The art of medicine in ancient Egypt consisted of two branches—the higher, which was the theurgic part, and the lower, which was the art of the physician proper. The theurgic class devoted themselves to magic, counteracting charms by prayers, and to the interpretation of the dreams of the sick who had sought their aid in the temples. The inferior class were practitioners who simply used natural means in their profession as healers. Amongst the Egyptian Platonists, theurgy was an imaginary science, which is thus described by Murdock: “it was supposed to have been revealed to men by the gods themselves in very ancient times, and to have been handed down by the priests; [it was] also the ability, by means of certain acts, words, and symbols, to move the gods to impart secrets which surpass the powers of reason to lay open the future.” The higher physicians were priest-magicians, the lower class were priests who were called Pastophori; as Isis and the priests were connected with the healing art, the Pastophori were highly esteemed for their medical skill apart from magic. These officials were so called from the fact that they had to bear, in the ceremonies in the temples, the παστός, or sacred shawl, to raise it at appropriate times, and so discover the god in the adytum.[134] It was their duty to study the last six of the Hermetic books, as it was that of the higher grade to study the first thirty-six. Professor Ebers explained to Dr. Puschmann[135] that the Pastophori “constituted a class of priests who held by no means so low a rank as is attributed to them in historical works. The doctors were bound to maintain a spiritual character, and allowed themselves therefore to rank with the Pastophori, although the higher priestly dignities probably remained open to them. On the other hand, the Pastophori were by no means likewise doctors, as many think, but had as a body quite other functions, as their name indeed indicates. The relation of the Pastophori to the doctors was doubtless the same as that of the scholar to the cleric in the Christian middle ages; all scholars did not belong to the clergy, but at the same time all clergymen might be considered scholars.”