Sourcebook For Ancient Mesopotamian Medicine
by Joann Scurlock /
2014 / English / PDF
5.2 MB Download
Ancient Mesopotamia, the “cradle of civilization,” preserves a surprisingly large and comprehensive set of medical texts. unfortunately, physicians, medical specialists, historians of medicine, or just interested laymen with an interest in exploring ancient Mesopotamian medicine soon discover that most of this fascinating material is essentially inaccessible to the uninitiated. even those who can read cuneiform well find medical texts difficult, and those attempting to learn to read them for the first time are risking a white-knuckle experience. thetechnical vocabulary used to describe signs and symptoms, procedures, and plants is unfamiliar to nonspecialists, and enlightenment is in many cases less likely to be found in the dictionary than in one of a growing number of scattered articles to be found in a bewildering variety of specialist medical journals. What is needed is an introductory study guide that will allow interested persons at whatever level of proficiency in cuneiform to get a basic working knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian medical texts either as an end in itself or as a foundation for further research.
