ZÄ ZDMG Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. The following author's names stand for their works as given. Pauly-Wissowa Real-Encyklopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Roscher Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie. & CHAPTER ONE THE HEALING GODS OF ANCIENT EGYPT T PART I: GENERAL SURVEY The civilization of Egypt. HE ancient Egyptians were a people of superior attainments. The conditions in the Nile valley be ing favorable to life and conducive to prosperity, the people utilized their advantages, developed their resources, and were at least on a par with their contemporaries as pioneers and leaders in the arts of civilization. Egyptologists assert that the more they learn of ancient Egypt the more complete and far-reaching its civilization is found to have been.1 The attainments of their learned men were recognized and admired by their contemporaries, and the repute of their sages for wisdom was proverbial, while they were equally renowned for their skill in healing disease (Herodotos, iii, 1, 132). Many of the earlier kings, as well as those of the Thinites, in the fourth millennium B.C., and of the Third Memphite Dynasty, are reputed to have been versed in medical lore and as chief priests to have practiced healing among their peoples. Specialists were attached to the courts of kings, and several physicians and superintendents of physicians were so renowned and respected that their names were recorded on stone and are known to us. The foundations of Egyptian medicine were laid in prehistoric times. The methods 1 Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, i, 118. 2 G. Foucart, "Disease and Medicine (Egyptian)," in ERE iv, 751. |