With reference to the teeth, it is interesting to observe that some of the dental work found in opening mummies is equal to our own.
Sir J. Wilkinson says[137] that the embalmers were probably members of the medical profession as well as of the class of priests. Pliny states that, during this process, certain examinations took place, which enabled them to study the disease of which the patient had died. They appear to have been made in compliance with an order from the government,[138] as he says the kings of Egypt had the bodies opened after death to ascertain the nature of their diseases, by which means alone the remedy for phthisical complaints was discovered. Indeed, it is reasonable to suppose that a people so advanced as were the Egyptians in knowledge of all kinds, and whose medical art was so systematically arranged that they had regulated it by some of the very same laws followed by the most enlightened and skilful nations of the present day, would not have omitted so useful an inquiry, or have failed to avail themselves of the means which the process adopted for embalming the body placed at their disposal. And nothing can more clearly prove their advancement in the study of human diseases than the fact of their assigning to each his own peculiar branch, under the different heads of oculists, dentists, those who cured diseases in the head, those who confined themselves to intestinal complaints, and those who attended to secret and internal maladies. They must have possessed an intimate knowledge of drugs, to have enabled them to select those of an antiseptic character suitable for the preservation of the mummies. That their practical knowledge of anatomy must have been considerable is proved by the skill with which they removed the more perishable parts of the body in the process of embalming. The embalmers, says Ebers, were all enrolled in a guild which existed down to Roman times, as is shown in various Greek papyri.
In the wall-cases 30-33 in the upper floor of the second Egyptian room of the British Museum, there is a set of Canopic jars which held the intestines of the human body, which were always embalmed separately. They were placed near the bier and were four in number, each one being dedicated to one of the four children of Horus, the genii of the dead. The stomach and large intestines were dedicated to Amset, the smaller intestines to Hâpi, the lungs and heart to Tuamâvtef, and the liver and gall-bladder to Kebhsenuf. Poor people had to be content with mere models of these vases.[139]
The dissectors were the paraschistes, who cut open as much of the body as the law permitted with an Ethiopian stone. As soon as one of them had made the requisite incision he had to fly, pursued by those present, who cursed him bitterly, and flung stones at him. It was considered hateful to inflict any wound on a human body; and however necessary the act might be, the agent incurred the greatest odium.
The Egyptian doctors knew very little of anatomy as a science; they were, however, acquainted with the fact that the blood-vessels had their origin from the heart, and that the blood was distributed to the body from that organ. There is an interesting treatise on the heart in the Papyrus Ebers. In another medical papyrus we find the following anatomical details concerning the blood-vessels:—
“The head of man has thirty-two vessels; they carry the breath to his heart; they give inspiration to all his members. There are two vessels to the breasts; they give warmth to the lungs—for healing them, one must make a remedy of flour of fresh wheat, herb haka, and sycamore teput—make a decoction and let the patient drink it; she will be well. There are two vessels to the legs. If any one has a disease of the legs, if his arms are without strength, it is because the secret vessel of the leg has taken the malady,—a remedy must be made.... There are two vessels to the arms; if a man’s arm is suffering, if he has pains in his fingers, say that this is a case of shooting pains.... There are two vessels of the occiput, two of the sinciput, two of the interior, two of the eyelids, two of the nostrils, and two of the left ear. The breath of life enters by them. There are two vessels of the right ear; the breath enters by them.”
It is uncertain whether by the term vessels the Egyptians understand the arteries, the veins, the nerves, or some imaginary conduits.[140]
The ancient Egyptians were zealous students of medicine; yet, as Dr. Ebers tells us, they also thought that the efficacy of the treatment was enhanced by magic formulæ. The prescriptions in the famous Ebers Papyrus are accompanied by forms of exorcism to be used at the same time; “and yet many portions of this work,” says Ebers, “give evidence of the advanced knowledge of its authors.”[141]
Origen says[142] that the Egyptians believed there were thirty-six demons, or thirty-six gods of the air, who shared amongst them the body of man, which is divided into as many parts. He adds that the Egyptians knew the names of those demons, and believed that if they invoked the proper demon of the affected part they would be cured. Magic and sorcery were arts which were forbidden to the laity.
Many magical rites and animistic customs connected with the Egyptian religion closely resemble those which prevail over the whole continent of Africa. The basis of the Egyptian religion is supposed by some authorities to be of a purely Nigritian character; on which has been superimposed certain elevated characteristics due to Asiatic settlers and conquerors. The worship of the negroes proper is simply fetishism combined with tree and animal worship and a strong belief in sorcery.