Medicine and Healing Practices in Ancient Egypt

Rosalie David is Emerita Professor of Egyptology at The University of Manchester. The focus of her career has been the establishment of a new university specialisation – biomedical research within the field of Egyptology – to provide a different approach to understanding the civilisation of ancient Egypt. She was the first Director of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at The University of Manchester until her retirement in 2012, and continues her research and teaching at the Centre. She is the author/editor of over 35 books and many journal articles, and has been consultant and contributor to several television documentaries. She has received Fellowships of The Royal Society of Arts and The Royal Society of Medicine, and in the New Year Honours List for 2003, she was awarded the OBE for services to Egyptology. Doctor Roger Forshaw is an honorary lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology at The University of Manchester where he specialises in dental studies and ancient Egyptian healing practices. A former dental surgeon, he went on to study Egyptology at the University of Exeter and later at the University of Manchester where he obtained an MSc in Biomedical Egyptology and achieved a PhD on the role of the lector in ancient Egyptian society. Among his other research interests are the Saite Period and medical and dental care in ancient Egypt, and he has published a number of books and papers on these topics.

‘In contrast with previous works on this subject, which have focused exclusively on the remedies available to ancient Egyptian medical practitioners, this work also considers the subject from the viewpoint of the patient… It would be difficult to find any aspect of Egyptian medicine that has not been covered by the authors, and this work deserves to a textbook standard for many years to come.’ J Peter Phillips, Ancient Egypt

• AbbreviationsChronologyIntroduction to Egyptian concepts of disease and medical ethics Providers of healthcare: The healer’s perspective The temple as a location for medical training and practice Medical treatment and healing in a community context Methods of treatment Recipients of healthcare: The patient’s perspective Egypt’s contribution to other ancient and modern medical systemsBibliography