Ancient Babylonian Medicine

This report will examine ancient Babylonian medicine. Under the Amorites, the "Golden Age of Babylonia" began roughly around two millennia B.C. Although this era was short-lived, the foundations of medical practice were developed. This discussion will include the geographical setting and culture, as these factors were central to the practice of medicine in ancient Babylonia--a practice which included elements of religion and magic.

The term, "Mesopotamia," is Greek for "the land between the rivers (Sigerist, 1955, p. 378)." This region comprises the geographic area between the Euphrates to the west and the Tigris in the east. Both rivers originate in the mountains of Turkey and flow southeast to the Persian Gulf. The course of the Tigris is shorter; whereas the Euphrateswhich carries more waterfollows a much more tortuous route. Near Baghdad, Iraq, the distance between the two rivers narrows. Then, upon subsequently separating again, the rivers merge at the Shatt elArab. This gives the region an hourglass shape, dividing it into Lower and Upper Mesopotamia. It was in Lower Mesopotamia, that Babylonian culture arose (Sigerist, 1955, p. 379).

Between about 10,000 to 4,000 B.C. humans advanced from food gatherers to food producers and mesolithic cultures were gradually succeeded by the beginnings of civilization. Perhaps one of the most important developments was the domestication of wheat and barley in the Near and Middle Eastan area which includes Mesopota

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ave ranged from tuberculosis to bubonic plague (Sigerist, 1955, p. 381). In addition, the people of ancient Mesopotamia probably had other medical problems in addition to disease (Magner, 1992, p. 19). For example, malnutritionwhich would occur during periods of faminemay have produced various forms of illness. Moreover, wars between the various tribes surely produced different types of wounds (Jayawardane, 1991, p. 117). Mesopotamian medicine was closely related to religion. Religion dominated Mesopotamia from the early Classical Sumerian Age to the New Babylonian empire. In fact, many Babylonian beliefs were actually taken from the Sumerians. The Lords of Heavens, Storm, Earth, and Water (i.e., Anu, Enlil, Nintu, and Enki) were all of Sumerian origin. Local deities such as Marduk, Ashur, and others, derived their authority through identification with these supreme cosmic lords. The Babylonians believed that these gods created "heaven and earth from chaos;" that they molded the human form from clay mixed with the flesh and blood of a deceased god (Sigerist, 1955, p. 410). The human purpose on earth was to serve the gods: "to carry the yoke and labor for them, to build habitations [e.g., temples] for them, to til

Category: History - A