MARKHAM J. GELLER. Ancient Babylonian medicine: theory and practice. xii+222 pages, 20 illustrations. 2010. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell; 978-1-4051-2652-6 hardback £70.
MARKHAM J. GELLER. Ancient Babylonian medicine: theory and practice. xii+222 pages, 20 illustrations. 2010. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell; 978-1-4051-2652-6 hardback £70.
Review by Rosalie David
KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester, UK
(Email: rosalie.david@manchester.ac.uk)
Written by a noted Assyriologist, this book provides a detailed introduction to Babylonian medicine. The survival of thousands of cuneiform tablets has ensured that life in Mesopotamia over three millennia is better documented than in any other ancient society. Within this context, magical and medical literature provides a wealth of evidence about healing practices and practitioners, and Geller draws on extant cuneiform tablets as the basis for his discussion of the medical system.
In Chapter 1, 'Medicine as science', Geller compares the Babylonian contribution to medicine with the 'scientific thinking' of the Greeks. Although the Babylonian approach was pragmatic and practical, he argues that a lack of philosophical treatises does not necessarily mean that Babylonian schools and scribes did not pursue philosophical arguments — indeed, he suggests that their complicated medical system probably could not have functioned without some theoretical approach. This chapter also considers scientific training methods, materia medica, the use of pharmacy-based treatments rather than surgery, medical predictions associated with astrology, medical prescriptions, the recognition and treatment of psychosomatic illness, and the use of divination.
Chapter 2, 'Who did what to whom?', explores the relationship between two types of healer — the exorcist, a priest who used magic to exterminate malevolent causes of illness such as demons, angry gods or witchcraft; and the physician whose role, as a layman with no access to the temple, focused on the preparation of drugs and prescriptions. Possible reasons for the virtual disappearance of the physician from the records after the Persian conquest of Babylonia (539 BC) are discussed in Chapter 5, 'Medicine and philosophy'.
Next, Geller analyses how medicine fits into a political and social context. In Chapter 3, 'The Politics of medicine', he surveys the healers' relationship with the state and with the patient, drawing on letters in an archive from the Kingdom of Mari in Syria (eighteenth century BC) which provide the earliest extant references to meetings between doctors and patients. Another source — a group of Middle Babylonian letters from Nippur (c. fifteenth century BC), possibly from a palace archive — describe patients' illnesses and the clearly defined roles of the exorcists and physicians. Further insight into the practice of medicine and magic in everyday life is provided by letters written by Assyrian and Babylonian experts at the Assyrian Court (681–c. 630 BC).
'Medicine as literature' (Chapter 4) considers medical/magical texts within the context of Mesopotamian literature. Three main types of medical literature are discussed: prognostic omens as presented in The Diagnostic Handbook; lists of botanical and mineral ingredients found in prescriptions; and the therapeutic texts which combine recipes, lists of ingredients and medical incantations, recited alongside the medical rituals to impress the patient. Geller also describes how, by combining prose (the recipes) and poetry (incantations), the therapeutic texts sought to ensure that the practitioner had access to the gods and their healing powers.
This chapter also considers similarities and differences between Hippocratic and Babylonian medicine. Hippocrates' role in breaking with earlier medical traditions is discussed further in Chapter 5, 'Medicine and philosophy'. The Babylonian system relied on prescriptions individually designed for each patient and affliction, while the Hippocratic method offered a more generic approach. Two important innovations in Babylonian medicine are described: the development of astral medicine, based on the performance of healing rituals at times designated as propitious by the zodiac; and the revolutionary concept that external symptoms were actually manifestations of diseases originating in particular internal bodily organs rather than the result of divine or demonic attack.
Chapter 6, 'Medical training: MD or PhD?', looks at the somewhat scanty evidence relating to schools, medical training, and career progression. In Chapter 7, the Uruk Medical Commentaries, the author demonstrates how texts written by Babylonian scholars can provide insight into the theory and practice of medicine in the latest periods.
Finally, Chapter 8, 'Medicine and magic as independent approaches to healing', addresses one of the fundamental aspects of Babylonian and other ancient medical systems, namely the association and interaction between 'rational' (medicine) and 'non-rational' (magic) methods of healing. By exploring the complexity of the Babylonian system, Geller questions scholars' traditional distinction between medicine and magic in ancient healing systems, suggesting instead that, from the patient's perspective, they were essentially complementary methods with the common aim of achieving an effective cure.
This book is a rare achievement: as a scholarly work, it provides an important addition to the history of medicine; for the general reader, it is a fascinating introduction to the theory and practice of medicine in Mesopotamian society.