Thursday, September 18, 2008

Sickness and Health, The Before and After.

  • The five main points that I found interesting are:
  • Babies and small children often died from a stomach infection called dysentery which was caused by poor hygiene such as drinking dirty water or eating unwashed fruits or vegetables.
  • When there was no proof of the illness being caused by a wound or an insect bite, it was blamed on evil spirits, and if evil spirits were suspected they would use a spell which went like this, "Come on out visitor from darkness...Have you come to kiss this child? I forbid you to do so! Have you come to harm it? I forbid this! I have prepared a portion to protect it made from a poisonous herb, from garlic which is bad for you and honey which is sweet for the living, but bitter for the dead."
  • Many young egyptians  suffered from lung diseases caused by hot and dusty climate.
  • Mothers also tried to protect their babies by tying written spells around their necks. These spells were supposed to ward off diseases and accidents.
  • Egyptian doctors could mend broken bones with splints, and knew how to heal bad cuts with wound-packings, bandages and poultices. They also often used lucky charms and spells as part of their treatment.

The similarities that the mummies and us have is that their doctors and our doctors use wound-packings, and bandages to heal bad cuts, and wounds.
The differences that we have with the mummies is that they seem to believe in spells, because they believe that that's what will heal them and will help them stay healthy.




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