Medicine in the Days of the Pharaohs.

MEDICINE IN THE DAYS OF THE PHARAOHS BRUNO HALIOUA AND BERNARD ZISKIND

When we think of the Egyptians in the time of the pharaohs, we think pyramids, the Sphinx, King Tut, mummies, and antiquity. What we don't think about is how advanced their medical practices were. Twenty-five centuries before Hippocrates, Egyptian ophthalmologists, urologists, and dentists were seeing patients from almost every walk of life. The doctors' lives weren't that different from those of doctors today. They even had remedies for the common cold, one of which was crushing dates and leaves of the niaia plant and applying the resulting paste to the nose. Egyptian doctors prescribed medicines, had competition from alternative practitioners, were sued for malpractice, and even had to deal with what can only be described as an ancient-version of the Food and Drug Administration. In the tradition of modern specialists studying their Egyptian predecessors, this is a book about Egyptian doctors written by two present-day M.D.s, both members of the French Society for the History of Medicine. This book should appeal to anyone interested in the history of medicine or in Egyptology. Originally published in France in 2002. Belknap Press, 2005 288 p., color photos, hardcover, $24.95.