I-em-hotep and Ancient Egyptian medicine: II. Prevention of valvular disease: The Harveian Oration delivered before the Royal college of physicians on June 21, 1904Caton, Richard
History
I-em-hotep and Ancient Egyptian medicine: II. Prevention of valvular disease: The Harveian Oration delivered before the Royal college of physicians on June 21, 1904
Caton, Richard
Heart valves -- Diseases; Medicine, Egyptian
From the testimony of temple inscriptions and papyri, as well as from
the writings of Manetho, it is clear that the cult of the medicine-god
I-em-hotep was established first in early times at Memphis. In, or
adjacent to, some temple—perhaps that of Ra—I-em-hotep and his assistant
priests gave advice and medical aid to multitudes of the sick and
ailing. It is evident that he gained great renown for his skill and
learning. When at length he died he was buried in or near the temple.
The priests whom he had taught continued there the work of healing,
always in association with his name. Just as the Greeks came to
Epidaurus to be healed by Asklepios, so did the Egyptians, many
centuries earlier, visit Memphis to seek help from I-em-hotep. It seems
probable that in course of time the temple formerly dedicated to some
well-known Egyptian god ceased to be known by his name, and in popular
speech became the house of I-em-hotep. There is the clearest evidence of
the existence of an important temple in later times dedicated to
I-em-hotep at Memphis.
A hieroglyphic inscription describes I-em-hotep appearing in a vision to
the high priest of Memphis, and addressing him thus:—‘I desire that a
great building be erected in the holy place at Anche-tewej (a part of
Memphis), where my body is hidden, for building it I will give thee the
reward of a son.’[5] We know this temple was built. Later again, similar
temples were erected elsewhere; doubtless priest physicians were
transferred from Memphis to new centres, just as to Greece and Magna
Graecia Epidaurus sent forth trained priests to establish Asklepieia at
Athens, Cos, or Pergamos.
As the centuries and millenniums passed on the cult of I-em-hotep seems
to have become more and more popular. In later times, when Greek
colonists appeared in Egypt, they gave him the name Imouthes, and
applied to his temples the Greek term ‘Asklepieia,’ clearly regarding
him as alike in kind to the Greek Asklepios and his temples as hospitals
for the sick. The following phrase occurs in the Serapeum Greek
papyrus:—
‘τὸ πρὸς Μέµφιν µέγα Ἀσκληπιείον’[6]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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