10,000 B.C.: The first Materia Medica

The year 30,000 B.C. is often considered as the dawn of medicine.  By then men and women learned to socialize, and to love and care for their fellow human beings.  A pharmacopoeia had developed, and it, along with myths and food recipes, was shared by means of easy to remember lyrics.  Most clans had at least one person, an elderly woman perhaps, who remembered the recipes, and utilized them when needed.

When a young boy becomes short of breath, his body stiff as he struggles to inhale, perhaps due to asthma, his mother recognizes his agony and she emphasizes with him.  She makes every effort to comfort him, and it's useless.  So she sends for the wise old lady, the medicine lady perhaps, who approaches the boy wearing animal skins, replete with charms and rattles and drums with the magic ability to communicate with the spirits and demons abounding.

The old magical lady reaches into her pocket and pulls out some herbs, perhaps with some poppy seeds included, and asks for a bowl that the boy's mother provides.  She then has the boy stand before her, as she whispers and sings incantations as she mixes and stirs the herbs into the solution.  Then she does a little dance, rattles her beads and pounds on her drums.  Then she places her hands upon the boy's forehead, and her lips to his lips, and then pops back as she shouts "The evil has now passed."

The boy continues to be stiff, and to work against the symptoms caused by the evil spirits that are no longer within him.  Then, finally, as though by some miracle or magical means, his tense shoulders relax, his breathing is easy, and he lies back and falls fast asleep.  The medicine woman sets forth on her knees, presses her hands upon the boy's shoulders, and blesses him with another incantation, before walking off into the distant night.

The medicine lady was proud of herself, and she continued to chant incantations as she walked.  She believed the the medicine worked because of magic provided by the spirits or gods, and when it was used for good it was white magic.  When it was used for evil purposes, as poison, it was referred to as black magic. Regardless, it's  probable such original pharmacologists as this were "eyed with suspicion."  (1, page 24)(4, page 23)

Humans had already learned that living in small groups was advantageous, and made hunting for food, creating shelter, and, as seen here, healing the sick easier.  By around 10,000 B.C. they learned how to better manage the land, and many of these smaller groups became united and formed the first civilizations.  They put their heads together and learned how to best irrigate and harvest crops, and they created gods and religions and laws.  These were all necessary in order to keep order among the society, and to provide an incentive for each man and woman to do his or her part for the benefit of the many.

There were many advantages to working together, and one was that "People began to specialize.  Some people farmed.  Others took care of the animals.  And now there were chances to do things people had never done before.  People had time to work on their crafts.  Weavers wove grass into fine baskets. Others made pottery from clay and baked it in ovens.  Using wool from sheep, some people learned to spin thread and to weave cloth," according to Joanne Suter in "World History."  (3, page 19)

She explains that "as different jobs developed, so did trading.  A weaver might trade his cloth for food from the farmer.  A goat might be traded for an ax from the toolmaker.  First, trading was carried on within the village.  Later people traded from one village to the next." This increased trading resulted in ideas and culture being shared, including medical wisdom.  Perhaps this might have been how knowledge of the first inhalers the medicine lady mentioned above invented.  (3, page 19)  This, perhaps, was what occurred in the earliest days of what would become ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and what was the beginning of the agricultural revolution in about 10,000 years before Christ.

The medicine woman had time to work on creating better incantations, and to search the forests and streams for herbs she needed for her potions.  Sometimes she discovered new herbs, and experimented with them to learn their magical abilities.  One day she discovered a plant that would later be called the belladonna plant, and she pulled it from the ground, and she let it sit in the sun for two days, allowing it to become sun dried.  She crushed the roots, leaves and stems into a bowl, and discovered that they, like the poppy seeds, had the ability to cause a soothing effect.

Several years later she was called to another asthmatic boy, and she had no poppy seeds with her.  So she grabbed a handful of the crushed and sun dried belladonna roots, and, in her usual dance routine, some of the herbs spilled onto a heated brick that was on the fire, and the asthmatic boy inhaled the smoke this created and the result was a soothing effect, and also it made his breathing easier.  So the medicine lady had a new remedy to add to her pharmacopoeia.

There was another significant reason for people getting together in this way, and it was the unity required to irrigate the land and harvest the crops  The greatest minds got together and learned how to dig canals and build aqueducts to control the flow of water, and invent new tools and find new material for building.  As numbers increased, so to did the need to incentivize the people to be loyal, productive members of society.  For this reason laws and religions were created to encourage, even force compliance with the wishes of the aristocracy.

