Papyrus Chester Beatty BM 10686

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The Chester Beatty VI papyrus is an ancient Egyptian medical papyrus from the 19th Dynasty (circa 1250 BC). The front contains a medical "textbook" that deals largely with the treatment of diseases of the human anus .

The papyrus was found together with other papyri in Deir el-Medina in 1928 and named after its first owner, Alfred Chester Beatty . It is currently in the British Museum ( BM 10686 ).

description

The papyrus is 1.35 m long and 21 cm high. The front contains a magic-free medical text that is divided into eight columns of different widths. On the back there are spells and recipes as well as a vignette showing the destruction of a demon by Re , Osiris and crocodiles .

content

In terms of content, the text on the front is a closed collection of recipes that concern the anus. Either diseases of the same are treated or it serves as an opening for enemas that are supposed to heal digestive disorders or internal diseases. In the case of enemas, various means are administered in the form of pills , suppositories or porridge:

"Remedy for eliminating a reversal ( prolapsus ) in the anus. Long bean flour / pulp ; lower egyptian salt; Goose fat ; Mucilage of barley ; Honey ; be made into a mass; will be given to the anus for four days. "

- Chester Beatty VI, Jan.

In addition to the anus, the heart , the chest , the rib area , the urinary bladder and the vessels ( metu ) are also mentioned. The text has some parallels to the Berlin Papyrus and the Ebers Papyrus .

Wehau's disease is also mentioned on the reverse .

background

The medical text apparently confirms the report of the ancient historian Herodotus , according to which the Egyptians were well versed in enema technology and also attached great importance to regular digestion . There were even special specialists in this field who bore the title “Shepherd of the aft ” ( nrw pḥwj ) and were called Iatroklystes by the Greeks . Other ancient writers such as Plutarch , Pliny or Aelian suspect that the Egyptians learned to enema from the ibis god Thoth, who supposedly was able to flush out his intestines with his crooked beak .

See also

literature

  • Hildegard von Deines, Hermann Grapow and Wolfhart Westendorf : Outline of the medicine of the ancient Egyptians (transcription, translation, commentary, dictionary, grammar), Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1954–1973.
  • Alan Gardiner : Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum. Third Series: Chester Beatty Gift. British Museum, London 1935.
  • Frans Jonckheere: Le Papyrus Médical Chester Beatty par le Dr Frans Jonckheere, La Médicine Égyptienne N ° 2. Brussels 1947.
  • JF Nunn: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. British Museum Press, London 1996, ISBN 0-7141-0981-9 , pp. 36-37.
  • Wolfhart Westendorf: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicine. Volume 1 (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Vol. 36). Brill, Leiden / Boston / Cologne 1999, ISBN 90-04-11320-7 , pp. 45-48.

References and comments

  1. ^ A b Nunn: Ancient Egyptian Medicine. 1996, pp. 36-37.
  2. ^ A b Westendorf: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicine. 1999, pp. 45-48.
  3. ↑ The first four are 5–6 cm narrow, the remaining 27–29 cm wide.
  4. ^ Westendorf: Handbook of ancient Egyptian medicine. 1999, p. 214.
  5. ↑ Herodotus, historíai. II 77.
  6. ↑ Westendorf: awakening of the healing art. 1992, pp. 116-117.