou s and the blood in particul ar. Thus there ar e:
- 12 or 14 met-channel s for the body fluids:
- Ebers 854 b: There are four met-ch annel s in hi s no stril s: two of
these give the nechat-secretion, and two give the blood.
- Ebers 854c: Th ere a re four met-chann els in his two temples
which then give the blood of both eyes.
- Ebers 854d: Four met-channel s divide f or the head, course into
the nape of the neck and then create a reservoir, a sou rce of
aaa (doubtless sebum and sweat), this i s what they form on th e
crown of the head.
- Ebers 854e: As to that through which the ears are deaf, there
are two m et-channel s whi ch give ri se to it and which lead to th e
root of the eye. A furt her formulatio n: as to that through which
the ears a re deaf, it is this: the temples of man are assail ed by
a breath as a result of a leak.
This would suggest that in 854 e we are dealing wit h two of the fou r
chann els of th e t emples d escribed in 854c. We thus hav e 12 met10
M ig h t th i s n o t a lso b e th e o n e d es cr ib ed b y th e Ch in e se : th e d u c t f o r l if e en er g y !
15
chann els for the organic fluids, a figu re that is redolent of the 12
meridians in Chinese energeti c medici ne.
Howev er, if the two channel s in 85 4e are distinct from the other twelv e,
that would then m ake fourteen met-chan nels in all, havin g an analogy
with the “14 kau of Re”, the fourt een sp iritual aspects, the expressions
of God in th e Univer se 11. With which we are reminded t hat Chinese
energeti c medi cine al so speaks of fourteen meridi ans: t welv e mai n
meridians and two marvello us vessel s, Du Mai, the governing vessel,
and Ren Mai, the concept ion vessel 12. This then i s the hypoth esi s of
choice.
Secondly, st aying with Eber s:
- 1 central met-channel
- Ebers 855 c: …a met-channel whose na me is the “recei ver” …
gives the fluid to the heart-haty…
It is tem pting to find analogi es here, in traditional Chi nese medicine,
with the marvel lous central v essel Chong Mai, an alogou s to “the
receptive” Earth trigram, but also in connection with the Spleen gi ving
the “fluid” to the heart, accordi ng to “the Way of water and cereal s”.
The “Earth” Trigram, the Recep tive,
the Spleen (Sp), Chon g Mai and the Marvellous Vessels of
Chinese medi cine
Thirdly, Ebers g ives a further descript ion, this time concerning the
breath s of life and death. Eight channel s are described here:
11
Bo o k o f th e D ead . Ch ap . 1 5 o p . ci t .
F o r f u l l d e t ai l s o f Ch in es e en er g et i cs an d acu p u n ctu r e , se e th e “G u id e to
A cu p u n ctu r e an d Mo x ib u s t io n ” p u b li sh ed b y A cu p u n ctu re sa n s fro n t i èr es
S w it ze r la n d f o r it s t ea ch in g m iss io n s in d ev elo p i n g co u n tr ie s.
12
16
- 8 met-channel s for the breaths of life an d death:
- Ebers 854f: There are fou r met-channel s for hi s two ea rs, an d
two met-chann els fo r hi s ri ght should er and two for hi s l eft
shoulder. In his right ear enters the b reath of life, and in his
left ear enters th e breath of death. Another fo rmulation: in hi s
right shoulder enters the b reath of li fe, in his left shoulder
enters the breath of death.
Here th e eigh t marvel lous vessels of Chi nese energetic medi cine find a
curious analogy with t he eight met-ch an nels of th e should ers and ear s
for the “breaths of life and death”, 4 yin to the right and 4 yang to th e
left.
All the more so si nce the text continues thus:
- 12 met-chann els for the arms and for the legs:
- Ebers 854 g: Six m et-channel s lead to the arms, three at th e
right, three at the left, and then lead to his fingers.
- Ebers 854 h: Six met-chann els lead to the legs, three for the
right leg, three for the left leg, down to the soles of the feet.
Legs and arm s, Yin and Yang: a simpl e way of describing the three great
bilateral yin meridian s, which in traditi onal Chinese medicine cour se
from the legs to the arms and t he hands… and the three great bil ateral
yang meridian s, which co urse from the hands to the leg s and the feet.