Kinds and queens were chosen to create these laws, and priests were selected to manage the religions.  They worked together to provide the people with a reason to get up in the morning, and to do the arduous work needed for the society to stay together.  They created the gods, and they ordered for large temples to be built where the people could go for worship, and see as a daily reminder that the gods are ubiquitous and can see everything you do, even hear your thoughts.

As society advanced in this way, a need arose for communication, and this lead to the invention of the first languages.  There also arose a need to keep track of when the sun rose and when it set, and to determine when the annual floods would occur.  Accurate measurements were needed to construct the monuments and temples.  For generations and generation legends, myths, recipes and formulas were relayed from one generation to the next by word of mouth, usually by easy to remember lyrics of poems and songs.  Yet this was no longer useful, as recipes and formulas became too abounding and complex.  So a written language was invented.

An early example of a written language was discovered on the wall of a cave in Pindal, where archaeologists discovered a crude drawing in red ochre the outlines of a mammoth with a dark dot in the middle, perhaps a representation of the heart.  This may have been the first time a person shared knowledge to future generations by writing.  It was also proof primitive, savage, or prehistoric people knew what parts of the body were essential to life. (2, page 21)(1, page 106)

Yet such primitive methods of communication were no longer valid by 4,000 B.C., and why great minds among the Sumerians created such the first written language.  Lyrics shared by word of mouth could now be written down, and this made it easier to share knowledge between generations.  Each generation no longer had to start from scratch, and this allowed for formulas and recipes to become more complex.  This provided increased time and another incentive to discover and invent, so new wisdom could be compiled above the old.

Laws were carved into stone for all to see.  Perhaps the best and earliest example of this were the Hammurabi Codes carved into stone around 1772 B.C. This was perhaps the best incentive for people to be  loyal, productive members of society, because noncompliance meant you would be punished according to the crime you committed.  Food and medical recipes were written down, and these became the first cook book and the first written pharmacopoeia, or Materia Medica

The brightest members of society were chosen to be kings, queens, priests, and scribes.  These were among the few, perhaps less than ten percent, among the society who were educated.  The rest of society remained ignorant, and perhaps this was done on purpose to assure compliance with the wishes and desires of the aristocracy.

Temples became places of healing, and they became the schools.  Teachers were needed to educate children born to the aristocracy, and as wisdom progressed some of the scribes became teachers and priests became physicians.

References:

1. Sigerist, Henry E "History of Medicine," volume I: Primitive and Archaic Medicine, 1951, Oxford University Press, New York, pages 
2. Prioreschi, Plinio, "A History of Medicine," vol. 1
3. Suter, Joanne, "Fearon's World History," 2nd edition, 1994, U.S., Globe Fearon Educational Publishing
4. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An Introduction to the history of medicine," 1921
5. Wilder, Alexander, "History of Medicine, a brief outline of medical history and sects of physicians, from the earliest historic period; with an extended account of the new schools of the healing art in the nineteenth century, adn especially a history of the American eclectic practice of medicine, never before published," 1901, Maine, New England Eclectic Publishing Co.

1543: Andreas Vesalius resurrects medicine

After Galen wrote his books in the second century there were few advancement in medicine, and this -- as we decided earlier, was one of the reasons Galen's works were worshiped as the Bible of medicine, as though Galen himself were a medical god, throughout the Dark Ages and long after.

Jacobus Sylvius (1478-1555)

John Hudson Tiner, in his book "Exploring the History of Medicine," wrote about Jacobus Sylvius  (1478-1555), who was a professor at the University of Paris.  He'd open up one of Galen's books and begin reading, and usually an animal was dissected to go along with the lecture.  Once a year Sylvius dissected a human.  While he read, an assistant did the cutting, and another pointed to each part of the body as the professor read aloud. (3, pages..

Hudson explained:

"Often, what Sylvius reads and what the assistant points to don't agree.  Sylvius steadfastly refuses to see any errors in Galen. Galen taught that the liver was five-lobed, that the breastbone had seven segments, that a network of blood vessels could be found under the brain.  Sylvius believes every word of it, although those features couldn't be found in the body right under his eyes.  He saw exactly what Galen told him he would see! 

"If the corpse and book don't agree, then the error is in the corpse!  No one would dream of doubting Galen." (3, pages...)

Yet one of his students would question Sylvius.  His name was Andreas Vesalius.  He was born in 1514....

Hudson explained that Vesalius wasn't content to just believe everything Galen wrote.  Vesalius believed that the best teacher of the human body was not Galen but the human body.  He stole a skeleton and studied it.  He learned the human breastbone did not have eight segments as Galen described, it had only three parts.  How could a teacher as magnificent as Galen have gotten it wrong?

