The Origin
Of Medical Practice
A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Theology Ambassador College
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for
the Degree Master of Arts in Theology
by
Charles Sherwin McMichael
May 1969
Typed by Cheryl Nichols and Santa Fe Parton,
2000 A.D.
Edited by and reprinted by
Printed Version: suggested donation: $6.00
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Traditional View of Medicine, Purpose of this Thesis,
Justification, Definition of Terms, Limitations, Organization of
the Remainder of the Study
Chapter I. Hippocrates — Not The Father Of Medicine
Revolutionary Discovery, History
More Than Facts, Antiquity of Medicine
Chapter II. What Is Medicine?
An Art
or a Science? Break With The Supernatural, Man’s Approach to Life Changes,
Medicine Remains the Same
Chapter III. Disease — An Ancient Curse
Modern Disease in Ancient Egypt,
Major Modern Diseases
Chapter IV. A Competent Medical
Faculty — Before Hippocrates
Ancient Physicians Confident,
Pharmacology of Egypt, Anatomy, Science of Accurate Prescription, Chemically
Induced Anesthesia, Bacteriology, Surgery, Miscellaneous Medical Developments,
Antibiotics — 4000 Years Ago, Ancient Antibiotics, Sewer Pharmacology
Chapter V. Ancient Physicians
Identified
Ancient Records Rejected as Myth,
Mythology Provides a Key, Apollo Identified, Ancient Gods — Really Early
Rulers, Which Ancient Rulers? Mesopotamia — Origin of Medical History
Chapter VI. Medical Practice
Vital To Founders Of Mesopotamia
Historical
Background, Nimrod Leads the Rebellion, Rebellion Brought a Penalty, Why
Medicine Was Developed, Supernatural Intervention, Medical Practice Universal
Summary, Conclusion
Bibliography
Historians have long assumed the origin of modern medical
practice occurred in the Fourth Century B.C.
HIPPOCRATES is the accepted Father
of Medicine.
Students of medical history have
been taught that competent medical procedures — including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, surgery, and gynecology — are of
comparatively recent development.
History books disdainfully dismiss the ancient era prior to Hippocratic
Greece. Certainly, every medical
textbook describes it as a medically
ignorant and obsolete age.
This TRADITIONAL history of ancient
medicine is in error!
The
widely-accepted theory developed from the Historical Hypothesis, which stated
authoritatively: ANCIENT GREECE IS THE ORIGIN OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. All study was based on this premise; history
was warped to cover this structure.
The History of Medicine was written to conform to the fallacious
theory!
Purpose of This Thesis
The average medical history book
presents a hollow, empty description of ancient medicine. The reader is led to believe that the empty
incantations of a primitive, superstitious priesthood were the sum total of
medical aid there available.
Nothing could be farther from the truth!
Exhaustive research in this century
has proved that a CAPABLE medical faculty was established in EGYPT over forty centuries ago!
There is no longer any doubt that the Egyptians and other peoples studied medicine and surgery in medical
colleges of the Middle East. A
competent grasp of medical procedures was a universal
phenomenon in that distant age!
This Thesis
is an attempt to put forth a more complete history of the Origin of Medicine. Not
until this century has it been possible to ascertain the FACTS of medical
history. Working from a faulty historical HYPOTHESIS, historians
have drawn inaccurate conclusions concerning the level of advancement of
ancient medicine. The result is no secular source has grasped the
significance behind the highly developed practice of medicine in the early
ages!
This thesis recognizes that, from its origin, medicine was essentially
supernaturally oriented — as were all facets of ancient life. When properly understood, this ancient
relationship between medicine and the supernatural was far removed from what,
today, is derisively called witchcraft.
Considering the supernatural element
in the ancient origin of medicine, it is not surprising to find this subject
rather thoroughly dealt with in the BIBLE.
Therefore, the Specific Purposes
of this thesis are to show the following points:
1. That
advanced medical practice had its origin
in ancient Egypt — not Greece.
2. That
the theory that medicine originated as an “empiric science” after 500 B.C. —
apart from earlier supernatural intervention — is a modern stylization.
3. That
modern disease was equally an ancient
curse.
4. That
medical practice was in fact a highly
advanced art 2200 years B.C.
5. That
all ancient history identifies one
physician as the initiator of medicine in the post-diluvian era.
