Ancient Babylonian Medicine

Ancient Babylonian Medicine PDF

Author: Markham J. Geller

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2015-07-21

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1119062543

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Utilizing a great variety of previously unknown cuneiform tablets,Ancient Babylonian Medicine: Theory and Practice examinesthe way medicine was practiced by various Babylonian professionalsof the 2nd and 1st millennium B.C. Represents the first overview of Babylonian medicine utilizingcuneiform sources, including archives of court letters, medicalrecipes, and commentaries written by ancient scholars Attempts to reconcile the ways in which medicine and magic wererelated Assigns authorship to various types of medical literature thatwere previously considered anonymous Rejects the approach of other scholars that have attempted toapply modern diagnostic methods to ancient illnesses

Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine

Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine PDF

Author: Jo Ann Scurlock

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2010-10-01

Total Pages: 916

ISBN-13: 0252092384

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To date, the pathbreaking medical contributions of the early Mesopotamians have been only vaguely understood. Due to the combined problems of an extinct language, gaps in the archeological record, the complexities of pharmacy and medicine, and the dispersion of ancient tablets throughout the museums of the world, it has been nearly impossible to get a clear and comprehensive view of what medicine was really like in ancient Mesopotamia. The collaboration of medical expert Burton R. Andersen and cuneiformist JoAnn Scurlock makes it finally possible to survey this collected corpus and discern magic from experimental medicine in Ashur, Babylon, and Nineveh. Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine is the first systematic study of all the available texts, which together reveal a level of medical knowledge not matched again until the nineteenth century A.D. Over the course of a millennium, these nations were able to develop tests, prepare drugs, and encourage public sanitation. Their careful observation and recording of data resulted in a description of symptoms so precise as to enable modern identification of numerous diseases and afflictions.

Melothesia in Babylonia

Melothesia in Babylonia PDF

Author: Markham Judah Geller

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2014-11-10

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 1614516936

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This monograph begins with a puzzle: a Babylonian text from late 5th century BCE Uruk associating various diseases with bodily organs, which has evaded interpretation. The correct answer may reside in Babylonian astrology, since the development of the zodiac in the late 5th century BCE offered innovative approaches to the healing arts. The zodiac—a means of predicting the movements of heavenly bodies—transformed older divination (such as hemerologies listing lucky and unlucky days) and introduced more favorable magical techniques and medical prescriptions, which are comparable to those found in Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos and non-Hippocratic Greek medicine. Babylonian melothesia (i.e., the science of charting how zodiacal signs affect the human body) offers the most likely solution explaining the Uruk tablet.

The Healing Goddess Gula

The Healing Goddess Gula PDF

Author: Barbara Böck

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 900426146X

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Providing a comprehensive examination of the traits and areas of authority Ancient Babylonians attributed to their healing goddess, this book draws on a wide range of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform sources, including god lists, literary compositions, lexical lists, prognostic texts, incantations, and prescriptions. Analysing the use of selected metaphors associated with the goddess, a new perspective is offered on the explanation for disease as well as the motivation for particular treatments. Special chapters deal with the cuneiform handbook on prognosis and diagnosis of diseases, medical incantations appealing to the healing goddess, and the medicinal plants attributed to her. For the first time a body of evidence for the use of simple drugs is brought together, elaborating on specific plant profiles. The result is a volume that challenges many long-held assumptions concerning the specialized cuneiform medical literature and takes a fresh look on the nature of Ancient Babylonian healing.

Disease in Babylonia

Disease in Babylonia PDF

Author: Irving L. Finkel

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 9004124012

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The present collection of articles on disease in Babylonia is the first such volume to appear providing detailed information derived from published and unpublished medical texts in cuneiform script from the second and first millennia BC.

Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues

Assyrian and Babylonian Scholarly Text Catalogues PDF

Author: Ulrike Steinert

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-06-11

Total Pages: 750

ISBN-13: 1501504878

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The reconstruction of ancient Mesopotamian medical, ritual and omen compendia and their complex history is still characterised by many difficulties, debates and gaps due to fragmentary or unpublished evidence. This book offers the first complete edition of the Assur Medical Catalogue, an 8th or 7th century BCE list of therapeutic texts, which forms a core witness for the serialisation of medical compendia in the 1st millennium BCE. The volume presents detailed analyses of this and several other related catalogues of omen series and rituals, constituting the corpora of divination and healing disciplines. The contributions discuss links between catalogues and textual sources, providing new insights into the development of compendia between serialization, standardization and diversity of local traditions. Though its a novel corpus-based approach, this volume revolutionizes the current understanding of Mesopotamian medical texts and the healing disciplines of "conjurer" and "physician". The research presented here allows one to identify core text corpora for these disciplines, as well as areas of exchange and borrowings between them.

Sourcebook for Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine

Sourcebook for Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine PDF

Author: JoAnn Scurlock

Publisher: Society of Biblical Lit

Published: 2014-07-11

Total Pages: 785

ISBN-13: 1589839714

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!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" html meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="content-type" body An introductory guide for scholars and students of the ancient Near East and the history of medicine In this collection JoAnn Scurlock assembles and translates medical texts that provided instructions for ancient doctors and pharmacists. Scurlock unpacks the difficult, technical vocabulary that describes signs and symptoms as well as procedures and plants used in treatments. This fascinating material shines light on the development of medicine in the ancient Near East, yet these tablets were essentially inaccessible to anyone without an expertise in cuneiform. Scurlock’s work fills this gap by providing a key resource for teaching and research. Features: Accessible translations and transliterations for both specialists and non-specialists Texts include a range of historical periods and regions Therapeutic, pharmacological, and diagnostic texts

The Healing Goddess Gula

The Healing Goddess Gula PDF

Author: Barbara Bock

Publisher: Brill Academic Pub

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 9789004261457

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Providing a comprehensive study of the ancient Babylonian healing goddess, this book employs a range of Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform sources. The resulting volume challenges many long-held assumptions concerning the specialised medical literature and addresses the nature of healing in ancient Mesopotamia.