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)

Then by chance one day Vesalius dissected an Ape.  Then it occurred to him:  Galen never even dissected a human body, otherwise he would have known the human sternum has only three parts.  For thousands of years doctors treated diseases based on the anatomy of apes not of humans.

To Galen's defense we must remember in the ancient world dissection was forbidden by severe punishment.  In ancient Egypt the punishment of stoning and blows was incentive enough for embalmers to stick to the task of embalming. Greeks and Romans stuck to the task of preparing the body for burial.  (4, page 9)

Tiner notes that Vesalius became a professor in 1537 and decided to dissect the bodies himself. His colleagues wondered why he would waste his time considering Galen had described the human body so perfectly.  Learning from dissecting was a waste of time, and what was needed could be learned from Galen's books.

Despite the outcries by his fellow professors, Vesalius became popular.  Because his bodies decomposed quickly, he hired jan Stephen van Calcar (1499-1546) to draw the human body, and he published in 1543 the first accurate book of the human anatomy called De Humani Corporuis Fabrica.  From this point on the human anatomy could be taught based on accurate pictures and descriptions, as opposed to Galen's ignorant descriptions.

I thought it was interesting that Tiney writes that artists like Michelangelo knew more about the human anatomy that doctors, because artists needed to have an accurate description of the body, they studied it up and down, so that they could accurately draw and paint.  Doctors merely studied Galen.

So, Tiney wrote, "Experts often date the start of the scientific revolution from the year, 1543."  It was also here that the dark ages of medicine came to a halt.

Yet the new observations came with a fierce fight amid the dogmatic medical profession.  Doctors were stuck in a paradigm that Hippocrates and Galen new everything there was to know about medicine.  All other knowledge was frivolous.

Fellow physicians of Vesaleas "fiercely" opposed him because they felt he was ruining their reputation.  They accused him of crimes.  Many wrote books against Vesalius, including his old instructor Sylvius.  He "wrote furious letters, and later spoke of him as a madman (vaesanus)."  (2, page 159)

Instead of completing more medical work, Vesaleas spent the next 20 years fighting to get others to recognize the importance of his book.  Vesalius never lived to see his book accepted by the medical profession.  His travels took him out of Europe, and how he ended his life and how he died remains a mystery.

There is one theory, however, as was told by William Osler:

"The story is that he had obtained permission to perform a post-mortem examination on the body of a young Spanish nobleman, whom he had attended.  When the body was opened, the spectators to their horror saw the heart beating, and there were signs of life!  Accused, so it is said, by the Inquisition of murder and also of genral impiety he only escaped through the intervention of the King, with the condition thta he make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  In carrying this out in 1564 he was wrecked on teh island of Zante, where he died of a fever or of exhaustion, in the fiftieth year of his life." (2, page 160).

The Fabric is now considered as one of the top ten most important medical discoveries of all time by Tiner.

This post was rewritten here.

Click here for more asthma history.

References:

1. The John Hopkins Hospital bulleton," (volume XV 1904), "from the epoch of the Alexandria School (300 B.C.)"
2. Osler, William, "The Evolution of Modern Medicine: A series of lectures at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913," New Have, Yale University Press, 1921,
3. Tiner, John Hudson, "Exploring the History of Medicine,"
4. Meryon, Edward, "The History of medicine comprising a narrative of its progress fromthe...

Originally published 9/13/2011

2700 B.C.: The Hermetic Books

All human wisdom was believed to come from the gods, and before writing this wisdom was passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth, and, according to Egyptians, supposedly came from Thoth, a friend of Osiris, and the  secretary of the gods.

Thoth was the inventor of all the arts and sciences, and this included language, writing, and medicine.  Sometime around 2,700 years before the birth of Christ. Thoth communicated with a priest, and many suspect this priest was Imhotep.  (1, page 6)(2, page 19)(3) (4, page 14)

Thoth taught this priest how to write, and he instructed him how to carve words onto pillars of stone, and he told him all the wisdom of the gods. In this way, Thoth gave Egyptians all their laws, and he taught them how to perform religious ceremonies (5, page 24)

The priest (of whom some speculate was Imhotep, although more than likely was a variety of priests/physicians) then sat down and carved  all this information into "pillars of stone" (4, page 14), compiling a collection of 42 books.  The pillars of stone were recopied in each village or city, and was available only to priests.  Ultimately Thoth taught a priest to make paper out of stalks of papyrus.  So now, instead of medical wisdom being available one specific temple, scribes made copies, and each physicians had his own medical scroll.

