Plain talk

By Mursi Saad El-Din

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The writer I am presenting, while a medical doctor, is also an Egyptologist: Dr Jamieson B Hurry. No wonder he is a medical doctor since his book is about Imhotep, the Vizier and Physician of King Zoser, the builder of the step pyramid at Saqqara. Imhotep was later regarded as the Egyptian god of medicine. Imhotep was a vizier, an engineer, a magician, a writer, an astronomer, a physician and a high priest. He was the architect who devised and executed the step pyramid.

In his introduction Dr Hurry says that Imhotep deserves the highest regard and should be looked upon by all physicians of the world as the genius who initiated the art of medicine. He is the symbolic God of the science of curing and his name, says, Dr Hurry, should be carved at the head of our saints and his image should become the symbol of our profession.

Then he adds that "it is better to have at the top of our profession a man of flesh and blood, a famous many-sided personality, instead of a mysterious personality which belongs to the world of mythology. We know nothing about Asklepios and his achievements, while the legacy of Imhotep has survived in the form of a great architectural chef d'oeuvre known as the step pyramid of Saqqara, the many statues and murals which bear witness to the fact that he had spent his life both in public service and in the treatment of the sick and the alleviation of the sufferings of humanity."

Imhotep's philosophy was to live life fully, and the thought of death should be only an incentive to enjoy it. Imhotep expressed this in a famous poem called "The Flute Player". Here is a very free translation of some lines:

"Live your life happily

So that your heart can forget

Your doom, where man

Will carry you to your last abode

Seek pleasure and contentment

So long as you live

Sprinkle your hair with perfume

And wear the fine linen

And enjoy the real pleasures

Bestowed upon us by the God."

Imhotep was known to have cured many patients suffering from incurable diseases. There is the story of a woman who was suffering from a serious illness who was advised to go to Imhotep's Temple. During her sleep she dreamt of Imhotep who gave her some simple medicine and the following morning she woke up completely cured.

There is also the story of Satmi Khamuas the son of a Pharaoh who had no son born by his wife Mahituaskhit. It seems that as far back as Pharaonic times fathers wanted sons and not daughters. Seeing her husband's sorrow over this, Mahituaskhit went to Imhotep's Temple and prayed and pleaded to him for a son. Imhotep is supposed to have come to her in her dream and answered her that she would beget a son if she took the roots of a certain plant. She did and eventually she bore her husband a son.

Dr Hurry goes on to mention the medical books written by Imhotep and later by other physicians. There are what he calls the medical papyrus which contain the formulas of certain medicines, the description of certain diseases and their cure. Many Egyptian medicines are included in Dioscoredus' famous book Malaria Medica. Ancient Egyptians invented what is now known as natural medicine. Ancient Egyptian pharmacology, says Dr Hurry, was the root of Greek, Roman, Arab, Persian and European medicaments. The ancient Egyptians were also the first to know anatomy, physiology and clinical medicine, among other medical achievements.