Chapter V
Ancient Physicians Identified!
DISEASE is proved to have
been a constant, ever-present menace to man from the earliest times. Even the most modern ailments — cancer, heart and vascular disease —
threatened the average man in ancient civilizations! Yet, we have learned that even in those dim, distant eras, the
scourge of disease was fought by what modern historians call “a competent
medical faculty.” The most modern drugs, anesthetics, complicated
surgical procedures — even the vaunted antibiotic — were used by the ancients in a never-ending
war against ill health!
To the researcher, this is
interesting — even amazing, but a most important question is yet to be
solved: WHO ORIGINATED THIS ANCIENT
PRACTICE?
Ancient Records Rejected As Myth
There is a reason why modern
historians are confused by the startling records of ancient history. The structure of history, to which all
material is subjected to test, was preconceived before all the facts were
in. The result is, many historical
accounts are judged not acceptable today.
The modern study of antiquity does
not take into account any intervention of God or of the Devil in the course
of history! Historians take it for
granted that the events of history, like their present lives, are
NOWHERE affected by the intervention of supernatural powers. Since the recorded supernatural events of
the past cannot be scientifically tested, they are rejected as MYTH!
This is the universally accepted
approach to history explained in Chapter I.
The application of this theory to
history has resulted in chaos as the ancient world finds mankind intimately
associated with the supernatural. Gods
and demons directly influenced every aspect of daily life! Association with the supernatural was a way
of life.
In spite of this self-evident
fact, where the supernatural (myth) is involved, the record receives no further
investigation — it is summarily rejected! (See Hockett, The Critical Method in Historical Research and
Writing, p. 62.) All ancient
records, subsequently, are reinterpreted to fit the fallacious modern
assumption that the supernatural has not affected — indeed, even guided — the development of history. Any facts which will not fit this present
theory are discarded. Consequently, the
recorded history of any nation prior to 1000 B.C. is subject to doubt,
accusation and dismemberment. The
fabric of history has been unraveled — the true picture distorted!
On occasion, there is no written
record to substantiate the oral traditions of history. In such cases, these valuable sources are
also discredited. This is not a valid
judgment, as some ancient peoples preserved and highly valued the tradition of
perpetuating important works orally.
Notice!
What medicine did the
Vedic Aryans [old Indians] practice?
What did they think of health and disease, of the human body and its
place in the whole of nature? We
have no medical book [of India] from
that early period. . . . We must
keep in mind, however, that medicine was a craft which was passed on from
father to son, from master to pupil, and appeared in medical books only
centuries later (Sigerist, A History of Medicine, p. 154).
Oral transmission of important
data was official and highly respected.
“The oral tradition was more highly cultivated in India than in any
other country, and was considered the authentic version of a text to a much
higher degree than any written book”
(Ibid., p. 149).
To carelessly dismiss these
ancient records as myth or inaccurate and unreliable is a travesty! It is for just such intellectual folly that
the identity of the man who initiated medical practice, is to this day
virtually unknown.
To enable proper identification
of the inventors of medical practice 4000 years ago, every source — secular history, written or oral, and the
record of the Bible — must be considered. It is these ancient records, long regarded as unreliable
myth, which REVEAL THE IDENTITY OF THE FIRST PHYSICIANS!
Mythology Provides A Key!
Myth simply means “an ancient traditional
story of gods or heroes . . . . a story with a veiled meaning.” (Chambers, Chambers’ Twentieth Century
Dictionary, p. 708.) The political,
religious, and medical history of every ancient civilization is
considered lost among these traditional origins.
“The History of Medicine, in the
earlier ages of Greece, is enveloped, as in every other country . . . in the densest clouds of mystery and
fable” (Hamilton, The History of Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy, p. 35).
The present confusion results
from a deliberate attempt by the ancient priesthood to bathe their religion and
medicine in mysticism. Priests
purposefully kept this knowledge obscure!
It was not to be revealed to
the common man. The simple practice of
medicine was purposefully veiled in a maze of mysticism.
Notice! “The real instruction in the mysteries of his profession is not
given him until his initiation ceremony has been completed.” Even “the initiation is carefully guarded
from the public eye [historical present tense used]” (McKenzie, The Infancy of Medicine, p. 5). Only the priests were to understand the
origin and source of their medical prowess.