The description of the met-channel s conti nues with a group rel ated to t he
bodily product s:
- 22 met-chan nel s (10 + 12) form a group connected with t he liqui d an d
solid produ cts of the body:
17
-
Ebers 854 i: Th ere are two met-chann el s for his testi cles: it i s
they that give the sperm.
Ebers 854k: There are two met-channel s for the buttocks, one
for one buttock, the other for the other buttock.
Ebers 854l: There are fou r met-channels for the liver: it is they
that give the fluid and the breath.
Ebers 854m: There are four met- channels for the trachea-lung s
and for the spl een (al so fou r [thus eight in al]) 13: it is they tha t
give the fluid and the breath.
Ebers 854n: There are two met-chann el s for the bladder: it is
they that give the urine.
Ebers 854o: Fou r met-chann els op en up for the anus: it i s they
that give that which produces the fluid and the breath for it.
Still in Ebers, but thi s time wi th regard to the circul ation and the
treatment of th e ou khedo u-“perverse energi es”, we find another
descri ption:
12 met-channel s for the heart, 22 met-channels to di stribute the “breat h”:
- Ebers 856b: Twelve met-chann els are in him (the man) for his
heart-haty. It is they that give the breath to each place in his
body.
- Ebers 856c: Two met-chann els are in him on the surface of his
breast.
- Ebers 856d: Two met-channel s are in him for his thigh.
- Ebers 856e: … There are the met-channels (2?) for the neck
that have sustained a hurt…
- Ebers 856f: Two met- channel s are in him for his arms.
- Ebers 856g:
o Two met-chann els are in him for the nape of the neck
o Two met-chann els are in him for his forehead.
o Two met-chann els are in him for his eye
o Two met-channel s are in him for his eyebrows 14
o Two met-chann els are in him for his nostril
o Two met-ch annels are in him for his ri ght ear. Into them
enters the breath of life.
o Two met-ch annel s are in him for his left ear. Into them
enters the breath of death.
The Berlin Papyrus, for its part, confi rms this d escription, st ill in
relation with the oukh edou-perverse energies, but with one omi ssion,
that of the met-ch annel s of th e neck, thu s reducing their number to 20.
In addition, an important modifi cation – t wenty-two met-ch annel s for th e
heart, instead of twel ve – appear s t o indi cate an error of transcription i n
Ebers 856b:
13
14
Berlin 163b: His head (of the man) i s concern ed by twenty-two
of the vessels of the man. They draw the breath to his hea rt-
S ee Bar d in e t 1 9 9 5 p .9 9
Tr an s la t io n o f th i s l in e o m i t t ed in L al an n e, 2 0 0 2 .
18
haty and (thus) it is they that give the breath to each place in
the body. 15
Thus the twenty-two met-channel s descri bed in the det ail of the Eber s
Papyrus 16 would indeed appear to correspo nd to the twenty-two ch annel s
(or vessel s) whi ch “d raw the breath to his h eart-haty… ” and “give
breath to each place in the body”.
By analogy with what we have di sco vered above, we are dir ectl y
reminded, in Chin ese energetic medicine, of the 10 functions/organs an d
viscera and 12 meridi ans (6 great doubl e bilater al meridi ans)… i.e. a
total of twenty-two fun ction s in all!
Howev er, the contradi ctions found in both Ebers and Berlin requir e us t o
ask the following question: does knowledge progressively fade as tim e
goes on, b ecoming in part l ost, so t hat only scraps of i t subsist,
preventing us from complet ely kn owing what the met-du cts correspon d
to: 10 + 12 or 8 + 12?
In effect, looked at from an other viewpoi nt, both Ebers 856b et seq. and
Berlin 1 63b et seq. show a different conf iguration for th e met-channel s,
which is in conformity with Eb ers 85 4f-g and h as defin ed above: 8 +
12. In Berlin there is no m ention of met-channel s of the neck; Ebers,
which does speak of them, does not specify their numb er (we hav e
suppo sed th at there were two as for the other locali sations). Are they
perhap s synon ymou s wit h tho se of th e nape of the neck? In thi s case
their number is indeed reduced to twen ty.