6. That
the origin of medical practice occurred
as a result of sudden necessity in that ancient time.
Justification
The development of medicine played a
vital role in the establishment of civilization in the post-diluvian era. A survey of the available works on medical
history showed that this important facet
of history has been completely overlooked!
As AMBASSADOR COLLEGE is actively
interested in the proper restoration of history — especially of those ages which tend to set the pattern for present
civilization, a study of this subject was believed to be of importance!
1. Although
modern research techniques have recently made available much additional
information, it appears the discoveries have
not been properly understood in relation to general history. Much new information in the form of medical
artifacts has also been discovered! The
question was, “Did the same fault appear in the treatment of medical
history?” Is medical history out of
date? If so, an entirely new approach
to the History of Medicine must be expressed.
2. It
became evident that modern research
techniques have enabled researchers to make startling advances toward more
complete, realistic comprehension of medical origins. Recent, accurate
translations of the medical papyri have given Egyptologists a firm grasp on
the meaning of the ancient medical textbooks for the first time. The work in paleopathology, pioneered by Sir Marc Armand Ruffer, has opened a
new dimension in understanding the diseases of ancient peoples. Together with archaeological developments in
India, China, and Latin America, a new,
more correct explanation of ancient medicine must be written.
3. The
modern treatment of medical history is an attempt to reconstruct the past apart
form God and the supernatural. The
result has been a mélange of fact and fancy.
To be able to understand the new picture of ancient medicine projected
by modern research and its proper perspective in history, the Bible must be referred to as an authoritative record! A treatment of medical history which stresses
the most up-to-date research,
carefully considers the most ancient secular
records, and appeals to the
Bible as an authority, has not been
attempted before. This thesis is an
original work, which potentially may add understanding to the task of restoring
man’s history!
Definition of
Terms
In the context of this paper, the
following terms were used as defined:
Hippocrates:
though he appears as a semi-fictitious figure in history, his relationship to
medicine is referred to as it is modernly expressed.
Chronology:
the dating of all eras discussed is based on The Compendium of History,
by Dr. Herman Hoeh.
Ancient History: that period of time beginning with the establishment of human
government and civilization after the
Deluge.
Limitations
1. For
the purpose of this work, the thesis was limited to the explanation of the
advancement of medicine in the post-diluvian age. Therefore, the earliest
records included, date to 2369 B.C.
This study does not consider medical developments in the Old World.
Numerous historians have written in
support of speculation that medicine first
originated in pre-flood times. For
example: “Schulze, a German . . . traces the origin of Medicine to the period
of the Fall . . . he also points out the strong probability that ADAM, yielding
to the all-authoritative voice of necessity, [first] discharged the office
of physician.
“Le
Clerc, a French writer . . . whose History
of Medicine is a work of merit . . .
traces the practice of Medicine in its
various branches to the days of Adam, whom he shows to have been, of
necessity, the first Physician, Surgeon, and
Accoucheur in the world!
“Brambilla,
head of the Academy of Surgery at Vienna in 1783 labours to trace the invention of surgical instruments to
TUBAL CAIN [who was the pre-flood Dionysius] . . . as the 22nd verse
of Genesis 4 informs us, ‘an instructor
of every artificer in brass and iron,’ and hence not unlikely to have been . .
. the first contriver of simple surgical instruments” (Hamilton, The History of
Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy, pp. 2-4).
Such speculation is not within the scope of this study!
2.
In addition, this
thesis covers primarily the rise of medicine in Egypt and Mesopotamia. India, China, and Latin America were contemporary centers of
civilization. History records, as
discussed in Chapter V, that the earliest
physicians in India, China, and Latin America were those of Egypt-Mesopotamia! For this reason the history of medical
development in each of these three countries is not exhaustively covered.
The remainder of this thesis is
divided into seven chapters as
described below:
Chapter I explains why Hippocrates
is not the historical Father of Medicine.
Chapter II presents the classical
approach to medicine as opposed to its more modern view.
Chapter III provides an analysis of
disease in the ancient world.
Chapter IV demonstrates that a
competent medical faculty had been developed 1500 years before Hippocrates.
Chapter
V presents an identification of the earliest physicians in history.
Chapter VI provides the explanation
of why medical practice was necessary in the foundation of ancient
civilizations.
Chapter VII presents a general
summary of the thesis.
Bricket Wood, England,
May, 1969
Chapter 1