Yet there are other theories regarding Thoth and the "Sacred Books" carved into pillars of stone.  Some speculate he himself wrote these books, which may signify that he was a real person at one time, and a famous physician who became a legend long after his death, and ultimately a god (which was not uncommon in the ancient world). (1, page 6)

While he was worshiped by the Egyptians, Thoth was also worshiped by the Greeks, and the Greeks referred to him as Hermes Trismegistus, and for this reason the books became known to history as the Hermetic books.

In 1856 Pierce Victor Renouard says that most physicians who refer to the Hermetic texts write of it in past tense, as though it exists yet they have not seen it.  By all accounts, the books are lost to history. Along the same lines, the number of books varies from 42 volumes to twenty thousand.

The first 36 books contained basic wisdom of the gods, such as knowledge of astronomy, mandates of religion, church ceremonies, administering justice, philosophy, the art of writing, geography, cosmography, and the knowledge of weights and measures, medicine, etc.  These are often referred to as the Sacred Books. (5, page 24)(8, page 19)

The last six books are also referred to as Embre, Ambre or Scientia Causalitatis. (5, page 24)(8, page 19) (6, page 60)(4, page 4) The name comes from the original passages of these medical texts: "Here begins the book of the preparation of drugs for all parts of the human body."  The Embre, according to Johann Baas, in his 1889 history of medicine, "served as a source of, and a mask for, the vagaries of magic, and the extravagances and frauds of the alchemists." (4, page 4)

This "mask" was necessary due to the bad name sorcerers, physicians, and their potions gained early in Egyptian history.  The only way to learn whether a potion worked, or how much to give, was to try it on the sick, and sometimes this made the patient worse, and sometimes it resulted in death.  Sometimes these remedies were used implicitly for their poisonous qualities to kill unwanted people.  So a bad reputation ensued among the medical profession.

Fielding Hudson Garrison in his 1922 history of medicine explains that alchemy, pharmacology, or "chemistry" comes from references to Egypt by it's ancient name: "The Black Land." He writes how Homer mentioned how the Egyptians were adept as making various drugs by use of the "Black Art." So while Egyptians physicians were not pharmacists per se, they were indeed involved in the "Black Art" as they usually concocted their own potions. (9, page 53) In the older days of Egypt, probably before the Sacred Books were written, physicians accused of practicing the "black art" were sentenced to death (4, page 23)

So the Embre, therefore, was a necessary cover to allow the priests/physicians to do their work, thus allaying some of the fears of the populace.  This must have worked, because medicine in ancient Egypt grew to be a proficient and abounding profession.

The medical texts are broken down as follows: (7, page 4)

• Book 37: Anatomy
• Book 38: Diseases
• Book 39: Surgery
• Book 40: Remedies
• Book 41: Disease of the Eye
• Book 42: Disease of Women

These medical text were memorized and followed to a tee by physicians, as deviating from them made the physician liable if the patient died. Robley Dunglison, in his 1872 history of medicine, says that the script forced physicians to diagnose by the position of the patient, which must be observed as "a mode of discrimination, as may readily be conceived, at once nugatory and absurd." (8, page 25)

Dunglison says:

The blind adherence to the opinions and rules of their predecessors, and the criminality, as it was considered, of all innovation— whilst they continued—effectually prevented any improvement in the science, or as it might, at that time, be more properly styled, the art of medicine.  (8, page 25)

William Hamilton, in his 1831 history of medicine, wrote along similar lines: (10, pages 13-14)

While the door of salutary competition was effectually closed by the exclusion of all but the initiated few, and no opportunities afforded for the display of superior talent, or the exercise of superior skill; it cannot be a matter of surprise that medical knowledge should have remained so long stationary, and should have become almost retrogressive, or that the conquest of disease should have been effected rather by the efforts of nature counteracting the operations of art, or by the fortunate by unpremeditated concurrence of circumstances, than by any combination of skill, or exertion of judgement. (10, pages 13-14)

So from around 2,700 B.C. to the opening of the school of Alexandria in 331 B.C., it was considered as "offensive to the Gods as the the violation even of those bodies which they had slain without compunction in the fields, much more the dissection of those who had died from natural causes in their beds," says William Hamilton in his 1831 history of medicine.   (10, page 8)

