Medicine book from the Roman periodCurator: Ofra Rimon
Exhibition Opening: spring 1996
The need and the ability to find a cure for sickness and pain are as old as humanity; in many senses the beginning of medicine coincides with the beginning of human civilization. The exhibition "Illness and Healing in Ancient Times" displays finds that shed light on the history of medicine in Eretz-Israel and neighboring countries from the Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BCE) to the close of the Byzantine period (mid-7th century).
The need to find a remedy for the ailments and pains that accompany one from the moment of birth to death and the desire to banish the fear of dying and to prolong the human lifespan has led to various solutions. Becaue of evidence and research on artifacts such as human bones, we know that the search for these solutions originated in prehistory.
The exhibition has four focuses, each displaying a separate facet in the account of early medicine:
Illness and Ways of Healing - Written sources and human skeletons exposed in excavations provide evidence of illnesses that befell the populations of the Ancient Near East and the ways of treating them. Therefore, the display contains, among other things, x-ray photographs of human bones and replicas of human skulls showing signs of illness and marks of medical treatments as well as written texts and medical instruments. The display highlights the achievements of ancient medicine, beginning with the trepanation, in which an opening was drilled in the skull, and ending with the impressive medical attainments of surgeons at the School of Medicine at Alexandria.
Items from the exhibitionMedicine, Cult and Magic - According the biblical outlook, illness, which is a punishment for a sinning person, as well as cure, is in the hands of God: "I will put none of the diseases upon you which I put upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord, your healer" (Exod. 15:26). Among the civilizations of the Ancient Near East, it was widely believed that the health of a person was affected by supernatural forces, and that the cure was in the power of the gods or the priests, their representatives. The distress and fear of the sick led to the creation of amulets and incantations. These were intended to speed up divine salvation and to suppress the forces of evil that had caused the illness.
Hygiene and Medicine - Hygiene, deriving from the name Hygieia, goddess of health in Greek mythology, was aimed at preserving a person's health, and therefore it could be regarded as preventive medicine. Although the commandments of the Torah concerning plague, impurity and purity, and dietary laws have a religious significance, they indirectly contributed to the development of hygienic concepts. A considerable amount of space is devoted to hygiene in classical medical literature, and this is complemented by the archaeological finds. Bathtubs, latrines, and sewage systems provide evidence of the awareness of hygiene in antiquity. This concept reached its summit in the Roman period.
The Making of Medicaments - The exhibition includes containers of varying materials and shapes which served to hold medications. Some of these containers still hold medical substances. The De Materia Medica (a facsimile of a 6th century CE manuscript) by Dioscurides, one of the forefathers of medical botany, contains descriptions of 600 plants, animals, minerals, and resins, as well as ancient prescriptions for mixing medicines. These items help to open a window into the world of the physician/pharmacologist in antiquity.