Ancient Medicine was Based on Belief in the Supernatural

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Ancient Medicine was Based on Belief in the Supernatural

Ancient medicine covers medicine through Prehistoric, Egyptian, Greek

and Roman times.

Religion and belief in the supernatural were key factors in the

development of ancient medicine. They influenced the way that people

thought and the way in which they lived their lives. The supernatural

could be used to explain aspects of medicine that people didn't

understand at that time. Not everything was blamed on the

supernatural, people did have some natural ideas about medicine and

it's causes and treatments.

As the prehistoric age was a long time ago and no written language had

been developed at the time it is difficult to get much evidence from

this period. We do however know that trepanning was common practice.

This was when a small hole was drilled into the patient's head to

release evil spirits that were believed to be the cause of the

patient's bad health. Spirits were often thought to be the source of

illness and disease in prehistoric times. People had a variety of ways

to keep evil spirits away and these included wearing charms, casting

spells and chanting. A witchdoctor or medicine man would usually cast

spells and chants. It was also believed that if somebody pointed a

pointing bone at you they were taking you're spirit away and this was

also believed to bring you bad health.

Despite this belief in spirits and the supernatural the prehistoric

people did have some basic natural treatments and cures. These natural

cures would be used if the causes of the injuries or illnesses were

known. For example if somebody had broken a limb it would be treated

with splints and cast in clay.

In Ancient Egypt people believed in a number of Gods. These included

the God of healing, the God who gave doctors the ability to cure

people and a Goddess who sent and cured epidemics. People who were

rich and important such as pharaohs were mummified to prepare their

bodies for the afterlife. This involved having vital organs removed

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