![]() But unlike our medical records, the Egyptians had to make many duplicate copies by hand – can you imagine – no keyboard, no typewriter and a dictaphone would have been out of the question. It’s almost like an ancient form of hard drive or cloud storage. The hot Egyptian climate has been excellent in preserving these medical records. Like in Mesopotamia, much of their medicine was still linked to magic, astrology and astronomy. And whilst x-ray reports are likely to be missing from these records, the odd diagram might have been used. Egyptian records reveal that medicine was being practised in its many forms, from surgery to general medicine and even dentistry, more than 4000 years ago. Medical information was transcribed on scrolls of papyrus, a material that was made from a water plant. Scribes were considered to be highly educated.Įgyptian scribes were the forerunner to our modern day transcriptionists. The ancient Egyptians were meticulous recorders of their history and they had thousands of scribes to record it. So patient privacy may have been thought of differently back then. Most of the remaining records are housed in the British Museum. Unlike modern day records, many of these Mesopotamian records also included information about spells, astrology and astronomy. It’s clear from these records that their purpose was to document the patient’s history, just like today. Even at such a distant time in history, these civilisations understood the importance of medical records, however they were wise enough not to try to match their procedures to Medicare provider numbers, or even the ICD-5000BC codes!Īrchaeologists have dug up thousands of records in the form of clay tablets (baked in fire) written in cuneiform (one of the oldest writing styles, and you might be forgiven for thinking that some modern doctors still write in cuneiform!). It was in this region that rich civilisations flourished, including the Sumerians and the Babylonians, who ruled mighty empires more than 5000 years ago. Ancient scribes or transcriptionists probably never thought they were recording history but then who does when they are trying to decipher what the doctor writes or says! So read on to discover the fascinating history behind some of the earliest medical accounts recorded… with probably the odd typo! Medical Records in MesopotamiaĪncient Mesopotamia was made up of various modern countries, including Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria and Turkey. Just as today medical records are our only evidence that a medical procedure or attempted cure has taken place, ancient stone tablets (which are unlikely to be heading for the electronic in tray of a health insurer) are our first evidence of the discipline of medicine. The ancient Egyptians made ink by grinding brightly coloured minerals into powder, then mixing the powder with liquid so that it was easier to apply.Medical records have a surprisingly long and illustrious history, stretching back to ancient civilisations like those in Egypt, Greece and Rome. ![]() Scribes usually wrote on papyrus with reed brushes dipped in ink. It could take four to five years for a person to go through scribe school. Although some craftsmen were able to get their sons into the school for scribes, it was very rare. Most often it was the children of scribes who became scribes. Limestone flake used for practising hieroglyphic signs. Students spent a lot of time practising the signs by copying them onto sheets of papyrus, old pieces of pottery or flakes of limestone. These scripts are complicated, and there were many signs to learn. At this school you would learn how to read and write hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts. To become a scribe, you had to attend a special school for scribes. These women would have been trained as scribes so that they could read medical texts. Scribes were people in ancient Egypt (usually men) who learned to read and write.Īlthough experts believe that most scribes were men, there is evidence of some female doctors. Only one group of people called scribes was allowed to have this knowledge. Not everyone learned to read and write in ancient Egypt.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |