“Beginning of the book about the treatment of the uxedu in all the members of a person, such as was found in a writing under the feet of the God Anubis, in the city of Letopolis; it was brought to His Majesty Usaphais, King of Upper and Lower Egypt.” Now, as Joachim remarks, the Usaphais herein named was the fifth king of the first Egyptian dynasty, and he reigned toward 3700 before the Christian era. Hence, it may be argued that some, at least, of the writings from which the Ebers’ papyrus was taken were composed in the very remote epoch to which we have just alluded, or perhaps still farther, for it is impossible to know whether the book, deposited by unknown hands at the foot of the statue of the God Anubis, had been written but a short time previous or at a much earlier epoch.
Part of Ebers’ papyrus in Egyptian hieratic characters containing eleven dental prescriptions.
Dental and gingival maladies are in no way neglected in the Ebers’ papyrus. At page 72, a remedy is prescribed “against the throbbing of the bennut blister in the teeth,” then two other remedies “to cure the bennut blisters in the teeth and to strengthen the flesh (gum).”
It is somewhat difficult to say what is meant by bennut blisters; but perhaps it means small, gingival abscesses of dental origin. The first of the above remedies—probably meant to calm the pricking or throbbing pain that, in such cases, often accompanies the dental malady—consisted of:
| “Seps-grains | Part 1 |
| Dough | ” 1 |
| Honey | ” 1 |
| Oil | ” 1 |
| To be applied on the part as a plaster.” | |
The other two remedies, very likely intended for the cure of dental fistulæ, were to be used as masticatories. The first consists of:
| “Fennel seeds | Part 1 |
| Dough | ” 1 |
| Anest-plant | ” 1 |
| Honey | ” 1 |
| Incense | ” 1 |
| Water | ” 1” |