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Egyptian And Greek Medicine (1)
Plinio PRIORESCHI*
*Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, Section of History of Medicine, School of Medicine Creighton University Omaha, NE 68178 USA
The author reviews evidence of the influence of Egyptian medicine on ancient Greek medicine and concludes that such influence was considerable although not crucial. The main elements considered are the concept of perittoma, tests related to pregnancy, dissection of the human body, and the use of certain drugs. The differences between the two medicines are also discussed and the assumption that Greek medicine differs fundamentally from Egyptian medicine (because of the presence of supernatural elements in the latter and their absence in the former) is rejected. It is concluded that the difference between the two medicines is not of a fundamental nature; it is also underlined that our perception of Egyptian medicine could be distorted by the paucity of surviving Egyptian medical documents.Keywords: Greek medicine, Egyptian medicine, Perittoma, Pregnancy tests, Anatomy, Human dissectionTurkiye Klinikleri J Med Ethics 2003, 11:134-139
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