Investigation into Dynamics of Ancient Egyptian Pharmacology: A Statistical Analysis of Papyrus Ebers and Cross-cultural Medical Thinking (BAR International Series)

"A study that investigates the validity of analysing the distribution pattern of materials in the Ebers Papyrus involves a range of discussion that often requires quite different areas of expertise such as Egyptian philology, ancient and traditional medicines, modern chemotherapeutic principles, medical history, medical anthropology and statistics as well as database design. The research sets out both the objectives of the investigation and the fundamental concepts of medicine that underpin study in the context of ancient Egyptian medicine. The work begins with an illustration of the current situation of the study of Egyptian medicine and this is followed by a discussion on the possibilities and effectiveness of the application of statistics as a method of future investigation in the analysis of Egyptian prescriptions. Certain key concepts derived from diverse principles of medicine known from different cultures are defined and approaches are made to the Egyptian medical texts to describe their contents and introduce suggested interpretations based on the medical perspectives that the author establishes."--Publisher's website. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Acknowledgement Table of Contents Abbreviations PART 1 Fundamentals CHAPTER 1 Statistical Approach into Ancient Egyptian Prescription CHAPTER 2 Medical Principles and Perspectives CHAPTER 3 Reading and Understanding Egyptian Medical Texts CHAPTER 4 Indication of Presence of Theories in Egyptian Medicine PART 2 Investigation CHAPTER 5 Papyrus Ebers as a Sample Body CHAPTER 6 Poly-pharmacological Perspective as a Device for Interpretation PART 3 Demonstration CHAPTER 7 A Statistical Analysis of the Ebers Papyrus Concluding Remarks Appendix: Materials identified as Egyptian materia medica Bibliography General Index Index of Citations of Medical Papyri This study presents a statistical analysis of the Egyptian medical text Papyrus Ebers, with the aim of identifying and analysing patterns in prescriptions. In this way the author is able to point to some of the principles and systems at work in Egyptian medicine, transcending the empirical-rational / magico-religious dichotomy