The Quick and the Dead - Biomedical Theory in Ancient Egypt

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 theories developed from this comparative medicine: Life as movement, especially seen in the fasciolations of excised limbs, and the male's role in reproduction. Discussions include Egypt as a cattle culture, the "ka as an animating force, "living flesh," the possible animal origins of the "ankh, "djed and "was hieroglyphs, the bull's foreleg and the Opening-of-the-Mouth ritual, Egypt's healing establishment, and veterinary medicine as it relates to the origin of human medicine.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Gordon, Calvin Schwabe
• Publisher: Brill
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.11.2004
• EAN: 9789004123915
• ISBN: 978-90-04-12391-5
• No. of pages: 236
• Dimensions: 166 mm x 246 mm x 18 mm
• Weight: 744 g
• Series: Egyptological Memoirs
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity