Traditional ancient Egyptian medicine: A review

Ahmed M Metwaly¹, Mohammed M Ghoneim^{1

2}, Ibrahim H Eissa³, Islam A Elsehemy⁴, Ahmad E Mostafa¹, Mostafa M Hegazy¹, Wael M Afifi¹, Deqiang Dou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11371, Egypt.
² Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Ad Diriyah, Riyadh 13713, Saudi Arabia.
³ Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Natural and Microbial Products Chemistry, Division of Pharmaceutical and Drug Industries Research, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
⁵ College of Pharmacy, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 77 Life One Road, Dalian Economic and Technical Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China.

PMID: 34588897
PMCID: PMC8459052
DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.044

Review

Traditional ancient Egyptian medicine: A review

Ahmed M Metwaly et al. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Oct.

. 2021 Oct;28(10):5823-5832.

doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.044. Epub 2021 Jun 19.

Authors

Ahmed M Metwaly¹, Mohammed M Ghoneim^{1

2}, Ibrahim H Eissa³, Islam A Elsehemy⁴, Ahmad E Mostafa¹, Mostafa M Hegazy¹, Wael M Afifi¹, Deqiang Dou⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11371, Egypt.
² Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Ad Diriyah, Riyadh 13713, Saudi Arabia.
³ Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Natural and Microbial Products Chemistry, Division of Pharmaceutical and Drug Industries Research, National Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
⁵ College of Pharmacy, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 77 Life One Road, Dalian Economic and Technical Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China.

PMID: 34588897
PMCID: PMC8459052
DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2021.06.044

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians practiced medicine with highly professional methods. They had advanced knowledge of anatomy and surgery. Also, they treated a lot of diseases including dental, gynecological, gastrointestinal, and urinary disorders. They could diagnose diabetes and cancer. The used therapeutics extended from different plants to include several animal products and minerals. Some of these plants are still used in the present day. Fortunately, they documented their life details by carving on stone, clay, or papyri. Although a lot of these records have been lost or destroyed, the surviving documents represent a huge source of knowledge in different scientific aspects including medicine. This review article is an attempt to understand some information about traditional medicine in ancient Egypt, we will look closely at some basics, sources of information of Egyptian medicine in addition to common treated diseases and therapeutics in this great civilization.

Keywords: Egyptian medicine; The ancient Egyptians; Traditional medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Traditional ancient Egyptian medicine: A review

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Traditional ancient Egyptian medicine: A review

Authors

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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