Mesopotamian medicine.

Although the Mesopotamian civilisation is as old as that of Egypt and might even have predated it, we know much less about Mesopotamian medicine, mainly because the cuneiform source material is less well researched. Medical healers existed from the middle of the 3rd millennium. In line with the strong theocratic state culture, healers were closely integrated with the powerful priestly fraternity, and were essentially of three main kinds: barû (seers) who were experts in divination, âshipu (exorcists), and asû (healing priests) who tended directly to the sick. All illness was accepted as sent by gods, demons and other evil spirits, either as retribution for sins or as malevolent visitations. Treatment revolved around identification of the offending supernatural power, appeasement of the angry gods, for example by offering amulets or incantations, exorcism of evil spirits, as well as a measure of empirical therapy aimed against certain recognised symptom complexes. Medical practice was rigidly codified, starting with Hammurabi's Code in the 18th century BC and persisting to the late 1st millennium BC. Works like the so-called Diagnostic Handbook, the Assyrian Herbal and Prescription Texts describe the rationale of Mesopotamian medicine, based predominantly on supernatural concepts, although rudimentary traces of empirical medicine are discernible. There is evidence that Egyptian medicine might have been influenced by Mesopotamian practices, but Greek rational medicine as it evolved in the 5th/4th centuries BC almost certainly had no significant Mesopotamian roots.

Medical practice in Graeco-roman antiquity.

The roots of modern medicine can be traced back to the 5th century BC when Hippocratic rational medicine originated on the Greek islands of Cos and Cnidos. In this study we examine the way in which practitioners conducted their profession in Graeco-Roman times, as well as their training. Medical training was by way of apprenticeship with recognized doctors, but no qualifying examinations existed and the standard of practice thus varied enormously. Even in the Roman era the vast majority of medical doctors were Greek and in private practice as itinerant physicians. Civic doctors in the paid service of local communities appeared in Greek society from the 5th century BC onwards, but much later in Rome - probably as late as the 4th century AD. Rome's unique contributions to medicine lay in public health measures (e.g. their aqueducts, public baths and sewages systems) and an excellent medical service for their armies and navy. Hospitals (valetudinaria) were established for military purposes and for slaves on large Roman estates from the 1st century BC, but civic hospitals for the general public originated as late as the 4th century AD. The Greek medical schools of Cos and Cnidos were eventually superseded by the school of Alexandria in Egypt and towards the end of the Roman Empire by that of Carthage in northern Africa. Its gradual demise in the Christian era lowered the curtain on original medical endeavours during antiquity.

Vindicianus' Gynaecia and theories on generation and embryology from the Babylonians up to Graeco-Roman times.

Theories on conception, the production of seed, the determination of the sex of the foetus, foetal development and parturition as expressed in the Gynaecia, a work of the fourth century AD Roman medical writer, Vindicianus, and the theories of Graeco-Roman predecessors ranging from the fifth century BC to the second century AD in which the Gynaecia is embedded, are compared with views occurring in Babylonian, Jewish and Biblical scriptures. The resemblances that have been found, are probably based on general observations found in any society rather than on direct influence by oral or literary tradition. It appears that the theories are determined by the cultural background of the various societies, and are a reflection of the focus of the group or individual(s).

The history and pathology of crucifixion.

In antiquity crucifixion was considered one of the most brutal and shameful modes of death. Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great brought it from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC, and the Phoenicians introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC. It was virtually never used in pre-Hellenic Greece. The Romans perfected crucifion for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners--only very rarely to Roman citizens. Death, usually after 6 hours--4 days, was due to multifactorial pathology: after-effects of compulsory scourging and maiming, haemorrhage and dehydration causing hypovolaemic shock and pain, but the most important factor was progressive asphyxia caused by impairment of respiratory movement. Resultant anoxaemia exaggerated hypovolaemic shock. Death was probably commonly precipitated by cardiac arrest, caused by vasovagal reflexes, initiated inter alia by severe anoxaemia, severe pain, body blows and breaking of the large bones. The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.

Snake and staff symbolism, and healing.