In passi ng we may not e a further correspondence wi th traditional
Chinese medi cine, when Ebers 856 e stat es: “Th e met- channel s (2?) for
the neck have su stained a hurt …”. It is common kn owledge that th e
“windows of heav en” acupunct ure point s locat ed on the neck are th e
privileged site for penetration by dist urbed external energies.
To complete this d escription of the met-channel s, both Berlin (163h) and
Ebers (856h) draw the sam e particularly i nteresti ng conclusion regardi ng
these chann els:
-
Ebers 856h: They (the met- channel s) all course towards th e
heart-haty, they d ivide at his n ostri l a nd meet up aga in at hi s
anus …
This seems t o be an referen ce to th e marvellou s Governing Vessel o f
Chinese en ergetic medicin e, Du Mai, as the source an d estuary of the
met-channel s, whose course in the rever se direction runs from the tip of
the coccyx and the anu s to the upper gum, to the nose, gathering and
governing, together with the heart, all the breath-en ergies of the body!
15
16
Ber l in 1 6 3 b : Tr an s l at io n b y Th ier r y B ar d in e t 1 9 9 5
Eb er s 8 5 6 c to 8 5 6 g
19
Du Mai: The Governing Vessel
Thus the papyri transmit a global visi on o f the met-channel s. But they do
not go into detail, neither as far as their descripti on is co ncerned nor the
therapies emplo yed: the o nly detai ls are certain region s menti oned i n
passing, int erior-ib, heart-haty, nose, anu s, finger s, toes, et c. in r elation
to two major sy stem s, one for the circulation of the organic fluids, the
seco nd for that of the “breaths”.
In the case of t he chann els for the breat h s, their organi sation, according
to various poin ts of view, indeed seem s to be the same, as we hav e
discovered, as that of the energi es in tradi tional Chin ese medici ne:
-
Eight met-ch annel s for th e breat hs of lif e and of death, analogou s
to the eight marvell ous vessel s.
Six great bilater al met-channels, three going to the han ds and
three to the feet, the same as the six great bilateral meridians.
Twenty-two met-ch annel s for t he whole body, analogou s, in thi s
case too, to t he t en int ernal function s of the organs and t he
viscera, and to the twelve external functio ns of the meridian s.
Did the Egyptian doctor s have more det ai led knowl edge of th e functions
pertaining to each of these duct s? A prior i, this does not seem to be the
case. But the di scov ery of new papyri could of course provi de a whol e
new playing field.
20
Anatomo-Physiology II: Denderah
Let us no w see what we can learn from t he bas-relief s of the ceili ng of
the hypostyl e room in the great t emple of Dender ah 17. One of the soffit s
or panels of this ceiling shows, in an allegorical form, but with certai n
addition al detai ls, the constitution of man su ch as we h ave seen it
descri bed in the medi cal papyrus texts.
Traditionally, these bas-reliefs have been read from right to l eft, going
backwards from the effect s to their cau ses, from the statement of the
apparent t o the di sco very of that which i s hidden in the shad ow of th e
origins. But for a better und erstanding in line with our present mode of
thinking, we cho se to read th em from l eft to right, in a d evel opmen t
going from the origins of thing s to their o utcome.
In one part of the second p anel, ( a p ar t r ep r e sen t ed b e lo w o n tw o lin es , f o r
g r ea t er v i s ib i l ity ) , Horu s and Hatho r, under a naos, and in a second boat,
Ihy, their son, Mast er of music, harmony, the cosmic scale, pr esid e ov er
the creatio n of Man. With the help of the two rudders, Sia of
discernment, knowl edge and sci ence, an d Hou of practical appl icati on,
the Neter who i s h elmsm an of the second boat ensur es the appli cation of
the laws and the rules of the univ erse. The male Neter crouching on a
column confirm s that it is indeed a questi on of the genesis of Man.
