Here I am, in Egypt. Wow. It is everything I imagined it would be.Everything looked old and dusty, well compared to where I was from. It appeared that I was in some city near the market place. There were people walking around selling and buying things. There were children laughing a playing in the alleys. I figured if I was going to get all my research done I better get started. Now who would know anything about surgeries here, or who would know someone I could talk to. I guess I will just start talking to people randomly. Maybe I will get a lead. I saw a little girl sitting next to a tent, who looked very bored. She was probably around 13 or 14. I approached her and introduced myself.

Me: Hello my name is Rachael, you don't look like you are having fun like the rest of the kids.

Girl: Oh, hi I'm Habibah. Yeah this is what I do all day sit here and watch my parents tent.

We sell blankets that my mother makes herself. So yeah not very much fun.

Me: I am from a land called Canada. I am a practicing medical student there and

 I came here to learn more about your people and their customs in medicine.

Girl: Well you are asking the wrong person. All I do every day is help my parents

with the blankets, I don't know much of anything about medicine.

Me: What happens when you or someone in your family gets sick? Where do you go?

Girl: Well it depends. Sometimes we go to a doctor but sometimes we go to a magician.

Me: A magician? what do they do for you. Magicians where I come from pull rabbits out of hats and make people disappear.

Girl: Well mom says sometimes evil spirits will enter a person making them feel bad. I'm not sure what she means but the other day this lady was walking around complaining that a scorpion bit her. She looked like she was in a lot of pain. A man standing there said it happened because an evil spirit had taken over her body and this attracted the scorpion which is also evil to sting her. They came and took her away, I guess to a magician to cast out whatever was inside her.

Me: Why didn't they use some ointment to put on it and draw out the poison?

Girl: Ointment? What is that?

Me: Oh, never mind. (thinking I am about to disrupt history)

Girl: Here comes my cousin Abasi, maybe he could help you more.

Boy: Hey Habibah what are you guys doing?

Girl: This is Rachael. She is from some place called Canada. She goes to school there and is doing research for her class.                                                                                                                                                 Picture of a Magician. Daniel Bader

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Website: The Lyceum

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Weblink: http://peripatus.blogspot.com/

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2005/09/prayer-and-magic.html

 Me: Hi Abasi is it? Yeah I'm here trying to find information out about medicine in your country.

Have you ever visited a doctor or a magician or anyone else for treatment of anything?

Boy: Last year I got a really bad cough and had trouble breathing. A doctor came to our house and told my mother to give me milk and honey to help it. He said my lungs were suffering and this would help to clear it up.

Me: Hmm, milk and honey huh. Where I am from when I would get a cold sometimes I would put some honey into tea. It really seemed to help clear out my throat. Also we have cough drops, which are like little hard pieces of sugar you suck on. Some taste like honey and lemon together and help to make your chest feel better and stop you from coughing.

Girl: Those sound good! Where can we get some of those?

Me: Well I'll see what I can do, but can't make any promises! Well you guys have really helped me out. I can't thank you enough! Oh one more question, do you know anyone who would know anything about your surgery practices here?

Girl: No, not really. My only guess would be go to the big hospital up on the hill. I am not sure how to get there but I know its that way somewhere. And you are welcome. You made my day more fun than it has been in a long time.

I continued down the street. The two kids had given me a lot of information

but I still needed more, and I had yet to find out about their surgical

practices. I asked a few people about how to get to the hospital and

I made my way there. As I walked in I saw what looked like a Doctor

sitting down.

Me: Hello, sir? My name is Rachael. I wonder if I could have a few                 

Doctor: I actually have a copy in my office, since I'm head of medicine and all! I could go through a little bit of it with you.

Me: That would be great

We walked to his office, which was nothing like ours back home. No Macs in here, just old looking books.

Doctor: This is the Edwin Smith Papyrus. It was written around 1700 BC but a lot of the information in it came from texts written back in 2640 BC. It discusses mostly things dealing with wounds and how to treat them. Some interesting facts about it are that it contains the first descriptions of the cranial sutures, the meninges, the external surface of the brain the cerebrospinal fluid and intra cranial pulsation. It really helps physicians out when performing operations on the brain. Also, it contains accounts of surgical stitches and various types of dressings. This is the first of its kind. No one else, that we are aware of have documentations like this (Dunn, pg 1).

Me: Wow, that is incredible. That is very interesting how you could know so much information about the brain with little resources.What else can you tell me?

Doctor: Well the papyrus is made up of 48 systematically arranged cases, beginning with head injuries then proceeding down to the thorax and spine. Each case has a title, examination, diagnosis and treatment. Approximately 27 of the cases are about head traumas, 4 are deep scalp wounds and 11 are skull fractures. For example in case two, it talks about a gaping wound in a head that was penetrating to the bone. And the instructions to help this were to lay a hand on it, and palpate the wound. Then the treatment would be to bind fresh meat upon it on the first day and apply two strips of linen then treat with grease and honey until the patient recovers (Dunn, pg 1).  

Me: That is all really great information and will help me a lot with my research.

Doctor: There was another papyrus, the Ebers papyrus. It was very lengthy. It addresses specific medical ailments. The first few paragraphs contain information about magical spells which are designed to protect from supernatural intervention. Then thee are sections about diseases of the stomach, intestines and skin. Further down here it talks about diseases of the anus and then diseases of the head. There is also information about flesh wounds and diseases of the extremities such as fingers and legs. So this papyrus is mostly about diseases and shows how they work, as opposed to the Edwin Smith Papyrus which dealt with procedures and treatments (Dunn, pg 1).

Me: So your papyrus are like our medical books back home. Is is really neat to see how you take the information you learn and write it down for future use. I have taken up enough of your time. I can't thank you enough!

Doctor: Oh it was no problem, I hope I helped.

Me: You did. Have a nice day!

I left the hospital, very happy. I had found out about some of the medical procedures used here in Egypt along with other information about medicine. It had been a great day overall. Now on to the Medieval time, if I can find my way out of here...

********

Wilkins, (1964). Neurosurgical Classic-XVII Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. Journal of Neurosurgery, 240-244. http://www.neurosurgery.org/cybermuseum/pre20th/epapyrus.html

Crystal, Ellie. (1995-2008). Ancient Egyptian Medicine- Smith Papyrus- Ebers Papyrus. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from Ellie Crystal's Metaphysical and Science Website: http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptmedicine.html

Trueman, Chris. (2000). Ancient Egyptian Medicine. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from History Learning Site Website: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ancient_egyptian_medicine.htm

Dunn, Jimmy. (1996). The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from Tour Egypt Website:

http://www.touregypt.net/edwinsmithsurgical.htm