by Alicia Black

Created on: September 10, 2008

We have come along way since we first began walking on two legs. We developed language and invented many new tools to help make our lives easier. If someone gets ill, they take medicine. Believe it or not, but back in Ancient Egypt they may have done the same thing. Ancient Egypt became a very important stepping stone for medicine.

Doctors in Ancient Egypt were very likely to turn to the Gods for help. It was believed that something wrong with someone was the work of evil spirits. It was necessary to clean all the wounds to rid the body of the poisons. Little did they know that this cleansing ritual was actually doing scientific good.

An Egyptian doctor was also a priest. Their number one function was to find the evil spirit and destroy it by any means possible. This would usually entail a few prayers and blessings. The doctor would have to use a lot of magic to destroy the spirit. Amulets and talismans were often worn. Chants, spells, and rituals were used.

Actual medicine was used from time to time. They were usually herbs that one would eat. The herbs were taken to ease pain while the spells began to work on the body. Throughout trial and error the Egyptians began to realize what herbs should be used with what disease. This would later help when people began to really investigate illnesses.

When magic and medicine did not seem to help, the doctors resorted to surgery. Many would think that mummification made it quite easy to examine the inside of a body. This may have been so, but the doctor's did not take advantage of it. Many times these corpses had their insides drained and scooped out of their bodies. No one got a really good look at what was actually going on inside because no one really cared. They still believed that it was evil spirits who caused the pain. It was the Egyptians who put together the pulse and the heart, but still had absolutely no knowledge of the circuitry system.

Records and pictures do show that the Ancient Egyptians did perform circumcisions. There is little evidence to say how they performed these surgeries and how exact they were. It is also unknown as to why they did it.

Any surgery made was used with surgical tools. Knives were sharpened stone. They would burn the stone until it glowed red and then used to make an incision. Other instruments included bone saw and chisels. These were used to make amputations which had been known to be done.

Some mummies that had been found were known to have cosmetic surgery. Wooden toes and artificial

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