Second lin e of the second soffit
In a first phase, four primordial power s, four Net erou, are appli ed in a
pattern analogous to the three warmers and the three burner s of Chinese
energeti c medici ne:
•
Three Jackal s chained to a column, from which group em erges a
Serpent, are the three Power s of digestion and transform ation, to
which the four Cyn ocephales that follow submit, divine Power s
17
Ja cq u es P ia lo u x : D en d er ah – S ep t so f f i t es d u p l af o n d d e l a s al l e h y p o sty l e d u
g r an d t em p l e, 2 0 0 3
21
•
governing Thoth, the Messen ger of Re, (analogous to the origi nal,
alimenta ry, respiratory and a ncest ral energi es of the Chinese
tradition).
Further on, the three mal e Net erou hol di ng the bo dy of a second
Serpent are the three Powers th at serve to tran smute t he four
powers already p artly digested by the three Jackal s, “in order t o
make man”. The two Serpent s are hi s quintessence; no uri shin g
and prot ective Power s of the Being beco ming incarnat ed, they ar e
also anal ogous to t he t wo primordi al serpent s, Kem Atef, “One
whose breath i s accomplished”, and Ir T a , his son, th e “Creator of
the Earth”. In the middl e boat, th e Net er helm sman, Thoth the
Ibis, Master of scribes, recall s that science, the knowledg e of laws
and rules, i s applied here to Man in t he process of becoming,
represented by Horus und er a nao s, with four Power s, the Net erou
that follow, two male and two female, represented by Isi s and
Maat, Divine Mother and Consciousness. A ferryman with his pole
and the Cyn ocep halu s of Thoth, at the prow, guide h im under the
aegi s of Celestial Law.
There follow four boats an d eight interm ediate Power s:
-
-
The Neter helm sman in the first of the f our boats i s present wit h
his two ru dders – di scernm ent and practi cal appli cation – to affirm
and direct the appli catio n of the Cosmi c Law: the eight Neterou
that follow are the symbols, archet ypes of “the four met-duct s for
the Breath s of Life and the fou r met-ducts for the Breath s of
Death” of the Ebers Papyrus, but al so of the eight marvello u s
vessel s of Chi nese acupuncture. As fractals of the eight Frogs and
Serpents, t he children of Kem Atef and Ir Ta, Mast ers of t he
“Eight Cel esti al Places” of Egypt, ho noured in the city of
Khmunu, later to b ecom e Hermopolis, th ese eig ht Net erou transmit
the two Primordial Powers of the two serpents, the nourishing and
protective, yin and yang, centrifugal and centrip etal en ergies.
In the prow of the first boat, too, may be not ed the pr esence of
Thoth himself, Messenger of Re, Mast er of Divine Words, holding
in his hands the Cubi c Stone, symbol of the Earth and terrestrial
incarnati on.
Lastly, the 22 Net erou appear, 22 Powers, 10 + 12:
-
These co nstit ute the twenty-two Powers, the twenty-two Breath s,
through th e int ermedi ary of which th e t wo Primordial Powers of
the two serp ent s that we find here agai n, each on its respective
column, express them selv es. These are analogou s to the twent ytwo met-du cts th at we discover ed in the Berlin Papyrus and the
Ebers Papyru s:
o The first ten, nin e male and one femal e, t his last givi ng life
as the heart distribut es it, are the sy mb ols of the internal
22
met-duct s of Man, the functi ons of the organs in Chinese
energeti c medici ne.
o The other t welve, femal e, with the sol ar disc as head-dress,
symboli se the peripheral met-ducts, analogous to th e
meridian s in acupu ncture.
Further pursuing the an alysis of the vital breaths, another soffit on the
ceiling of t he temple of Denderah then deals wi th their application i n th e
transmi ssi on of life: t here are 64 breaths, like t he 64 p arts of the eye o f
Horus, Ou djat, like the 64 codons of th e genetic cod e, and al so lik e th e
64 hexagrams of the Chin ese I Ch ing. With this we have ventured from
the field of medicin e to that of genetics, all the while remaini ng in the
domain of univer sal mathemati cs.
23
Anatomo-physiology III: Haty and Ib
Part of the Ebers Papyru s constitut es t he “Treaty of the Heart” an d
concern s th e relat ionship between “Hat y” and “Ib”. But what do t hese
two terms si gnify?
As far as the haty i s concern ed, it appear s to correspon d to a rel atively
precise anatomical reality, that of the car diac muscle, but al so to what i s
descri bed as “in front of the heart”, and to possess perceptibl e
autonomous movement s.
