Ancient Egyptian medicine: where science, magic, and religion intersect

Ancient Egyptians believed that the universe had been created in perfect order by the gods, and that balance, known as ma’at, governed every aspect of life.

They defined ma’at as the union of truth with a just, well‑ordered world, and physicians applied it to diagnosis by viewing illness as a disruption of order within a person’s "internal channels” (metu).

As such, health depended on maintaining that order, both in the body and in society.

The Nile’s annual flood, which brought fertility to the land, provided a natural model for bodily well-being, with the body’s channels of blood and air imagined as rivers that needed to flow without obstruction.

The heart (ib) was at the centre of thought and sensation, and texts described vessels running from the heart to every limb.

The gods held authority over health and disease, and each one had particular associations with healing.

Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess, could bring disease as punishment but also cure it when properly appeased.

Thoth, the god of wisdom, protected medical knowledge, while Isis had strong associations with magical healing.

In households and childbirth, people looked to Bes and Taweret for protection and relief from harm.

Priests of these deities acted as go-betweens, and they invoked their power during treatments. 

Therefore, Egyptians linked the human body to elements of the natural and supernatural worlds.

Across roughly 3000–332 BC, medical thought retained a clear continuity that treated the metu as pathways for air, blood, and other vital substances.

Illness could arise from spiritual forces such as curses or from physical causes like injury or infection.

Practitioners sometimes explained pain and infection as wekhedu, a harmful substance or decay that disturbed the body’s balance, and they aimed to restore balance through remedies and ritual. 

The main sources of ancient Egyptian medical knowledge come from papyri that date between the Old Kingdom and the Late Period, with some copies preserving even older traditions.

For example, the Ebers Papyrus, which dates to around 1550 BC, contains more than 700 prescriptions across a roll nearly twenty metres long for conditions that ranged from skin diseases to digestive complaints, and it includes ideas about the heart and its vessels.

The Edwin Smith Papyrus, probably compiled in the seventeenth century BC, focuses on forty-eight surgical and trauma cases arranged from head to toe and offers statements about the likely outcome that tell the practitioner whether to treat, to manage, or not to treat.

Also, the Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus, written around 1825 BC, addresses fertility, contraception, and pregnancy diagnosis with step-by-step procedures.

In addition, archaeological evidence from mummified remains show signs of arthritis, dental abscesses, fractures, and infections caused by parasites.

Investigations have also identified atherosclerosis in some individuals, schistosomiasis eggs in tissues, and traces of malaria in bodies from both royal and non-royal burials.

A working prosthetic big toe from Thebes, dated to the first millennium BC, also demonstrates wear from regular use and shows us that the Egyptians had practical responses to disability.

Inscriptions on temple walls and tombs sometimes mention a deceased person’s role as a physician or healer, which provide names and titles that linked medical practice to official positions in Egyptian society.

Ostraca from Deir el-Medina record absences due to sickness and occasional visits from doctors, which show how medicine worked within an organised work community. 

Finally, many museums and excavations have also uncovered medical instruments such as bronze scalpels, forceps, and probes.

These tools are known from archaeological finds and temple depictions (for example, at Kom Ombo), which show that healing took place in both secular and sacred settings. 

Infectious diseases were common due to Egypt’s climate and environment.

We have already mentioned that malaria and bilharzia (schistosomiasis) have been discovered in mummy studies, while eye diseases such as ophthalmia and trachoma are well attested in Egyptian texts and later medical histories.

They were especially likely among people who lived and worked near canals and marshes.

Dental problems affected nearly every class of society, caused by a diet heavy in bread made from stone-ground flour that contained quartz and other grit that wore teeth down and triggered periapical infection.

Injuries from labour, agriculture, and military service required treatments for fractures, cuts, and sprains.

Soldiers suffered from trauma related to archery, close combat, and chariot work, and quarrying and construction added further strains.

Wounds could easily become infected, so healing methods often included both antiseptic substances and magical incantations to prevent further harm.

Stomach complaints, caused by parasites or spoiled food, were another common problem. 

Childbirth carried serious risks for women, and complications during delivery often led to death.

Surviving records include remedies that could induce labour, ease pain, and aid recovery after delivery, and the Kahun papyrus sets out gynaecological procedures that matched practical concerns.

Women sometimes gave birth on specially prepared bricks, and families looked to Taweret and Bes to guard mother and child during labour and recovery.

