Medicines in ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptian was always keen to adapt nature to serve him and invest everything in plants, animals and minerals. He also excelled in the science of chemistry and the manufacture of pharmaceutical drugs to treat various diseases. We knew this from the Ebers Papyrus and the Odin Smith Papyrus, considered among the most important medical papyri discovered so far.
The ancient Egyptian also reached the manufacture of pharmaceutical preparations: such as pills, tablets, swallows, infusions, enemas, alcoholic extracts from wines, ointments, paints, compound oils, drops, snuffs, pastes and fumes, as they were described in detail in the pharmaceutical papyri from the method of preparation and conditions of industry and use.
The drugs were divided into three types (plant, mineral and animal).
Botanical medicines:
Plant drugs were the most used by the ancient Egyptians in treatment, and it was more easy and popular than others, and some of them are of Egyptian origin. Another imported from countries with which Egypt had strong relations, such as (Iraq, Syria and Lebanon) and some of the names of plants were deciphered and known. And some are not yet recognized.
One of the most important plants used was the sycamore plant, where its milky juice was used to treat skin diseases, especially psoriasis, by mixing the sycamore juice with some iron compounds other chemicals, and it was in the form of a topical ointment.
They also used some extracts of the acacia tree as an astringent for some gynaecological diseases.
It was also found that they are a large castor plant from the beginning of antiquity, and the most famous mixtures were mixing castor with alcohol to treat hair loss and dandruff.
And for women’s interest in youth and beauty, they used henna, incense, mastic, and fenugreek to remove wrinkles and others.
They also used lettuce to increase fertility and treat infertility in men, so lettuce was associated with the god, who is the god of fertility and reproduction. They also knew the poppy plant, and it was used in medicine as an anaesthetic. Then the matter developed to extract opium from it. When its effect was known and led to addiction and delirium, its use was prohibited except within limits of Medicine.
They also used (black seed) oil to treat stomach pain, colic, diarrhoea, and aloe vera to relieve wounds.
And many other plants that are effective in treating many diseases
Mineral drugs:-
The Egyptians knew extracting minerals since the pre-dynastic era and used metals with their different colours and composition in various industries such as jewellery and construction and extracting colours for drawing and colouring as we see in the tombs that are still wonderful until now as he used minerals in pharmaceutical industries as well and we will show the most important minerals that were used in a wide
Iron:
Iron has been found since the pre-dynastic era and appeared in several colours according to the percentage of oxidation in the soil in which it is found. It was found red (hematite), brown, black and yellow. These colours appeared in the manufacture of jewellery and tools. The most important iron mines are located in the Eastern Desert and Sinai.
Iron was used as a mixture with herbs for skin diseases and for making tools used in the laboratory
copper:
Copper metal was easy to mine and discover. Its existence began from the Badari civilization, which is one of the most important prehistoric civilizations. It was used, in particular, green copper oxide (malachite) in the manufacture of kohl. pharmacokinetics
gypsum:
Gypsum had great use in the Egyptian civilization, so it was discovered for the first time in the excavations of the Maadi civilization, where they used to stick broken pottery with gypsum. We see the use of confinement in (glueing – splinting fractures – preparing mortar – reducing weights)
And other minerals that were used in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries
animal drugs:
The idea of ​​exploiting animals for more than eating and grazing is not modern but rather an ancient idea. The ancient Egyptian coexisted with invented animals and could differentiate between pets and predators, and what he eats and who does not eat. The idea developed from mere hunting and eating To education and making animal wealth, and from it to using things from the animal’s body in drugs and treatment, as it was made from the fats and fats of various animals such as cows, bulls, sheep and pigs, as creams to moisturize the skin. The incorporation of fat with various powders makes beauty products as we call them today ( Base cream – Rouge) and therapeutic ointments for inflammatory wounds, as shown by their drawings inside tombs. The Egyptians used three types of live meat to stop bleeding, raw meat and rotting meat. They left the meat exposed to the air until fungi grow on it, then dried it and gave it soaked as medicine for those who feel chest disease. The phenomenon is similar in many respects to the scientist (Filming) observed when he left the meat broth in the air, so a kind of plant grew on it that eliminated the strep microbes. Penicillin and all kinds of antibiotics, our ancient ancestors were first in this.
The papyri also indicated the importance of the animal’s liver in treatment, and it was used (raw, dry, grilled and powdered) and used as an eye ointment because it contained vitamin A. They also treated abortions with it.
The Pharaonic papyri described the liver and described it for the mouth and its apparent use as a dry drop or ointment for the eyes. The reality that we perceive from our study of their medical tickets makes us definitive that the Egyptians had reached the top in careful scientific observation and felt that the liver is useful for treating eyes and treating abortions. This was not by chance. Rather, it is about knowing and observing the female cycle and the formation of eggs, as they used animal marrow to soften and straighten hair, which is what we now call (creatine – protein) and the like.
The Egyptians had the lead in many sciences that have baffled the world so far, so God Almighty preserved that civilization as an eyewitness to the diligence and love of ancestors for their country. Egypt is not only the mother of the world, but it is the mother of science and arts as well.