To secure to themselves the permanence
of this monopoly, and the full advantage of this DELUSION, the priests
laboured with . . . skill, to disguise the rules of their practice
beneath a multitude of superstitious observances, and to surround it with a
fence of imposing and impenetrable mystery (Hamilton, The History of Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy, p.
12).
Though assuming a myriad of forms
universally, throughout the ages — all myth has essentially the same origin! “MESOPOTAMIA was the starting point of
Oriental civilization” (Garrison, History
of Medicine, p. 61). The early
rulers of this Mesopotamian society are the ones around whom the basic
structure of all mythology was built.
Though given varied names,
relevant to the language of the peoples by whom they were worshipped, the gods
of the ancient world were not nearly so many as it appears. “At a very early time it was . . . felt that
this immense multitude of gods represented but various aspects of ONE, the
divine being” (Sigerist, A
History of Medicine, p. 154). On
the surface, however, it appears that even the early history of Greek medicine,
like that of its political developments, is hopelessly lost in mythology.
Medicine was entirely in the
hands of a priestly caste to 500 B.C.
The priesthood of every nation practiced this device of deception and
exclusivism to the time of Hippocrates.
Hippocrates, himself, was a member of just such a priesthood which
perpetuated the myths! Even the
renowned Hippocratic Oath gives allegiance to the Greek pantheon of
medical dieties: “I swear by Apollo
Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and
by all the gods and goddesses . . .”
(Marti-Ibanez, The Epic of Medicine, p. 65).
The mirage of gods and goddesses
was a malicious farce — the important question is: To WHOM was Hippocrates swearing allegiance?
Scant few have ever thought this
question important! Virtually no one
has guessed the depths of antiquity to which he is referring. Supposedly the Father of Medicine himself,
he has preserved in Greek myth the true identity of the ancient
physicians who established the healing art!
Though securely hidden from the public, these priesthoods knew the
identity of the gods they worshipped.
Who, then, was this “divine” being whom the Greeks called APOLLO?
Apollo Identified!
Apollo was the great Greek god of
healing. He was “the inventor of the
healing art” (Castiglioni, A
History of Medicine, p. 120). In
his hymn to Apollo, Callimachus wrote of the great physician:
“And wise physicians taught by
him delay,
The stroke of fate and turn
disease away.”
Hippocrates was simply following
the tradition of centuries when he recognized Apollo’s authority in medical
matters — but Apollo was not Greek!
Rather, he was the principal god
of an earlier Mediterranean people who settled in Greece long before Homer’s
time. “Apollo was the early
IMPORTED god of medicine . . . (Selwyn-Brown, The Physician Throughout
The Ages, p. 67).
From what nation did the Greeks
import Apollo? The answer is
EGYPT! Hippocrates had recognized the
eminence of, and pledged his allegiance to, a foreign god, which originated
fully 1700 years before his own age.
Notice!
The medical mythology of Greece
and Egypt is essentially the same:
and the Apis and Serapis, the Isis and Osiris or Thoth, of the latter
are to be recognized in the Apollo and Minerva, the Hermes and the Orpheus of
the former (Hamilton, The History of Medicine, Surgery, and Anatomy, p.
36).
Osiris and Apollo are but
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS of the same individual!
Other historians record this
fact. “Osiris was much given to
husbandry . . . [also] called by the Greeks Dionysus . . .” (Williams, The Historians History of the
World, p. 28l). Dionysus was a
prominent healing deity of Greece. “The
most important position belonged to Thoth [Osiris] . . . he became identified
with Hermes . . .” (Castiglioni,
A History of Medicine, p. 46).
The worship of Osiris was
INTERNATIONAL in scope! “In the course
of time . . . Isis, Osiris, and Horus were universally worshipped even
beyond the boundaries of Egypt”
(Sigerist, A History of Medicine, p. 269). All the ancient medical gods and goddesses
primarily revolve around these three original Egyptian (and Mesopotamian)
deities. The identification and
involved relationship of these gods throughout the world, all of which
is hopelessly bathed in mysticism, is a full subject in itself. Even the initiate priests, who lived in
those days, required lengthy instruction to fully understand the labyrinth.
These central, prominent deities
were given as many as fifty different names!
