Ramesseum medical papyri

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The Ramesseum medical papyri are a collection of ancient Egyptian medical documents dating back to the early 18th century BC, found in the temple of the Ramesseum.[1] As with most Ancient Egyptian medical papyri, this document mainly dealt with ailments, diseases, structure of the body, and supposed remedies used to heal these afflictions,[1] namely ophthalmologic ailments, gynaecology, muscles, tendons, and diseases of children.[2] It is the only well-known papyrus to describe these in great detail.[1] Most of the text written in the known manuscripts of this collection are in parts III, IV, and V, and written in vertical columns.[1]

Papyrus IV deals with issues similar to the Kahun Gynecological Papyrus, such as labor, the protection of the newborn, ways to predict the likelihood of its survival, and ways to predict which gender the newborn will be. It also contains a contraception formula.[3] Papyrus V contains numerous prescriptions dealing with the relaxation of limbs, written in hieroglyphic script, rather than hieratic script as other medical papyri were.[3]

Papyrus III of this collection, in addition to other medical papyri of its time period, may provide information about the eruption of Santorini and the medical problems it caused, as well as possible support for the ninth biblical plague of darkness:

“ Treatments for burns caused by particulate and dissolved acids are documented in the London Medical Papyrus as well as in the Ebers Papyrus, and are compatible with ash fallout and ash in rain, respectively. Furthermore, both instances of ash correlate to the first eight biblical plagues. Moreover, the latter text also presents a series of ailments coherent with serious inhalation of toxic substances in aerosol form. This scenario is confirmed by the Hearst Medical Papyrus, the Carlsberg Papyrus 8, and the Ramesseum Papyrus III, and fits a volcanic plume, which is also coherent with the ninth biblical plague [...] as well as Santorini's second phase of its Bronze Age eruption.[4] ”

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Ancient Egyptian Medical Papyri. Ancient Egypt Fan. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  2. ^ Medicine of the Pharaohs - For Every Malady a Cure. Coptic Medical Society. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  3. ^ a b The Oldest Medical Books in the World. World Research Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  4. ^ Six medical papyri describe the effects of Santorini's volcanic ash, and provide Egyptian parallels to the so-called biblical plagues. Plague Research Today. Retrieved on 2007-12-24.