Pharaonic Egypt knew
diseases and epidemics.
We learned about these diseases from several sources. The study of mummies and human remains provided us with many information about the diseases that the mummy owners suffered, the food they used to eat, the lineages, the causes of death, and others. Ancient Egyptian art depicted some scenes that express the healing of the sick, and were rare. However, the
most important information about diseases came to us from papyri written in the hieroglyphic line or the hieratic line.
We knew some diseases, such as eye diseases that were widespread, and occupied a prominent place in the medical papyri; this was natural in the atmosphere of Egypt known for the presence of sand and dust coming from the desert, but it was not depicted in art. There are scenes of Aref, the fugitive, in the tombs of the Pharaohs, which may have been an artistic artifice to depict those who know the singing with their eyes closed, not because they are blind in reality. There were also diseases caused by scorpion and snake bites that were widespread, as well as a prominent place in the medical papyri, and they were occurring as a result of Egypt's presence in the vast desert, and there are what we call in Egyptology as the "Horus magic paintings" that spread in the first millennium before the birth of Christ, peace be upon him, and the purpose of these paintings was to provide protection for their owners against the threats and evils of s
and snakes. There were diseases of the human internal organs, but they
were difficult to detect even in well-preserved mummies. However, there are some diseases that have been discovered inside human organs, such as kidney stones, some of which were found through examination after the remains of mummies. Tuberculosis was known and several cases were found that affected tuberculosis of the spine in human remnants. Some individuals with convex back were photographed, but this matter may have been due to a disease other than spinal tuberculosis, or to poor technical imaging. Some cases of poliomyelitis were also known in ancient Egypt. A picture from the Amarna era depicted a man named "Ra with" with a lean leg and resting on a stick. This is the basic evidence of polio, and the deformities in King Sabbah's mummy from family 19 may return to the same disease. Parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis, guinea worm, roundworm and tapeworm were also found
There are some diseases that did not leave any trace even in well-preserved objects, and some did not find a name for it in the ancient Egyptian vocabulary, which caused us a gap in our knowledge of these diseases. Leprosy was unknown and its first cases were recorded in a Christian burial in Nubia in the sixth century AD. The plague may be the disease called in the healing Egyptian papyri "Ta Net Amo", that is, "the Asian disease", but this is not certain, and we do not know why the disease was attributed to Asia. Some written sources mention "Renbt Iyadat", which is the "Year of the Epidemic" associated with the goddess Sekhmet, the goddess who personified divine anger. Papyri from the Roman era refer to the measures taken by the temple priest, Priest Sekhmet, to examine meat and livestock, and to protect against infection. The history of diseases and epidemics in Pharaonic Egypt is very exciting, as is every issue of the great Egyptian civilization.