OSIRIS was also called: Anepu,
Apis, Serapis, Marduk, Enlil, Cosmas Belos, Vishnu, Surya, Dhanvantari, Moloch,
Mithras, Du’uzu, Tammuz, Baal, Min, Dumuzi, Adonis, Apollo, Bacchus, Phaethon,
Anubis, Hephaestus, Saturn, and Pluto.
ISIS was named: Hept, Ashtoreth,
Neit, Athena, Neit-hotep, Ma, Enio, Cybele, Minerva, Astarte, Themis, Bellona,
Venus, Aurora, Aphrodite, Hygieia and Diana.
HORUS was named: Itit,
Gilgamesh, Jupiter, Ninyas, and etc.
As one historian writes, “We find
ourselves bewildered in a motley crowd . . . whom we are at a loss to
discriminate from each other” (Ibid.,
p. vi). The reason being that these
many names, including some titles, refer to only three original deities! Of course many of the above names later
became associated with certain nations and cities, but this was a gradual,
nationalistic development. Originally
all nations gave allegiance to a single triad of gods!
Ancient Gods — Really Early Rulers!
It has often been said, “great
actions are oftentimes the forerunners of great reactions.” In a word, the apparently miraculous results
obtained by early physicians, gave rise to the origin of medical gods. The healing gods of the ancient world appear
to us as romantic fancies of a mythological age, but in those early times, they
were very real personages!
The traditional gods from
Dionysus and Heracles up to Zeus and Cronis were simply ONE-WORLD RULERS and benefactors
of mankind — who had by their own insistence or the gratitude of their
subjects been transferred to the ranks of Heaven (Selwyn-Brpwn, The
Physician Throughout the Ages, p. 67).
The mysticism we call mythology
today was well developed in the earliest times. James Breasted proved that the Papyrus Ebers dated from
the Old Kingdom of Egypt. At that early
date, Osiris, Hermes, Isis, and Horus are already being mentioned as medical
deities. A pantheon of healing gods was
then under development — “developed from outstanding surgeons and
physicians” who had previously lived
(Ibid., p. 199)!
As explained in Chapter IV, the
medical procedures used by the ancient physicians produced a remarkable
effect! It is easy to see how such
practitioners, in a profoundly religious age, could claim deification.
Epidemics, exposing entire
nations to annihilation, posed a particularly dangerous threat. Rulership depended on their ability to
thwart the ravages of disease. This
will be explained more fully in the following chapter. The following quotation reflects this vital
interest in containing disease and the subsequent public response to a
successful effort.
Aristaios [Apollo-Osiris] . . .
was noted for his expertness in public health work and EPIDEMICS. When the plague visited Keos he went
there and restored the public health, and was rewarded by the building
of a temple and healing sanctuary [in his name] in that town. In other places he had temples and was worshipped
. . . (ibid., p. 65).
Such results were considered
miracles!
From what has been just said [the
miraculous recovery of Keos], we can readily understand . . . HOW almost every
nation of antiquity came to refer the origin of medicine to the immediate
instruction of the Gods; and HOW the Isis and Osiris, the Apis and Serapis
of the Egyptians CAME TO BE REGARDED AS DIVINITIES, and worshipped with divine
honours (Hamilton, The History of Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy,
p. 9-10).
These old world “benefactors” had
special, direct contact with supernatural powers and as a result were
themselves accorded divine attributes.
Later they were worshipped as gods — when in reality, they were only
men!
Today, the medical developments
of the ancient civilizations are obscured by mythology. Many records are lost or dismissed. However, one fact has clearly emerged — in
every nation the origin of medicine is coeval with the commencement of its
empire! The invention of medicine
is traced to the deified first kings whose rule was worldwide!
Which Ancient Rulers?
The evidence proving that the
ancient gods of medicine were simply early rulers is ample! The question now becomes WHICH RULERS? The key to this problem is a
matter of elimination. The answer
is easily found.
In every case the central figure
in the medical pantheon is a MALE DEITY who is pictured discovering many
drugs — at times they are a result
of “quick invention.” Of course he is a
“benefactor.” In some records,
following his demise, a FEMALE DEITY and HER SON are represented as pharmacists
for the world.
A single quotation for each is
sufficient for example: “THOTH [also
Apollo-Osiris] was also credited with the discovery of healing herbs, of
which . . . the Egyptians possessed a great number” (McKenzie, The Infancy
of Medicine, p. 21-22).
