Pro tempore, No. 18, 2023.
Review article
They have burned his body like a glowing fire: medicine in Mesopotamia (Abstract)
Antonija Lapaš
Abstract
The subject of this paper is magico-medical healing in Mesopotamia, presented from several perspectives. After commenting on the sources, the paper analyzes the goddesses of healing and the causes of diseases that prevailed in the beliefs of the time. An overview of the usual division into three types of healers is then given, with a note that it is not always unquestionably applicable. The issues of the healers’ education, the ways they treated patients, the different kinds of medicinal preparations they used and the question whether they performed operations are discussed. Through the relevant articles of the Code of Hammurabi, it is proved that the payment of medical services varied with respect to the social position of the patient. The paper finally deals with diseases confirmed by osteological analyzes and written sources, including dental and mental diseases.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
316565
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2023.
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