The quick and the dead : : biomedical theory in ancient Egypt / / Andrew H. Gordon and Calvin W. Schwabe.

• Superior document: Egyptological memoirs, 4
• Author: Gordon, Andrew H.
• TeilnehmendeR: Schwabe, Calvin W.
• Year of Publication: 2004
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Egyptological memoirs ; 4.
• Physical Description: xxii, 236 p. :; ill.
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

This volume uses a cross-disciplinary approach to examine the origins of ancient Egyptian medicine in the domestication, care and sacrifice of cattle. Ritual cattle sacrifice in Egypt led to a rudimentary understanding of animal anatomy and physiology, which was then applied to humans. Two original...

Table of Contents

• Intro
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Figures and Table
• Preface
• Transliteration and Abbreviations
• Chapter 1. Sources of Egyptian Biomedical Knowledge
• Magic and Processes of Science
• Egyptological Sources of Evidence
• Biological Sources of Evidence
• Ethnographic Sources of Evidence
• Chapter 2. Life and Death
• Egyptian Priests' Preoccupations with Problems of Death and Rebirth
• Textual Sources and Portrayals
• Rituals and Concepts
• Ka as a Concept Underlying Ritual
• Animal Associations with Life
• Animal Associations with Death
• Conclusions
• Chapter 3. Predynastic Egypt as 'Cattle Culture'
• Bos primigenius and Wild Bull Hunts
• Cattle Domestication and Milk Drinking
• Pharaoh as Bull, People as Cattle
• Sun and Gods as Bulls
• Bovine Gods of Fertility and Power: Living Bull Gods
• Some Comparisons
• Bovine Sacrifice
• Egyptian Temple Herds and Cattle Wealth
• Baboons as Bulls
• Conclusions
• Chapter 4. The Approach of Comparative Biomedicine
• Analogy and Biomedical Progress
• Animal Dissections in Egypt
• Continuing Importance of Comparative Biomedicine
• The Microbiological Revolution
• Conclusions
• Chapter 5. 'Live Flesh': Rudiments of Muscle Physiology
• Motion and Irritability as Evidences of Life
• Opening-of-the-Mouth Ritual
• Laboratory Reenactment
• Ka as the Animating Principle
• Comparison of Ka to Nilotic Ring
• Other Comparisons
• Conclusions
• Chapter 6. Physiology of the Spine
• Spine and Life
• Keeping the Body Intact
• Bone Marrow and Life
• Particular Importance of Thoracic Vertebrae
• Meaning of Ankh
• Theories about Ankh's Origin
• [Images] as Thoracic Vertebra
• Clinical Proof
• Spine and Death
• Mtwt and a Physiological Analogy between Opposites
• Comparative Findings
• The Principal Supporting Vertebrae for the Body.
• Djed and Backbone
• [Images] as the Sacral and Lumbar Spine
• Other Theories of Djed's Origin Subsumed
• Comparative Observations
• Conclusions
• Chapter 7. The Male Reproductive System
• The Male's Role in Reproduction
• The Was-Scepter, Penis and Dominion
• Dominion as a Behavioral and Social Phenomenon
• Baboons and Sexual Exercise of Dominion
• Gods' Penises and Dominion
• Penis Analogs
• [Images] as Bull's Penis
• Additional Biological Evidence
• The Ancient Egyptian Mindset
• [Images] as the Male Reproductive System
• Semen Analogs
• Conclusions
• Chapter 8. The Egyptian Healing Establishment
• Egyptian Healers
• Some Comparisons With Greece
• Per Ankh, Hut Ankh and Their Functions
• Some Comparisons With Greece
• The Kahun Veterinary Papyrus
• Conclusions
• Chapter 9. Egyptian Biomedical Science: Theories and Implications
• Structure of the Body
• Functions of Organs
• The Egyptians' Synthesis: A First Approximation
• Pathogenesis
• Comparative Reproductive Physiology and Medicine
• A Further Word about Materials and Methods
• Boundaries to Biomedical Innovation
• A Natural Laboratory
• Episodic Biomedical Progress
• Secrecy and 'Turfs' as Antiscience
• Chance Observations and the Prepared Mind
• Conclusions
• Epilogue. Broader Implications of Healing in a Fused or Integrated Society
• Integrated Societies Revisited
• Broader Implications of the Boundaries-Bull Model
• Some Final Thoughts
• References
• General Index
• General Index EGYPTOLOGICAL MEMOIRS.