In Ebers 854a (99, 1):
“Start of the physician’ s secret: get t o know the movement of th e
heart: Get to know the heart.”
As regards th e ib and its r elation ship with the heart-ha ty, our knowledg e
of “the way of water and cereal s” of Chinese en ergetic medi cine will
permit a parti cular light t o be thrown on the con tent of the Eber s
Papyrus.
Some Egyptolog ist s such as B. Long chose to translat e ib by epi gastrus. 18
According to Ebell’s interpret ation, as S tracmans poi nts out 19, the ter m
ib desi gnat ed the stom ach. In effect, the i b receiv es t he food (Eber s 284
[50, 21]); this is confirmed by a text cited by Piankoff 20, “Food for the
interior of my body, water for my ib."
For Bardin et, in con clu sion (p. 71): “The ib is a whole system. It
includes th e totalit y of the body p arts lo cated b ehind t he heart-haty, i n
that great hol low of the body forming wh at the Egyptians call the Shet.”
This “totalit y of the body parts… ” would appear to indi cate the totalit y
of the organs an d the viscera.
In this connection, Bardinet rai ses th e problem of the four “ canopi c
jars” found in Egypti an tom bs in t he vicinity of the sarcop hagu s. In
these four jar s are placed certain organs or vi scera of the deceased
which coul d const itute the ib. These organs are entrust ed to the four
sons of Horus, Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef and Qebekh- senn uef:
18
To
To
To
To
Imsety, with a human head, was attributed the liver
Hapy, the cynocephalu s, the lung s
Duamutef, the jack al, the spleen and ( or) stomach
Qebekh-sennu ef, the hieraco ceph alus, the intestines
B. Lo n g : L e " ib " et le "h a t y " d an s le s t ex t es m é d ic au x d e l' Eg y p te an c i en n e
483 § Q
19
S tr a c m an s: Bd E 3 2 ( M el an g es Mar i e tt e) p 1 2 5 t o 1 3 5 .
20
P ian k o f f : L e " c œ u r " d an s le s t ex te s ég y p ti en s d e p u is l 'A n c ien ju sq u 'à la f in d u
N o u v e l Em p ir e, p . 4 3
24
p.
A particul ar detail concerning the liver , lungs and heart is found in
Ebers 855d (99, 21-22):
“As reg ard s anger, wh ich a ri ses in the heart-haty, it is a twisting (of
the met-channel s) towa rds the limit o f the trachea-lung s and th e
liver."
This statement, it seem s to us, is revelatory of the Egyptian
underst anding of t he “p sych e of the org ans” such as it i s d escri bed in
traditional Chinese medi cine: we know the role of the liver in anger, in
connection on the one h and with t he lungs (inverted cycl e of victory of
the 5 Chinese elem ent s), and on the other hand the heart (cycle of
generatio n of the 5 Chinese el ement s).
Furthermore, Yoyotte 21 cites a compl ement ary text from the canopic jar
of Mendes con cerning Qebekh- sennuef and the intesti nes:
“Qebekh-sennuef… you enri ch those that are within you (the
intestines)… Th ey are full of that wh ich has come from y ou. You
cause your b rothers to live and the flo w of the ri sing of you r water
does not cease, for the benefit of Osiri s- Mendes for ever and ever.”
Here to o, we are reminded of “the way of the wat er and cereal s” in
traditional Chinese medicin e, with the separation of th e pure and th e
impure by the stom ach and t he small intestine… the transmission of th e
pure to the spl een, and also the relati on ship with t he h eart, the lun gs,
and the liver.
In a word, whil e b earing in mind the pr imacy of the stomach and the
intesti ne for their rol e in “t he way of t he wat er and cereal s”, we can
agree almost compl etely wit h Bardinet (p.81) when he says:
21
Y o y o tt e : T an i s, l'o r d es p h ar ao n s p . 1 7 2
25
“The interior-ib is prolonged in all th e members, anim ating th em and
bringing them the vital force… The haty, ‘our cardiac mu scle’, i s in fact
the operat ing el ement of t he will t hat i s seated in the depth s of the
interior-ib. By virtue of it s o wn power t h e heart-haty sends the dynamic
currents t o the met-duct s, transm its th e t hought el aborated in the d epth s
of the interior-ib and executes it… The interior-ib and the haty are
indissoci ably l inked, and any dam age to t he on e mu st have repercussion s
on the other."