Theodor Puschman, in his 1891 history of medicine, explains that even "embalming of corpses exercised thus no beneficial influence upon the development of anatomical knowledge."  While physicians did understand that the heart was the "seat of origin of the blood vessels," they were prevented from, even discouraged, from deviating from the traditional means of mummification.  (11, page 23)

"Hence," Hamilton adds, "it was that men, being destitute of the means of acquiring a just knowledge of the structure, functions, and relative positions, of the human viscera, were unable to form a correct judgement as to the seat or causes of disease, or to adopt a rational method of cure." (10, pages 8-9)

Fielding Hudson Garrison, however, notes in his 1922 history of medicine that Aristotle wrote a century later, in his Politics, that, if after the fourth day the patient was not cured, a physician was allowed to deviate from script, and this allowed for some experimentation to take place. (9, page 49)(10, page 15)

While future generations should be thankful to the Egyptians for the beginning of medicine, we must wait until the this medical knowledge morphed into Greek philosophy for medical wisdom to grow into a flourishing tree.

References:

1. Bradford, Thomas Lindsley, "Quiz questions on the history of medicine: form the lectures of Thomas Lindsley Bradford, M.D," 1898, Philadelphia
2. Withington, Edward theodore, "medical history from the earliest times: a popular history of the art of healing," 1894, London, The Scientific Press
3. Von Klein, Carl H., "The Medical Features of the Papyrus Ebers," The Journal of the American Medical Association, December 23, 1905, Volume 45, page 1928, George H. Simmons, editor, volume XLV, July - December, 1905, Chicago, American Medical Association Press.  This article provides a fuller story of how the document ended up in the hands of Georg Ebers, how it came to existence, etc.  
4. Baas, Johann Herman, author, Henry Ebenezer Sanderson, translator, "Outlines of the history of medicine and the medical profession," 1889, New York
5. Dunglison, Robley, author, Richard James Dunglison, editor,  "History of Medicine from the earliest ages to the commencement of the nineteenth century," 1872, Philadelphia, Lindsay and Blakiston
6. Renouard, Pierce Victor, "History of Medicine: From it's origin to the 19th century," 1856, Cincinnati, Moore, Wistach, Keys and Co., page 26, chapter 1, "Medicine of the Antique Nation."
7. Bryan, Cyril P., translator, "The Papyrus Ebers," 1930, London, Garden City Press
8. Dunglison, Robley, author, Richard James Dunglison, editor,  "History of Medicine from the earliest ages to the commencement of the nineteenth 
9. Garrison, Fielding Hudon, "An introduction to the history of medicine," 1922, Philadelphia and London, W.B. Saunders Company, page 49
10. Hamilton, William, "The history of medicine, surgery, and anatomy, from the creation of the world to the commencement of the nineteenth century," 1831, volume I, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley
11. Puschman, Theodor, translated by Evan H. Hare, "A history of medical education from the most remote to the most recent times," 1891, London, H.K. Lewis

500 B.C.: The Pythagorean Theory of Opposites

One of the themes in our asthma and respiratory therapy history is that asthma and asthma-like conditions were rarely considered important enough to be studied. For this reason the tree of asthma wisdom was ever so small for most of history, growing ever so slowly through the passing years.  Why this occurred may be best explained by the Pythagorean Theory of Opposites.

Consider that for most of history there were far more apparent and deadly diseases than asthma, such as influenza and tuberculosis.  Plus asthma was thought to be a rare disease that killed very few of its victims.  So if you had asthma, chances are you suffered privately, leaving little or no impression on society of the disease that plagued you.

The Pythagorean Theory of Opposites was made famous around 500 B.C. by a famous philosopher by the name of Pythagoras (535-475 B.C.  The theory states that in order to understand something you have to have experienced its opposite. Since few experienced asthma, then few would understand it, and few would have empathy for the plight of the asthmatic.

However, while Pythagoras is often given credit for the theory, it may have actually been created by the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475).  

Heraclitus believed the world was not static but dynamic.  He was a follower of the Pythagorean School, and he was one of the first philosophers of ancient Greece, one of the first people who stated that there was more to the world than that it was just created by the gods.

He believed in the unity of the world, and he believed the essential element of change was fire.  Where fire is involved, great changes occur.  Fire in the body causes sickness just like fire in a home destroys the home. He thus believed fire created air, water and earth.

He believed everything came along due to tension and strife, which can be produced by fire.  A good example is war, which is one of the major causes of change.  He believed that all things are moved by an innate force, and from opposite tensions results harmony.

It was by this theory, some believe, that he developed the theory of opposites. He believed everything had an opposite, and when these two opposites were in harmony you had peace. He believed that all things are moved by an innate force, and from opposite tensions results harmony.

