Ancient Medicine: How Did Ancient Civilizations Heal Themselves?

Life was never a guarantee in the distant past. Before the advent of modern medicine, people had to rely on a variety of healing methods, hoping to come out on top in the struggle against deadly viruses and diseases. Without common medications, ancient people were threatened even by ailments such as the common cold, and many perished being unable to treat them. But still, attempts were made, and many ancient cultures held their healers and shamans in high regard. Often, they were the difference between life and death. But just how did these civilizations heal themselves? Did they rely on the nature around them, or was there some hidden knowledge at play?

The Secrets of Ancient Healing

The need for healing and medicine was always present amongst humans, even in their most distant history. The understanding of the human body and its ailments, and the need to heal it, were an imperative in early societies – as life was a precious and fragile thing. This is how the earliest foundations of medicine were established, evolving step-in-step with all the other key innovations of mankind. And yet, this ancient medicine was far from the one we know in our time: it was rough, rudimentary, and often in close connection with the nature around us. From healing herbs to crude surgeries, ancient healers tried their best to preserve life. And by doing so, they laid a path for the evolution of medicine.

One of the foremost ancient civilizations, Ancient Egypt, had a rather impressive understanding of early medicine and the human body. They had a natural understanding of some more common ailments, and connected these closely with their religious beliefs, thinking in many cases that they were caused by harmful demons or ghosts. But even so, Egyptian healers drove these ghosts away by common physical remedies, thus combining religious and the scientific.

Papyrus Ebers, column 41 (Einsamer Schütze/CC BY-SA 3.0)

A great insight into Ancient Egyptian medicine is the Ebers Papyrus, dated to 1550 BC and discovered in Luxor. It is one of the several medicine papyruses and goes to great detail explaining remedies for certain ailments. For example:

• “To treat Pterygium of the Eyes: apply a mixture of red lead, powdered wood from Arabia, Iron from Apollonopolis parvis, Calamine, Egg of an ostrich, Saltpeter from upper Egypt, Sulfur, and honey to the eyes.
• “To relieve constipation, chew on bits of berry along with beer.”
• “To relieve headaches combine the inner of an onion, fruit of the am tree, natron, setseft seeds, cooked bones of a swordfish, cooked redfish, cooked crayfish skull, honey, and abra ointment. Apply to the head for four days.”

And even though some of these remedies might sound rather crude, they still had an effect, and many elements of modern remedies. The papyrus itself is 20 meters (66 ft) long and contains 110 pages. Some of the included observations are quite impressive for the time. Egyptians knew of asthma and how to treat it and understood that the heart is the center of blood supply, with vessels attached for every part of the body. Other organs, however, such as kidneys, were poorly understood.

The Medicine of Distant Ages

Just how early in history the Egyptians grasped medicine and healing is evidenced by their famous physician, Imhotep. He lived around 2600 BC and was the chief advisor to Pharaoh Djoser. Remembered as a very wise healer, he was known for his use of a variety of treatments to heal patients, including surgical procedures, herbal remedies, and incantations. So revered was he that even a thousand years after he died, he was deified and considered a God of medicine.

Statuette, Imhotep (Metropolitan Museum of Art/CC0)

Over the long centuries, the Ancient Egyptians developed an impressive pharmacopeia, and utilized many herbs, including aloe vera, myrrh, sage, garlic, and onion. For example, they widely used garlic to boost the immune system and treat infections, recognizing its properties. This is still in use around the world today. Similarly, they widely used honey, knowing it to be a natural antiseptic. It was used to dress wounds, as it possesses great antibacterial properties.

Surgery too, was surprisingly advanced in Egypt. There is plenty of evidence that Ancient Egyptian doctors performed complex procedures, such as trepanation, which consists of drilling holes into the skull to relieve pressure on the brain. In most cases, the patients survived the procedure, and their wounds healed successfully. Of course, the mummification process which the Egyptians performed on all their dead, provided healers with valuable insights into the human anatomy, and how the body works. The process required good knowledge of all the organs and was the precursor to modern anatomy lessons. In many ways, it was the combined Egyptian knowledge of the body that laid the foundations for the medical procedures that later emerged around the world.

Surgery in the Earliest Civilized Societies

The Fertile Crescent region was always the home of civilizations, and the source of all innovations. This includes some of the earliest known medical practices that emerged in Mesopotamia, as early as 3000 BC. One of the world’s oldest legal codes, the Code Of Hammurabi, written in c. 1754 BC, mentions the existence of physicians, who are afforded certain responsibilities and fees. This signifies the importance of healers in Mesopotamian society. But contrary to the practices of Ancient Egyptians, the Mesopotamian doctors relied heavily on diagnosis and prognosis. One of the foremost writings of this period is the so-called “Diagnostic Handbook”, written by Esagil-kin-Apli, the chief scholar of the Babylonian King Adad-apla-iddina, in the 11th century BC.