All that is lacking i s for the vi sion of the haty as “cardiac mu scle” to be
specified as the “Blood” function and “Chen” funct ion of t he heart, th e
physiol ogical and mental function s. Indeed, Bardi net seem s to be
implying thi s when he speak s of the hat y, “the operating elem ent of the
will (the kidn eys in traditi onal Chinese medicin e) which is h oused d eep
in the interior-ib" .
The Ebers Pap yrus can then specify the metho d to be used for
examination of the ib and the hat y (Ebers 854a [99, 2 to 5]):
“As regard s the fact that every doctor, every w’ab-priest of Sakhmet,
every magi cian, places his hand s, his fingers, on the head, on the
neck, on the hands, on the place of the ib, on the legs, on all (places
of the body), the object of his examination is the heart-haty, because
there are met-chann els for ea ch hi s (m an’s) body part s, and it is a
fact that it (the heart) expresses itself before the met-channel s
(“before” in th e sense of on the surfa ce, at the a pparent, controllable,
level, of the met-channels) of each place of the body.”
A variant of the precedin g is given i n the Smith Papyru s 1, 12,
beginning as follows:
“If thou proceed est to the examination of a man…”
Gloss A (Smith 1, 3-9):
“As to the expression ‘thou exam inest a man’, this means to perform
a general examination on someone, to obtain an overview of
(different) things with the oipé-measure 22…”
Here it is a quest ion of taking the pul ses in various places of the body .
Did the Egypti an therapist s count the p ulse rat e (63/64 of oip é?!) with
the help of th e clepsy dra, the water clo ck invented under Tutmosi s III
(18 t h Dynasty: fifteenth century B.C.) , and did they establish a
quantitati ve and qu alitativ e account of these pul sati ons? It is probable,
despit e the fact th at Herop hilos, of the Al exandria scho ol (fourth centur y
B.C.), is traditionally consi dered to b e the first to have used the
clepsydra for this purpose. But at the present time, we cannot be sur e of
the facts.
22
Th e o ip é- m e asu r e i s r e la t ed to th e O u d j a t ey e an d i ts f r ac t io n s f r o m 1 /2 to 1 /6 4 .
26
This very naturally brings us t o look at the pathogeni c fact ors and
therapy as presented in the medical papyri of Ancient Egypt.
27
Pathogenic factors
Four major pathogen ic factor s are describ ed in the various medical
papyri:
-
Aaa: bodily secretion s – sebum… sweat … cerumen…
promote the development of perverse energies
Setet: pathogenic being s cau sing hieratic pain
Oukhedou: Demon s, “perverse energies” that gnaw at the
tissues
Ouhaou: second ary to the oukhedou: concretion s, pus,
tumours…
The aaa are bod y fluids th at may b e dangerous i n this sense th at they
can promote certain pat hologies.
In Ebers 854 d (99, 10-22):
"Four met-channel s divide for the head, course to the nape of th e
neck and then create a reservoir, a source of aaa, which they form on
the crown (of the head)."
According t o Ward (1978, p. 108) cited b y Bardinet (p. 121), this would
be the sebum.
All in all, it seem s that the aaa correspon ds to variou s bodil y secretion s
such as sebum, sweat, cerumen, etc. and that these secreti ons promot e
the developm ent of parasites or v ermin, and al so of specific “p erverse
energies” such as the oukhedou of whi ch we shal l have more to say later.
According to Eber s (62), in respect of a treatment for parasites:
"Reed s: 1; pyrethrum: 1, (This) i s ground finely, bo iled in hon ey. (To
be) ingested by t he man who has hererou (-vermin) within his body. It i s
the aaa fluid that causes that, and it (t he vermi n) cannot die by any
other medicin e.
