Medicine in the Days of the Pharaohs

Bruno Halioua

Bernard Ziskind

Translated by M. B. DeBevoise

Foreword by Donald Redford

    In a book brimming with curious tidbits, dermatologist Bruno Halioua and cardiologist Bernard Ziskind depict Egyptian healers as medical pioneers who devised a 'coherent and largely codified body of practice' some 2,500 years before the Greek physician Hippocrates is said to have laid the foundations of modem medicine.
       --Heather Pringle, Discover

    The medical papyri discussed in this brief, insightful overview demonstrate that ancient Egypt is a foundation stone for Western medicine. Halioua and Ziskind cover the practice of medicine, including its role in society, medical training, the process of mummification, and what human remains can reveal about health along the pharaonic Nile.
       --R. D. Arcari, Choice

    The book's range is impressive. Nothing is left to chance: there is the evidence of tomb painting, mummies, bones, medical literature on papyri and ostraca, residues of liquids found in jars, labels on jars, tattoos on prostitutes and inscriptions left in tombs of physicians and laymen. There is even a chapter on the forensic possibilities for the Plagues of Egypt listed in Exodus, a theme the writers find irresistible, as will many readers.
       --John Ray, Times Higher Education Supplement

    Bruno Halioua and Bernard Ziskind's book fits into a long and fruitful tradition of writings on the more specialist aspects of ancient Egyptian culture written by non-Egyptologists who nevertheless have a strong interest in Egypt (e.g. dentists writing about Egyptian teeth, carpenters on Egyptian furniture-making, engineers on ancient construction techniques, etc.). The authors set out to synthesize our existing knowledge and ideas on the subject of Pharaonic medicine, and the result is a book that is well researched, accessible, and an interesting read.
       --Ian Shaw, University of Liverpool, editor of The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt

  • Cover: Medicine in the Days of the Pharaohs

Bruno Halioua is a dermatologist and former Chief of Medicine at the University of Paris Medical School.

Bernard Ziskind is a cardiologist and senior intern at the Hôpitaux de Paris and a member of the French Society for the History of Medicine.