Thus, it is in opposites, he believed, that we become aware of things.  By seeing the sick we appreciate health.  By seeing the dead we appreciate life.  By sleeping we appreciate being awake.  By seeing evil we appreciate goodness.  By seeing antagonists we appreciate protagonists. By seeing hunger we appreciate satiation. By seeing asthma we appreciate breathe.  

When changes occur to one or the other opposite, then this is where your conflict occurs. For example, when both hot and cold are balanced in the body, the body remains healthy. Yet when the heat of your body is increased, you become sick. The same can be said of dry and moist, sweet and bitter, and rest and weary.

It was this same theory that was adapted by the Hippocratic writers when they wrote the Hippocratic Corpus.  They used this theory of opposites to describe how disease was created, and how such imbalances can cause the four humours to become imbalanced, thus resulting in sickness.  So the Pythagorean Theory of Opposites may have been the birth of humoral medicine.

The premise of this theory is that in order to understand the plight of mankind, you have to have walked in their shoes.  In order to understand their suffering, you have to have had exposure to their suffering.

It doesn't have to be a major exposure either. For example, you don't have to get asthma to appreciate the person with asthma; all you have to do is meet an asthmatic, or read about his plight.  

References:

1. Sigerist, Henry E, "A History of Medicine: Early Greek, Hindu and Persian Medicine," Volume II ", 1961, Oxford University Press, pages 88-99

5000-50 B.C.: Egyptian gods of healing

If you were sick with asthma-like symptoms, or any other ailment for that matter, in ancient Egypt you would worship one of the gods of health and healing.  You would probably continue to worship one or more of these gods in health in the hopes that you and your family would stay healthy.  

If you traveled to one of the temples or shrines  for health and healing, a revelation would come to you in your sleep, and be interpreted by one of the priests.  If you were too suck to travel to a temple, a physician who specializes in your ailment would be summoned to your home.  In either case, the priest/physician used knowledge, recipes and incantations provided by the gods to heal you.

Yet the physicians were not alone in keeping the gods happy.  This task was also laid upon every citizen of Egypt, and for this reason there were temples and shrines all over the nation.  Henry Sigerist, in his 1951 book, "A History of Medicine: Primitive and Archaic Medicine," said:

The gods and the dead were considered ever present, influencing man's destinies at every moment, with needs that the living had to satisfy.  They needed homes, temples, and tombs, and they got the best homes of the country.  They needed food, and received it in the form of sacrifices.  They required constant attention and it was given to them by means of preayers and manifold rites.  The house had a shrine in front of which a lamp was kept burning.  Shrines could be found on the wayside and along the river.  and the traveler stopped for a moment, offering a prayer and a few flowers.  Days of public worship, with processions, dances, and general rejoicing, marked the eternal rhythm of nature, celebrating the fertility of the soil or the completion of the harvest, or commemorating events in the life of the gods. (Sigerist, page 268)

Egyptian Mythology centered in Heliopolis, according to egyptianhistory.about.com.  It was based on the Ennead of Heliopolis (near Memphis, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt), which was "the group of gods who created the world." The creation of the world goes something like this, according to egyptianhistory.about.com:

"In the theology of the Ennead (or ogdoad group) of Heliopolis, there is recognition of a time before there was anything. It was thought there was a creative potential in the primeval water, which was personified as the self-generated Nun. From the waters emerged Atum, the source of all creation, often depicted as the sun god Re-Atum who produced Shu and Tefnut when he masturbated or spat... Ennead means a group of 9, but often the list is larger, including wives, offspring, and a splitting up of Atum-Re into two separate deities. Here are the basic 9": (21)

1. Atum (Atum-Re): the spirit that lived inside Nun (see below)
2. Shu: male created by Atum-Re.  He represents air or emptiness
3. Tefnut: sister of Shu.  She was goddess of moisture. 
4. Geb (Earth god - Shu and Tefnut's male offspring)
5. Nut (Sky goddess - Shu and Tefnut's female offspring)
6. Osiris (god of the dead - son of Geb and Nut)
7. Seth (evil brother of Osiris - son of Geb and Nut)
8. Isis (wife/sister of Osiris and mother of Horus)
9. Nephthys (goddess of the dead - wife/sister of Seth)

These gods were the Ennead, and were essentially the ruling class of the world.  There were also four creator gods who created mankind and everything that went with it.  These gods were as follows: 

1. Atum:  Caused the division of the sexes; as Ra-Atum, he represented the evening sun." (22)
2. Khnemu:  Water god and creator of mankind on her potter's wheel (22)
3. Re (Ra, Ammon Re, Amon Re):  Creator of the gods
4. Ptah (Pteh, Peteh, Pitah):    He created things just by thinking of them and speaking their names with his tongue. (23) He was never created, he just exist, he just "is." He is god of craftsmen and architects.  He is husband of Sekhmet and the father of Nefertum and Imhotep (see below). 