The set et are “pat hogeni c bei ngs", perv erse energies that circulate i n the
body. Ebers 102 or 296:
“If thou examinest someon e who i s un der (the effect) of the set et,
(these acting) a s (though he had ea ten) un-notched figs of the
sycamore, his abdomen i s hard as a result of that (the set et), he
suffers from the entrance of hi s "ib", and the setet that a re insid e hi s
body cannot find a way out… Thi s should not be transform ed int o
vermin… (If) this is evacuated by him, it becomes comfort able for him.”
28
The setet t hus move around and cause pain: They si mply n eed to b e
expelled from the body.
In Berlin (142-143). “Remedy for drivin g out the setet in the affected
places… Another remedy to remov e th e setet (from th e body) wh en
defecating.”
As for the oukh edou, these ar e demons that g naw away the bod y
substance, the same sub stance that is elabor ated by th e blood (b y
blending the variou s elem ents ingest ed with the food). “Taint ed
blood” may ho wever act in the sam e way as the ou khedou.
This gnawing action will giv e rise to concretio ns, to obst acles that
themselves may be transformed in to “ouhaou-pu s” or local
inflammation.
From the therapeutic vi ewpoint, on e can either kill the oukhedou, or
smash them with the aid of Nekhbet, the vulture, symbol of vigour:
Nekh bet
Ebers 86: “Remedy to smash the oukhedou that are in the body: fresh
(literally, ‘alive’!) bovine m eat: 5 ro; resin of turpentine: 1/64; melilot :
1/8; juniper b erries: 1/ 16; fresh bread: 1/ 8; sweet beer: 25 ro. Filt er and
then take for four days.”
As regard s the ouhaou, concr etion s or pus cau sed by the ou khed ou,
these need to be expelled, extirpated, or k illed.
Ebers 91-92: “Another (remedy) to expel the ouhaou, when there is a
weight on the surface of the body (the menace of the ouha ou) and to
kill them truly within the body… Another remed y to extirpat e the
ouhaou that are in the body or (to) kil l them: figs: 1/32; salt of th e
29
Delta: 1/8; fresh bread: 1/8; sweet beer: 25 ro. (This) is boil ed, filtered,
then taken ov er the day.”
Thus whil e th e ouh aou appear as a r esul t of the gnawi ng action of th e
oukhed ou, the latt er develop from the fert ilising acti on of t he aaa flui ds,
which, as we have seen, are al so at the ori gin of the vermin.
Ebers 138: “Another (remedy) to driv e out the aaa that are in a man,
kill the oukh edou, driv e out the inju ries (ouhaou) that befal l the
man, tend to the anu s and freshen it: sam (plant): 1/ 8; juni per berries:
1/16; honey: 1/3 2; sweet beer: 10 ro. Filter, take for four days.”
30
Therapy
“With few except ions, t he diffi culty of interpreting mo st of th e dru g
names proposed by the text s prevent s u s from speaking of t he presum ed
modes of action of the various substances included in th e
pharmaco poei a 23.”
The Egyptian ph armacop oeia is based on miner als, v eget ables, an d
animal and hum an product s or by-product s.
Among the animal or hum an produ cts and by-product s, we find: fat and
bile of bull or goat, tortoi se scales, co w’s milk, viscera of fi sh an d
crustaceans, anim al, insect and reptile droppings, animal an d human
urine, fly blood.
Several dry or fresh vegetab les are in cluded in the pharm acopoeia.
Some, such as peas, acaci a, juniper, valerian, melilot, barley, dates an d
figs, turpenti ne, castor oil, garlic, cori ander, mucil ages, vari eties of
rubber, veget able t ar, and so on, are familiar to us, whi le oth ers ar e
more exotic: the “not ched” fruit of the sycamore, oil of moringa,
origano, cumin, etc.
In addition, ther e are nu merou s plant s for which we have no d escription,
and th us cannot be tr ansl ated: the sam plant, the djaret plant, th e chen yta fruit, the peret-ch eny fruit, sa-ou r resin, and so on.
The mineral s most commonly used are ochre, alabaster po wder, clay, salt
of the north, salt of the south and also sea salt, natron, mal achit e,
galena, minium 24 and others.