From the few magic texts we have
quoted, it is apparent that ISIS held an important place in the pantheon
of healing deities. Her legend is
full of episodes of magic cures, and over and over again she appears as the
great magician whose counsel is the breath of life, whose sayings drive out
sickness. . . . It is well known that .
. . the [medical] cult of Isis SPREAD ALL OVER THE ANCIENT WORLD and at a
time when people were pining for healing . . . . To Diodorus she was a
healing goddess, DISCOVERER OF DRUGS, versed in the art of curing people. . . .
HORUS, the child of Isis and Osiris . . . appeared frequently and acquired
himself special faculties to cure people . . . . The Greeks and Romans
worshipped him as a healing god also who had been instructed in the
healing art by his mother Isis . . . (Sigerist, A History of
Medicine, p. 288).
The god of healing, a deified
old-world ruler, was the first pharmacist — often called “the great
husbandman.” Who was he? Are there any ancient rulers credited with the same
discoveries? YES — The phenomenon is
worldwide! All nations point to one man as
originator!
EGYPT: In Egypt the first ruler to be accorded great
respect due to his exploits as a physician is the Second King: ATHOTHSIS!
“Works on ANATOMY and MEDICINE are stated to have been written even by
the early sovereigns of Egypt. Athothis,
the son of Menes is stated in the Berlin Papyrus to have written a
book on medicine” (Selwyn-Brown, The
Physician Throughout The Ages, p. 203).
Furthermore, “Teta, styled Athothis. . . . According to Manetho, he constructed the
royal castle of Memphis and wrote a work on anatomy, being PARTICULARLY
OCCUPIED WITH MEDICINE” (Williams, The
Historians History of the World, p. 91).
“Ata [the fourth sovereign —
Teta’s mother-wife Uenephes]: A great plague
broke out in [her] reign” (ibid.). It was just such incidence of disease which
she was renown for attempting to control with her “great magic.”
Osiris, then is Athothis. It follows that Uenephes is Isis;
the son, Horus is Kenkenes.
CHINA: Chinese history states unequivocally
that the origin of medicine was coeval with the foundation of their empire!
The Chinese established a medical
system, which according to tradition, is as ancient as the monarchy. They have drawn the whole [of medical]
science from the experience of the ancients.
To SHIN-NUNG the DIVINE HUSBANDMAN, is the honor ascribed of having
laid the foundation of this useful art.
He [taught] that heaven had created herbs to remedy
diseases. He therefore examined their qualities and communicated
the result of his researches to the people.
It has been justly inferred that the remedies invented by him must have
been very excellent (Selwyn-Brown, The Physician Throughout The Ages, p.
246).
According to ancient legends, the
origin of Chinese medicine is attributed to the Emperor Shin-Nung . . . . He is said to have taught his subjects . . .
compiling an herbal, in which more than a hundred remedies are mentioned
(Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, p. 99).
Tradition records that he
encountered as many as seventy different drugs in a single day.
Shen-Nung, which may be spelled
Shen, Shun or Shin, is the second of the five legendary rulers — himself a god of medicine. However, Shun was not Chinese; he was
a foreigner. The Bamboo Annals make
it clear Shun was a black foreigner! His identity will be revealed later.
INDIA: “True Indian history begins
with the famous battle of Kuruksetra in the winter of 1650-1649 B.C.” (Hoeh, Compendium, p. 333). This heavy attack was launched against the
Indians by the Assyrians from the West.
As subsequent events developed, the Indian king perished, but through an
unusual turn of circumstances, the Assyrians were defeated and India became
truly independent. Prior to this
significant date, names, but no dates, of previous kings are preserved.
From earlier times India,
particularly the civilizations along the Indus River valley, had been dominated
by Aryans. As a result, the earliest
kings belong to a foreign empire.
However, Indian history does preserve, in tradition, the origin of
medicine prior to 1650 B.C. “AGNI,
the Aryo-Indian god . . . links with TAMMUZ. . . . Agni . . . he who has
been looked for has entered all herbs.
Tammuz is ‘the healer’ and Agni ‘drives away all disease’,” (MacKenzie, Myths of Babylonia and
Assyria, p. 94).
Agni is considered the first
physician of India. Agni is known to be Tammuz, so his true
identity will be revealed when we reach the early rulers of Mesopotamia!
