![]() The physician, of both types but primarily the asu, also made use of beds. I carry around texts which bring recovery, I gird myself with the leather bag containing health-giving incantations, I carry around all healing herbs, I drive away disease, Both types of healers would have accepted the supernatural source for illness, however, and the asu should not be considered more 'modern' than the asipu. The significant difference between the two types was that the asipu relied more explicitly on supernatural incantations and prayers, while the asu dealt more directly with the physical through balms and herbal medicines. In fact, the two types of healers seem to have had equal legitimacy, to judge from such phrases as, 'if neither medicine nor magic brings about a cure', which occur a number of times in the medical texts. There is no hint in the ancient texts that one approach was more legitimate than the other. Although modern-day scholarship sometimes refers to the asipu as a 'witch doctor' and the asu as a 'medical practitioner', the Mesopotamians regarded the two with equal respect. It is possible that the asipu could have recited prayers to the gods or chants to ward off demons (most notably the demon Lamashtu who killed or carried off infants) or that the asu could have eased labor pains with herbs but not assisted with the actual birth, which was handled by a midwife.Ī pregnant woman, and one who was in labor, wore special amulets to protect her unborn child from Lamashtu and to invoke the demon Pazuzu who served as a protective entity in the same way that Pazuzu could harm, so could he also protect, and he features frequently in the incantations of the asipu. Dentistry was practiced by both kinds of doctors, and both may have also presided at births, although their role is unclear in this. There were also surgeons (who seem to have come from either of these medical backgrounds) and veterinarians (who also could be either asu or asipu). the asipu (a healer who relied upon what one would call 'magic').the asu (a medical doctor who treated illness or injury empirically).There were two primary types of doctors throughout Mesopotamia's history: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin (Copyright) The Asu & Asipu ![]() The medical profession was well-established in ancient Mesopotamia by the Old Babylonian Period (2000-1600 BCE). While this custom may have been observed in parts of Mesopotamia in Herodotus' time, it certainly was not for most of Mesopotamian history, and it is likely that Herodotus was relaying secondhand information. They tell him what remedy they found effective in their own case, or what they saw working in someone else's case, which enabled them to recover from a similar illness. 484-425/413 BCE) in his Histories:īecause they do not consult doctors, when someone is ill, they carry him to the main square, where anyone who has personal experience of something similar to what the ill person is suffering from, or who knows someone else who has, comes up to him and offers him advice and suggestions about his illness. ![]() Prior to the 19th-century discovery of ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions like those found at Nineveh and Mari, scholars believed that the Mesopotamians had no doctors at all because of the account given by the Greek historian Herodotus (l. 668-627 BCE) make it clear, however, that doctors had an impressive amount of medical knowledge and applied this regularly in caring for their patients and appeasing the gods and the spirits of the dead. ![]() Medical texts from the Library of Ashurbanipal (r. Especially likely to return to trouble the living were ghosts of persons who died unnatural deaths or who were not properly buried – for example, death by drowning or death on a battlefield. The dead – especially dead relatives – might also trouble the living, particularly if family obligations to supply offerings to the dead were neglected. To further complicate the situation, one also had to consider that it was not the gods causing a problem but, instead, a ghost whom the gods allowed to cause the trouble to rectify some wrong. Even if one god intended only the best for the sick person, another god could have been offended and would refuse to be placated, no matter what offerings were made. ![]() Even so, it was entirely possible for a sick person to do everything right, and for the doctors to perform every incantation correctly and apply the proper medicines, and yet the patient would still die. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |