Cures From The Dead

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The practice of mummification gave the early Egyptians less knowledge of anatomy than might be supposed. They removed the contents of the abdomen and chest (except the heart, which was usually left in place), so they could distinguish a great many internal organs. But because the procedure was carried out crudely, they did not notice their placement. And although they realized the importance of the heart - considering it the seat of intelligence and of life itself - they did not understand the circulation of the blood.

Mummification did have a profound, if more indirect effect on the growth of medical science. It made the Egyptians familiar with the idea of cutting up corpses, and so encouraged an atmosphere of research. Eventually, the Ptolomaic rulers of Egypt (320-30 BQ gave their Greek physicians permission to study the human body systematically by dissection).

Many centuries later, an Alexandrian Jew named Elmagar is said to have treated both Crusaders and Saracens with 'mummy'- a powder made from ground-up portions of embalmed cadavers. This 'therapy' was also used by Guy de Chauliac surgeon to Pope Clement VI, in the 14th century. `Mummy' was still highly regarded in the early 16th century. Franpois I of France used to carry a little packet o. f it, mixed with powdered rhubarb, in case of accident since it was thought to be good for bruises and wounds, although it was also taken internally for various ailments. The efficacy of the powder purporting to come from mummies but actually derived from the corpses of recently deceased convicts, stuffed with asphalt and sun dried, is not known.

Mummification occurred sporadically over the centuries, some of the Egyptians' techniques being used to preserve the bodies of Henri IV and Louis XIV of France. It reached its apotheosis in 1852, with the embalming of Alexander, Tenth Duke of Hamilton. An ‘Egyptian’ ceremony was carried out, with T. J. Pettigrew, the first Professor of Anatomy at Charing Cross Hospital, London, as embalmer and chief ritualist, and the body was laid to rest in an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus that had originally been intended for the British Museum.

Today Egypt's mummies tell us much about the ancient Egyptians themselves. Modern palaeopathologists have discovered that they suffered from bladder and kidney-stones, gallstones, schistosomiasis (6ilharzia), arterial disease, gout, appendicitis, mastoid disease and a great many afflictions of the eye. Rheumatoid arthritis was so common that virtually all skeletons show evidence of it; but dental decay was rare, usually only appearing in the wealthy. So far no evidence of such diseases as rickets or syphilis has been found.

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