This text is considered one of the earliest examples of clinical diagnosis, and it laid the foundation for modern medical case studies. In it, Esagil-kin-apli systematically classified symptoms and treatments. The Mesopotamian medicine was, however, heavily influenced by their religious beliefs, and similarly to the Egyptians, it was believed that illness is the result of the wrath of the Gods and caused by demons and ghosts that dwelt in the body. This is why their physicians often doubled as priests, and utilized amulets, exorcisms, and prayers to help cure diseases.

But even so, practical remedies still existed. For example, it is known that they used willow bark as a means to alleviate fever and pain. This is a treatment that modern pharmacology understands well: willow bark contains salicylic acid, whose active ingredient is aspirin. What is more, the Mesopotamians compiled lists of many medicinal plants that they used, including licorice and opium, both of which are still a part of modern medicine.

An invocation to I-em-hetep, the Egyptian deity of medicine (Wellcome Collection /CC by SA 4.0)

Centuries Ahead of Others: The Secrets of Chinese Medicine

One of the oldest continuously practiced medical systems in history is Ancient Chinese medicine. Its roots can be traced back over 2000 years. The Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine), written around the 2nd century BC, is considered the foundational text of ancient Chinese medicine. Outlining the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the text explains that the Chinese saw health as a balance between the opposing forces of yin and yang, as well as the smooth flow of qi (life energy) throughout the human body.

But without a doubt, one of the iconic aspects of ancient Chinese medicine, which clearly shows how advanced this civilization was for its time, is acupuncture. This is the practice that involves the insertion of thin needles into the specific points of the body. This helps regulate the flow of qi and restores balance to the patient. Even centuries after its invention, acupuncture remains widely used across the world as a method to relieve stress, pain, and chronic conditions.

Acupuncture chart from the Ming dynasty (c. 1368 – c. 1644) (Public Domain)

But the Chinese weren’t only masters of acupuncture. They were renowned for their knowledge of herbal medicines and utilized an incredible amount of plants from their environment to treat patients. One of the most notable texts from this period is the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica), which lists hundreds of medicinal substances used at the time. Most of these are still used in modern Chinese medicine. For instance, ginseng, which is well known for its health benefits, was used for centuries to improve mental clarity and energy levels. Also worth noting is the use of ephedra plant (ma huang), which was used to treat respiratory issues, and greatly influenced modern asthma medications.

The Greeks and Romans Conception of Modern Medicine

Ancient Greece and Rome are often credited with laying the foundations of the Western medicine. Some of the most noted physicians in history belonged to these civilizations, including Galen and Hippocrates. The latter, living from c. 460 to 370 BC, is regarded as the “father of medicine”, and the most skilled doctor of the ancient world. Hippocrates rejected the idea that the diseases were caused by the wrath of gods or that demons inhabited human bodies and caused ailments. Instead, he advocated for a rational approach to medicine and based his studies on careful observation of the human body. What is more, he believed that illnesses were caused by imbalances in the “four humors of the body”, that is blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. The Hippocratic Oath, which outlines the ethical responsibilities of physicians and which all of today’s doctors have to take, is named after him and possibly written by him as well.

In comparison, the neighboring Roman medicine was built upon Greek foundations, but nonetheless differed to an extent. The most noted Roman physician was Galen (129 to 216 AD), who was considered to be one of the best medical thinkers of his time. He compiled extensive writings on surgery, pharmacology, and anatomy, showing impressive familiarity with the human organism which dominated Western medical thought for more than one thousand years. Of course, being a military-based Empire, Rome developed significant advancements in surgery and surgical techniques, especially in the treatment of common battlefield injuries. To this end, they developed tools such as forceps, catheters, scalpels, and surgical saws, many of which resembled modern surgical implements.

Also worth noting is Rome’s successful curbing of the spread of diseases. One of the most advanced civilizations in classical antiquity, Rome started many health initiatives. These included advanced aqueducts, public baths, clear drinking water, and sewage systems, all of which were key to stopping the spread of common diseases. Their decent grasp of hygiene and sanitation minimized the outbreaks of infections, and many of their practices laid foundations for common public health of our own time.

Mural painting showing Galen and Hippocrates. 12th century; Anagni, Italy. (Nina-no/CC BY 2.5)

The Cornerstone of Wellbeing

More often than not, we greatly underestimate our ancestors. Religion and spirituality might have dominated their lives, but they nevertheless understood that their own bodies were more important than that. In time, they grasped the basics of anatomy and herbalism and realized that the plants around us can be very beneficial to health. And these simple observations were the foundations of medicine. In time, surgery followed and cleared the path towards the preservation of human life, across centuries.

Top image: Physician treating a patient. Red-figure Attic aryballos. Source: Marie-Lan Nguyen / CC BY-SA 3.0

By Aleksa Vučković