In every nation the origin of medicine invariably is traced back to a
god and/or ancient ruler of the empire’s first dynasty. This strange phenomenon is universal! We have already seen this is true in Rome,
Greece, Egypt, India, and China. And
all other nations of Asia trace their medical origins to China or India. All modern nations trace their medical
history to Greece or Rome — so, in effect, we have briefly traced the origin of
all the world’s medical practice to this ancient period!
Can it yet be simplified
further? YES! Remember the first physicians of all nations, excepting Egypt and
Mesopotamia, were not native sons.
MESOPOTAMIA — Origin of Medical History!
As Garrison previously stated,
“Mesopotamia was the starting point of Oriental civilization.” In the framework of history, the records of
all ancient nations go back to one momentous event: the building of the city and tower of Babel! This was the beginning of the civilization
of this world. All nations reckon their
origin from this event!
It is at this point that the
Bible becomes absolutely essential to the understanding of medical
history. It is the Bible which
reveals the names and the significance of the most ancient medical men and
their practice.
The Biblical account of the
building of Babel is found in Genesis 11:1-9, which reads in part:
And the whole earth was of one
language and of one speech. And they
said one to another: “Come, let us
build us a city, and a tower . . . let us make us a name. . . .” And the Lord said: “Behold, they are one people, now nothing will be withholden from
them. . . .” From thence did the Lord
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The most complete secular record
of this event is that found in the Akkadian Creation Epic. It includes the statements which follow:
“Having built a stage-tower a
great height, they set up in it an abode for MARDUK, Enlil and Ea. This is Babylon, the place that is
your home. . . .”
It continues with the
establishment of a throne which dominated many other nations: the commencement of human
government! At
this point the document is fragmentary but one who dominates the human race
is clearly mentioned:
“He set up a throne
Another in. . . .
Verily, the most exalted is the
son. . . .
His sovereignty is surpassing. .
. .
MAY HE SHEPHERD THE HUMAN RACE!”
The Biblical account reveals
who these first two rulers of ancient Mesopotamia were! The Biblical Cush is the father; Nimrod
is the son. “And Cush begat
Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one
in the earth. . . . And the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel . . .”
(Genesis 10:8, 10).
“With the reign of Cush and of
Nimrod, the history of civilization begins. At this point (2254 B.C.) commences also the chronology of Egypt,
of Assyria, of Babylonia, and of the whole Near East” (Hoeh, Compendium, p. 45).
Now the seemingly coincidental
origins of medicine in Egypt, India, and China take on added significance! It becomes clear why so many nations point
to a foreign physician-ruler. China’s
first king was a black foreigner.
They called him Shun.
His father’s name was spelled Chusou or Kusou — simply a variant of
Cush! His mother was “Queen of the West
Land” or “Queen Mother of the West.”
This ancient Shun of the Chinese
records is none other than the BIBLICAL NIMROD!
On to Egypt!
Immediately after the building of
Babel, Egypt became the second center of civilization of the world. All the famous hero-gods who founded Babel
are buried in Egypt. The development of
these two societies was similar and contemporary. It is easy to see how both Babylonians and
Egyptians later claimed to be the first people in the world.
The first four rulers of Egypt’s
Dynasty I (Menes, Athothis, Kenkenes, and Uenephes) are the ones
important to the medical history of the world.
These individuals were also the first four rulers of Babylon! For a complete account and proof of the
inter-relationship of these two dynasties, see the Compendium of World
History by Dr. Herman L. Hoeh, Chapter 3.
The Egyptian god Osiris (Athothis — Second King) was the Apollo of
the Greeks, the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Agni of the Indians,
the Shun of the Chinese, the Nabu of the Assyrians, the Tammuz
of the Semites and the MARDUK of the Babylonians. All these national god-names refer to the NIMROD of the
Bible!
In Babylon, where the
universal pattern was set, medicine was a sacred art taught in the
temple. “The divine husbandman,” the
Babylonian Osiris was Marduk. In
Babylon, the center of the world’s pagan civilizations, MARDUK “held the
power to overcome all disease” (Marti-Ibanez, The Epic of Medicine, p.
47). History traces the ancient,
original god of Medicine in every nation on earth to Marduk! Marduk is Nimrod. The Biblical Nimrod is the patron
deity — indeed the FATHER OF
MEDICINE — to all nations of the world!
The amazing story of how this
occurred — and WHY — is told in the following chapter.
Chapter 6
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