Healing and Magic Healing Two kinds of healing

Healing and Magic

Healing • Two kinds of healing – Magic - was not so much an alternative to medical treatment as a complementary therapy. – Rational - based on experience and observation and lacking in mystical features. • Imhotep (27 BC) – Lived in the 3 rd dynasty – Was the first physician

Physicians • The physician spent years of difficult training at temple schools. – Mastered the skills of interrogation, inspection, and palpation (examining the body by touch). • Common diseases of the eyes and skin were treated rationally by the physician. • Less accessible disorders continued to be treated by the spells and incantations of the priest-magician.

Priests • Priests were the main practitioners of magic in Egypt – They were seen as guardians of a secret knowledge given by the gods to humanity to 'ward off the blows of fate'. • Lector Priests – Were the most respected users of magic because they could read the ancient books of magic kept in temple and palace libraries. – Performed magical rituals to protect their king, and to help the dead to rebirth. • Healing magic was a speciality of the priests who served Sekhmet, the fearsome goddess of plague.

Magic • Collections of healing and protective spells were sometimes inscribed on statues and stone slabs (stelae) for public use. • Scorpion-charmers, used magic to rid the area of poisonous reptiles and insects. • Midwives and nurses also included magic among their skills • Amulets were another source of magic power, obtainable from 'protection-makers‘. • Surviving medical-magical papyri contain spells for the use of doctors, Sekhmet priests and scorpion-charmers. – The spells were often targeted at the supernatural beings that were believed to be the ultimate cause of diseases. – Demons were thought to be attracted to foul things, used dung to lure them out of the patient's body. – Sweet substance such as honey was used, to repel demons.