Nekh bet
Ground, kneaded, boiled or raw, alm ost always mixed wit h honey o r
sweet beer, some of these product s are lef t exposed to the dew ov ernigh t
23
Bar d in et 1 9 9 5 p . 1 5 7
G a l en a: n atu r a l l ead su lf id e ; M al a ch i t e : co p p e r car b o n a te ; M in iu m : l ead o x id e ;
N a tr o n : so d iu m c ar b o n a t e.
24
31
and, filtered or not, are then applied or taken int ernally, for four days on
average.
Various r emedies concern i nternal di seases of the body. These ar e
“emeti c” to remove concret ions, purify and “cau se to fall away all the
malignant sub stan ces on the surface of the body”:
Fruits and pl ants are prepar ed with honey and sweet beer, or composed
of fresh past e, fat, honey, wax, etc., to “retain”.
-
-
-
To relieve ank ylosis in old age: nat ron, beans, oil, fat of
hippopotam us, cro codil e, mullet or catfish; turpentine, sweet
oliban, honey, etc, whi ch are boiled and applied over several days.
Reed an d pyr ethrum are pr eferred for all that is “vermin” (boiled
in honey and eaten).
Headaches are treated with seeds of coriander, bryony, pyrethrum,
sam plant; n atron (ground in fat, honey and wax), resin of
turpentine. Pine, juniper, lotu s, ochre and malachit e are also very
much employ ed (applied externally).
For dental condition s: ochre, malachit e, notched fruit of th e
sycamore and honey, etc.
For bruises an d swellings, honey may be sufficient, but al so cl ay,
resin of turp entine, bul l fat, human urin e, date win e, malachite,
natron, etc. (applied ext ernally).
For the bones: natron, ouch ebet-mineral, black flint, bul l fat,
honey, etc. (applied externally).
Simple di slocation s an d fractur es are fir st reduced man ually, th en
splinted and treated by applicat ion of fresh meat on th e first day ,
and then fat, honey and veget able dressings until healed.
Abscesses ar e treat ed with “cautaries”, and then in t he same way
as for wound s. The latter are stitched and then treated by
application of fresh meat, witho ut a dressi ng or medicin e, until the
painful period has passed.
Burns may be tr eated with black mud, the dropping s of smal l
bovines, resin of acacia, barley, etc. (appl ied externally).
Ricin was particu larly prized, the root or seeds being ground and used in
multiple way s, to treat the int est ines or headaches, skin ailm ents,
disorder s of the hair, etc.
A number of texts d eal with fumig ation. The Egyptians believed that
every i ndividual could readil y be impr egnated by a great vari ety of
nefariou s breath s and by the demons and pathogenic substances to whi ch
they giv e rise. The new air wit h whi ch t hey are impregn ated appears t o
be intended both to expel them and intoxi cate them.
- Fumigation s ar e thus included in the mi n istrations to be given to
the interior-ib of a man wound ed by a sn ake or a scorpion. Here,
fumigation i s above all direct ed toward s the symptom ( abdominal
pain) and is int ended to restore the breath to the victim’s body.
32
-
For coughs i n children: fumigation s of “ realgar”, men-resin and
of aaam-plant, which ar e ground and placed on hot ston es.
Regul arly used in gyn aecologi cal treatment, fumigation s are th en
based on turpentin e, fat and fresh oil.
Ebers 852 (98, 12-14b): “A fumigati on pr epared ren der the odour of the
house or clot hes pleasant: dry myrrh; peret-cheny(-fruit) ; resin o f
turpentine; ru sh-nut; wood of ti-chepes; chebet; reed of Phoenicia;
inketoun; djemeten; genen (-part) of th e meni ben (-tree). Grind finely,
prepare in a homogeneous mass. Put it on the fire.”
This same prep aration with the additi on of honey, boil ed, mix ed and
made into pastilles will make the mouth o dour pleasant.
Finally, we may not e that t here is al so a reci pe again st parasites an d
other undesirable hou se gu est s (fleas, snakes), by spraying wat er of
natron.
The appli cation of thi s pharmacopoei a wi ll however be of value only i f
the recitatio ns and incant ations hav e been correctly performed.
All this, of course, con stitutes a truly ef fective method, a thousand
thousand times!
Abelle Vinel and Ja cques Pialoux
R.E.F.S. Congress, Aix en Provence, 31 October 2005
Translati on : Brian Levin
33
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