Moody Medical Library

Ancient people throughout the world developed religious concepts of striking similarity. The more cultured and advanced the civilizations were, the more elaborate were their religious beliefs and rituals. To them death was a normal occurrence in war, in accidents, and in old age. Diseases were caused by anger of the gods and these gods had to be appeased. The person chosen for this task became the Medicine Man.

The medicine man was originally chosen through a miraculous dream or because he survived some unusual accident. He was important and powerful to the tribe and played a leading role in all of its activities. His paraphernalia for carrying out his functions and his ceremonies for treating the ill were elaborate.

The practice of medicine has progressed from primitive beginnings to the present when a medical team can go out in the field with scientific advantages. This progress is primarily due to the freedom of medicine from governmental control.

The art and science of medicine can be traced to 4000 B.C. and most likely originated in Egypt. The first physicians may have been king-physicians for it is known that Athios, the son of the founder of the first dynasty was the author of a manual on anatomy. Subsequent physicians were priest-physicians who belonged to the class of the scribes. These physicians were trained in schools connected with the great sanctuaries and it took ten years to complete their studies. Physicians were held in high esteem. The name of the court physician ‘lry is on a grave near the pyramid of Gizeh.

Amenhotep IV was the first to observe that the sun’s rays had curative powers and he would hold children up to Ra, the sun. Imhotep was the most celebrated physician of ancient Egypt. He was the royal court physician of King Zoser in the Third Dynasty, circa 2980 B.C. King Zoser himself was known as “Sa,” or “divine healer and physician.” Imhotep was honored as a sage, a physician, an astronomer, and an architect. He may be considered the first recognized medico-legal expert, as he was both Court Physician and Court Justice. Imhotep was deified to demigod in 2850 B.C., and to full deity in 600 B.C.

Apollo, the god of youth, beauty, song and music was also the god of medicine. According to Greek mythology, Aesculapius was the son of Apollo and Coronis. He was raised by the wise old Centaur, Chiron, on Mount Pelion, where he learned the art of healing and how to restore health to men.

Because Aesculapius thought “thoughts too great for man,” he was struck down by Zeus. But for many hundreds of years, people came to the temples of Aesculapius to pray, to sacrifice, and to sleep, and in their dreams have revealed to them the secrets of how to cure their ailments. Zeus, as the supreme deity of ancient Greece, was the directing god of medicine. While he was responsible for the death of Aesculapius, he later placed him among the stars, and thus Aesculapius became the god of medicine.

Homer is believed by some to have been a physician; his Iliad bears evidence to his anatomical and medical knowledge. The Greek ideals of harmony, beauty, and health of body and spirit flourished during the 5th century B.C. under the leadership of Pericles. It was then that Greece reached its Golden Age of philosophical, artistic and scientific achievement.

Alexander (356-323 B.C.) was not a physician but he had a practical knowledge of military medicine and also a healthy respect for physicians. In conquering the East, he exposed it to Greek culture. One year before his death, he founded the city of Alexandria, Egypt. This city became the medical center of the world. Ptolemy Soter (Savior), Egypt’s ruler after Alexander’s death, founded the Alexandrian library where 700,000 rolls of papyri were collected. At the Alexandrian Museum, physicians were taught anatomy systematically for the first time, and research and experimentation flourished.

Ancient Jews believed that sickness was a curse and health a blessing and that both were divinely bestowed. Health was closely linked to religious practice. The essence of Jewish medicine is found in the regulations laid down by Moses. It was based on the simple idea that God was a Healer. Physicians were reluctantly accepted as necessary and many Rabbis were also physicians.

However, as time passed, physicians were regarded highly. Moses was the world’s first major exponent of prophylaxis- cleanliness was a watchword with him. His regulations for the prevention of obesity by dieting, the inspection of food, disposal of all refuse and the control on venereal disease were model public health measures that have been improved only in details since. These patterns of health and cleanliness have survived the test of time.

The weekly day of rest and the direct prophylaxis of disease are two of the greatest thoughts of mankind and both were given us by these early Jews.

Hua T'o (110-207) is considered the greatest surgeon in Chinese history. He was a firm advocate of systematic physical examination. He administered few drugs and used acupuncture sparingly. His fame rests chiefly on his use of anesthetics and on his great surgical skill. He recorded the removal of a gangrenous spleen, for which he used an effervescent powder in wine, probably cannabis indica, as the anesthetic.

Hua T'o became surgeon to Ts'ao Ts'ao, King of Wei. In his nineties, Hua T'o was still as healthy as in the prime of his life. But because Hua T'o left the court without permission one day, the king ordered his execution. With Hua T'o's death, progress in Chinese surgery came to an abrupt end because Chinese surgeons adhered to the doctrine of Confucius that the human body must not be mutilated in any way during or after life.

In the sixth century B.C. the Romans constructed the Cloaca Maxima, a sewer that drained the marsh close to the Forum Romanum and eventually served all Rome. In 305 B.C., the first great Roman aqueduct was constructed. Both of these were engineering marvels and still stand as hygienic landmarks.

The Romans were very practical and their public health measures were unusually advanced. They forbade burial within city limits, prescribed space between buildings and even regulated the disposal of rubbish. Group medicine was first practiced here. Military medicine advanced under the guidance of Julius Caesar, a sound military hygienist who insisted that his troops be fed well and that their camps be sited on the most healthful locations. Under Augustus Caesar, military medicine reached its peak. Army hospitals were used as reception centers for wounded soldiers. These hospitals had large kitchens and apothecary shops in addition to wards for the sick and wounded.

Avicenna (980-1037 A.D.) was called the Prince of Physicians by his contemporaries. He represented the zenith of Arabian culture and learning. He was a man of brilliant intellect who became equally famous as a physician, philosopher, scientist, statesman and poet. He has been called "one of the greatest names in the history of medicine." His most famous medical book was his Canon and it became the most famous medicaltextbook ever written. Hundreds of years after Avicenna’s death, it was still a required textbook of the University of Vienna. His clinical observations were carefully recorded and his medical views showed originality although he did combine the best of Hippocrates, Galen and the school of Alexandria.

Rhazes, born in 850 A.D. at Raz, Persia, was the first truly great Arabian physician. With him Arabian medicine passed from the period of translation to the period of originality. Although he was deeply influenced by the writings of Hippocrates and Galen, he nevertheless led the way in original contributions to medical knowledge by Arabian physicians. He was a great clinician and scholar. He distinguished smallpox from measles and introduced mercurial ointments into the practice of medicine. His scientific output was extraordinary, including 237 works, of which about one-half were medical. His writings were translated many times and his Al Hawi was the principal text of the medical faculty of Paris as late as 1395 A.D.

Abul Kasim (Albucasis, (936-1013)) was born of Spanish parents at El Zahra, near Cordoba, Spain. He was the greatest surgeon of Islam and one of the most renowned of Arabian physicians. He wrote an encyclopedia of medicine and surgery consisting of 30 volumes. The last volume, on surgery, was the first independent work on surgery and the first illustrated surgical treatise. His works were translated into Latin five times and their influence on medicine in Europe was tremendous.

Abu Nars Mohammed (870-950), known as Farabi or Alfarabi for his birthplace Farab, was a philosopher and physician at court of Hamdanid Saif ud-Daula (Syria), and author of many books.