Listed below are some of the most revered gods among the ancient Egyptian.  These are the gods you'd pray to for health and healing, for both the individual and for the nation in general*: 

1.  Ra:  According to Britannica.com he was the sun god.  He was also creator of the gods, himself and eight others.  He traveled to the underworld every night and, in order to be born again for a new day, had to "vanish the evil serpent Apopis  He is often referred to as Re or Pra. by the Fourth 

2.  Osiris:  He was the god of the underworld and the afterlife.  (1) According to Britannica.com he was one of the most important gods. He was the "god of fertility and the embodiment of the dead and resurrected king."  He was also responsible for sprouting vegetation and the annual flood (the inundation) of the Nile.  He was mainly responsible, however, for "renewal of life in the next world."  According to legend, "Osiris was slain or drowned by Seth, who tore the corpse into 14 pieces and flung them over Egypt. Eventually, Isis and her sister Nephthys found and buried all the pieces, except the phallus, thereby giving new life to Osiris, who thenceforth remained in the underworld as ruler and judge.  His son Horus successfully fought against Seth, avenging Osiris and becoming the new king of Egypt. "  He was also called Usir. 

3.  Isis:  She was the wife and sister of Osiris, as in those days it was acceptable for mortals and the deity to marry siblings.  She was god of the afterlife or the underworld, and the mother of Horus, and also the mother of the Pharaoh.  She earned respect for her medical wisdom when she brought her son Horus back to life.   She proved her power when she healed her son, Horus, restoring him to life.  She was therefore believed to have medical power, and was worshiped as a god of medicine.  It was her wrath that was believed to be the cause of many diseases.(2)(3) (9, page 23)  She also had many medical remedies named after her, mainly because she was seen as the inventor of many of these remedies.  According to Johann Bass, in his 1889 history of medicine, "Ibis was popularly supposed to have been the hallowed inventor of one of the most useful medical operations -- the use of clysters -- for it was believed that when constipated she administered herself with the aid of her long bill." (2, page 16)

4.  Horus: He is sometimes likened to the Greek god Aesculpius, as many temples of him were built where the sick slept during the night in hopes the god would appear during the night and offer a remedy.  He is also referred to as Oris. The trio of Isis, Osiris, and Horus are often referred to as the holy trinity or a holy family. He communicated with the Pharaohs so that the various kings and queens were the keepers of all the knowledge of the gods on behalf of the Egyptian people.  He is often referred to as the Apollo of the Greeks. (2,3)

5.  Thoth:  He was the best friend of Osirus, and writer, clerk or secretary to the gods, and is thought to be the creator of the arts and sciences, particularly the art of medicine.  As secretary he was the inventor of writing, and the author of all the wisdom of the gods.  He is believed to have shared his knowledge with a priest, who wrote down this knowledge for all physicians to have access to.  These writings are referred to as the Hermetic books, as this god was referred to as Hermes in ancient Greece.  Some suspect the priest he communicated with was Imhotep, which is how Imhotep gained much of his wisdom.  He often appears as having the head of an ibis. The ibis was thought to be skilled in the art of healing, as it used its bill to provide clysters to itself.  It was therefore believed to be the inventor of medical operations. Other names for Thoth are Thout, Thuti, Theath, Thouth, Thot and Taaut. The Greeks called him Hermes Trismegistus, and the Romans called him Mercury.  (2)(3)(9, page 24)(10, page 4 and 5)  Bambilla, a surgeon of Vienna around the year 1783, traced the history of medicine back to Tubal Cain, who was the "grandson of Cain, and the great grandson of Adam, who lived about 3875 years before the birth of our Savior."  He believed Tubal Cain and Thoth were one and the same.  He believes this link is "ingenious and plausible... as the 22nd verse of the 4th chapter of Genesis explicitly informs us, 'an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.'" (10, page 4)  As you will see, many of the gods of the ancient world were probably once real people whose legend made them a god.