The high frequency of infant burials shows the difficulty of combating childhood diseases in a medical system before modern times. 

The Egyptian term for a doctor, swnw, appears in inscriptions from the Old Kingdom onwards, and people also consulted sau, who specialised in protective magic, and wab-priests who maintained ritual purity in temple settings.

Some doctors specialised in particular areas, such as swnw iry-ib (doctor of the heart) or swnw iry-irt (doctor of the eyes).

This specialisation suggests a level of professional organisation that Greek observers like Herodotus later noticed.

Royal physicians treated members of the court and travelled on diplomatic missions to other lands.

Records from the New Kingdom mention Egyptian doctors working in foreign courts, which indicate that their skills were valued internationally, and letters from the Amarna period mention requests for medical practitioners.

Temple physicians combined medical treatment with religious duties, and they often focused on healing rituals linked to that deity’s worship. 

Training likely took place in formal schools, possibly associated with temple libraries known as the “Houses of Life” (Per-Ankh).

Students learned through the copying of medical papyri, through observation of experienced physicians, and through hands-on practice with patients.

Knowledge was passed down through on-the-job training as well as written records, and tomb inscriptions name figures such as Hesy-Ra, “Chief of Dentists and Physicians,” and Peseshet, often interpreted as “overseer of women (possibly of female physicians)”.

In particular, Imhotep, vizier to Djoser, gained fame as an architect and scholar and later became a healing god, which showed how medical learning could cross into cult practice. 

Egyptian remedies often used plant-based ingredients, minerals, and animal products.

Honey was used as both a sweetener and an antiseptic, applied to wounds to prevent infection.

Garlic and onions were prescribed for digestive issues and respiratory problems.

Willow and myrtle preparations (sources of salicin-type compounds) were used for pain relief.

Scribes measured ingredients in units such as the hin and the hekat to give consistent quantities.

Minerals such as natron entered ointments, and copper compounds and malachite appeared in cleansing and skin preparations for their perceived healing properties.

Meanwhile, animal fats were used as bases for ointments and salves, while milk and eggs featured in several prescriptions.

Physicians also gave castor oil as a laxative, senna and colocynth as strong laxatives, and sleep aids made from mandrake and, possibly, blue lotus (althought this is a point of ongoing debate).

Some prescriptions mixed acacia and honey into pessaries for contraceptive effect.

Bread or yeast poultices and honey treated wounds, and later writers have suggested that mold growth on such mixtures could have provided antimicrobial effects.

Eye paints like kohl reduced glare and likely deterred infection through mild germ-fighting action. 

Surgical practices included cleaning wounds, applying bandages, and splinting broken bones.

The Edwin Smith Papyrus demonstrates an understanding of clinical observation, with clear instructions for diagnosis and treatment that guided the practitioner through examination, immobilisation, and dressing (often with honey and oils, and wine is common in other prescriptions).

Its triage formulae direct the healer to declare, “You shall say concerning him: ‘An ailment which I will treat; an ailment with which I will contend; an ailment not to be treated.’”

However, surgery remained limited by the absence of anaesthetics and the risk of infection, so most procedures remained external rather than invasive, and texts do not describe internal operations. 

Magic was a surprisingly integral part of Egyptian healing, because no clear division existed between spiritual and physical treatment.

Illness could be caused by harmful spirits, curses, or the anger of a deity, so curing it often required both practical remedies and protective spells.

Physicians recited incantations as they applied medicines, and many texts opened a remedy with the formula “Words to be said,” which joined the two processes into one act.

What is more, amulets offered protection from harm and often accompanied illness or recovery.

The Eye of Horus was one of the most common symbols, linked to health and protection, and people also wore djed pillars for stability and used ivory protective wands and uterine amulets in household rites.

Statues of healing gods, placed near the sick, were believed to help drive away harmful forces. 

Finally, religious rituals for healing could involve offerings at temples, pilgrimages to sacred sites, or participation in ceremonies dedicated to a particular god or goddess.

Patients sometimes slept in temple areas at places such as Dendera and Deir el-Bahri in the hope that they would receive divine dreams that revealed a cure.

Priests interpreted these dreams and prescribed actions accordingly, and sanctuaries distributed “sacred water” drawn from basins that had flowed over texts carved with protective spells, as with Horus cippi and other healing stelae.