Since time immemorial the snake has been venerated as an enigmatic creature with supernatural powers. As a snake and staff symbol it is also traditionally associated with the healing arts, either as the single-snake emblem of Asklepios, or as the double-snake emblem (caduceus) of Hermes. The mythological basis for this symbolism is reviewed. The Asklepian emblem has been associated with health care since the 5th century BC, when Asklepios became accepted by the Greeks as the god of healing. Whether he was also an historical figure as healer in earlier ages is less certain. The origin of the double-snake emblem is shrouded in the mists of antiquity. In classical times it became the herald's wand of Hermes, messenger of the gods who guided departed souls to the underworld, and was seen as protector of travellers, shepherds and merchants. In the latter capacity Hermes also conveyed a negative connotation as protector of thieves. During the Middle Ages the caduceus became a symbol of the healing sciences (pharmacy and alchemy in particular), and today, although mythologically incorrect, it is in common usage in the health care field.

The evolution of the hospital from antiquity to the end of the middle ages.

The evolution of the hospital is traced from its onset in ancient Mesopotamia towards the end of the 2nd millennium to the end of the Middle Ages. Reference is made to institutionalised health care facilities in India as early as the 5th century BC, and with the spread of Buddhism to the east, to nursing facilities, the nature and function of which are not known to us, in Sri Lanka, China and South East Asia. Special attention is paid to the situation in the Graeco-Roman era: one would expect to find the origin of the hospital in the modern sense of the word in Greece, the birthplace of rational medicine in the 4th century BC, but the Hippocratic doctors paid house-calls, and the temples of Asclepius were visited for incubation sleep and magico-religious treatment. In Roman times the military and slave hospitals which existed since the 1st century AD, were built for a specialized group and not for the public, and were therefore also not precursors of the modern hospital. It is to the Christians that one must turn for the origin of the modern hospital. Hospices, initially built to shelter pilgrims and messengers between various bishops, were under Christian control developed into hospitals in the modern sense of the word. In Rome itself, the first hospital was built in the 4th century AD by a wealthy penitent widow, Fabiola. In the early Middle Ages (6th to 10th century), under the influence of the Benedictine Order, an infirmary became an established part of every monastery. During the late Middle Ages (beyond the 10th century) monastic infirmaries continued to expand, but public hospitals were also opened, financed by city authorities, the church and private sources. Specialized institutions, like leper houses, also originated at this time. During the Golden Age of Islam the Muslim world was clearly more advanced than its Christian counterpart with magnificent hospitals in various countries.

Tumours and cancers in Graeco-Roman times.

In Graeco-Roman times all tumours (Greek: onkoi, abnormal swellings) were considered to be of inflammatory origin, the result of unfavourable humoural fluxes, and caused by an extravascular outpouring of fluid into tissue spaces. The neoplastic nature of tumours is a more recent concept, barely two centuries old. In Hippocratic literature tumours were mainly classified as karkinômata, phumata, and oidêmata. Phumata included a large variety of tumours, inflammatory and neoplastic in origin, and mostly benign (in modern terms), while oidêmata were soft, painless tumours and even included generalised oedema (dropsy). Although all categories possibly included occasional cancers, the vast majority of what appears to have been malignant tumours were called karkinoi karkinômata (Latin: cancrum/carcinoma). There was, however, no recognition of benign and malignant, primary and secondary tumours, in the modern sense.

The epidemic of Athens, 430-426 BC.

The Athenian epidemic of 430-426 BC, at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, caused the death of the great statesman, Pericles, decimated the population and contributed significantly to the decline and fall of classical Greece. In his remarkable documentation of the epidemic, Thucydides (who survived the disease) not only left us a clear clinical picture of the pestilence but also identified its infectious nature and the fact that it conferred at least partial immunity on survivors. As confirmed by a large number of scholars who studied the subject, Thucydides' description does not accurately fit any existing disease, but we suggest that analysis of the signs and symptoms, considered in conjunction with significant epidemiological evidence, narrows down the many possibilities to epidemic typhus, plague, arboviral disease (e.g. Rift Valley fever) and smallpox. Typhus and smallpox fit best, but we favour the latter for reasons given. Unless further primary sources of information become available (and this seems most unlikely), productive speculation as to the cause of Thucydides' epidemic has probably reached the end of the road.