Posted on June 25th, 2008 at 1:30 am by joannehknhs and tagged dessection, Egypt, factors, Trephining
In the Pre-historic period people believed illness and disease were caused by evil spirits
Ill people were usually treated by family members this involved herbs and remedies
Ilness and injury was treated by the medicine man this involved charms
A form of surgery was used called “Trephining” this involved cutting a hole in the skull and removing a piece of bone.
This was used for to release evil spirits, that was causing pain and illness
The Egyptian period witnessed a number of changes in medicine. One such change was specialist doctors this could cause progression and regression to medicine. this could help the formation of medicine as these specialist doctors spent much time trying to improve their understanding of medicine and health. This could also hinder medicine as only the rich employed specialist doctors to look after them. This suggests that there was an unequal opportunity for people within Egypt to help seek special health care.
Another change was improved writing, this helped progress medicine as you were able to write down a variety of formulaes to help cure illness and disease, you were to write these formulaes on Papyrus. The more people use this advantage then the more people will have less chance of suffering illness and di
sease.
These changes were brought about by a number of factors. One such factor was technology
Another factor communication or religion
However not everything changed. There were some continuities for example Egyptians thought god caused diseases (supernatural)
These changes resulted in progress/regression in medicine because Egyptians could understand more of anatomy, and know how to cure illness, but religious people did not allow dessection as they believed they needed their body parts for afterlife.
Link Here | June 25, 2008,
A good start Joanne. You covered all the main facts such as describing briefly how the Egyptians were more advanced than prehistoric peoples; you could go a little deeper however. A good quality answer will both describe and explain. For example where you have identified the changes in the Egyptian period you could explain how these changes helped or hindered (or even both) Egyptian medicine to progress.
Link Here | July 2, 2008,
I see you have made some improvements to your work. Well done. You have gone a little deeper with some of your examples and you do make a very good point about the different types of healthcare available to people in ancient Egypt. You should be aware that a solid ‘B’ grade and above answer will have more detail: for example you could give definite examples of some of the factors you have listed – technology: finer metal work meant better instruments for doctors so surgery improved. Religion: helped medicine as priests and doctors learnt a little about basic anatomy when they were preparing a body for mummification, however religion also hindered medicine as doctors were not able to dissect bodies to learn more about them.