6.  Imhotep:  We know now that he was an actual person who lived sometime around 1600 B.C. Some historians thought he actually communicated with the god Thoth.  As time went by after his death, he was so revered that his legacy turned him into a god of health and healing.  Many temples were built to him where people traveled to for a revelation of healing during the night while they slept.  He is also sometimes referred to as being similar to the Greek god Aesculpius.

7.  Pacht:  He often appears as having a head of a cat, and this, perhaps, is why the Egyptians revered the cat as a symbol of health and healing.  They believed to abuse a cat was to cause ill health.  He was the god responsible for health and healing of pregnant women and children. 

8.  Sekhmet:  The god of healing. According to Britannica.com, "a goddess of war and the destroyer of the enemies of the sun god Re. Sekhmet was associated both with disease and with healing and medicine. Like other fierce goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, she was called the 'Eye of Re.'  She was usually depicted as a lioness or as a woman with the head of a lioness, on which was placed the solar disk and the uraeus serpent."  (?)  He also may have been the Egyptian patron goddess of surgeons, and she watched over physicians as they performed surgery, which usually didn't involve anything more than resetting broken bones or cauterizing wounds or sores with a flaming hot tool heated by fire. (Sigerist, page 326)

9.  Hathor:  Goddess of fertility and childbirth, who was later adapted as Aphrodite by the Greeks. According to Britannica.com she was the goddess of the sky, women, fertility and love. She was usually represented in the form of a cow, and was associated with motherhood. 

10.  Bes:  Diety of childbirth. According to Britannica.com she was a minor god "represented as a dwarf with large head, goggle eyes, protruding tongue, bowlegs, bushy tail, and usually a crown of feathers...The god’s figure was that of a grotesque mountebank and was intended to inspire joy or drive away pain and sorrow, his hideousness being perhaps supposed to scare away evil spirits.He was portrayed on mirrors, ointment vases, and other personal articles. He was associated with music and with childbirth and was represented in the “birth houses” devoted to the cult of the child god." (6)  She was also god of marriage, music, happiness and protection 

11.  Apis: He was the sacred bull deity who was skilled in art of healing who originated in the First Dynasty of Egypt around 2800-3100. He was the fertility god concerned with multiplication of grains and herbs. He later became associated with Osirus, god of the underworld, and (5) He may have been a real person, as Greek mythology states he was king of the Argives, and he resigned in order to "travel to Egypt for the express purpose of reclaiming the inhabitants from barbarity, and instructing them in the art of civilized life." He became the Egyptian king, and they "worshipped him after his death, under the similitude of an ox."  (10, page 11)

12.  Serapis:  Skilled in art of healing, he's considered by some as the inventor of medicine. Also called Sarapis. He was Egyptian god of the sun. He was the god of the underworld until Ptolomy I Soter updated his image for the Greeks during the days of Alexandria (around 300 B.).  He was then revered as the sun god and a god of healing and fertility. He was later worshiped by the Romans as well. (4)

13.  Paean:  He is physician to the gods, and is mentioned in the epic poem by Homer (800 B.C.), the Odyssey:  "... there the earth, the giver of grain, bears greatest store of drugs, many that are healing when mixed, and many that are baneful; there every man is a physician, wise above human kind; for they are of the race of Paeon."  In Homer's Illiad Paeon can be seen giving medicine to the god of war Ares, who is wounded in battle by the mortal Diomedes.  (11) According to Britanicca.com, Paean became associated with the Greek god Apollo and Apollo's son Asclepius, who were both associated with health and healing. (12) Another spelling is Paeon, or Paeeon.

14.  Seth (Set, Setesh, Sutekh, Suty):  According to Britannica.com he was the principle god of Upper Egypt.  He is believed to be of mythical origin mainly because he hi represented by various forms, although the canine is the most frequent form.  He was "Originally Seth was a sky god, lord of the desert, master of storms, disorder, and warfare—in general, a trickster. Seth embodied the necessary and creative element of violence and disorder within the ordered world."  Pharoahs as early as the 2nd Dynasty (2775-2650 B.C) recognized themselves as either Seth, Horus, or both.  When the Hyksos ruled Egypt they worshiped Seth alongside their own god Baal. (13) His first wife was Nephtys, and later on his wife was sister of Nephtys, Isis. He killed and mutilated his brother Osiris before his wife of Osiris gathered the pieces, reassembled, him, embalmed him, and brought him back to life as a god. This mythology symbolizes the belief of the Egyptians in the afterlife and the importance of mummification.

15.  Baal:  This was a god of the Hyksos, and since they used their chariots and stellar weapons to defeat the Egyptians and rule the land for a while, we must consider their gods as well.  Baal ruled Egypt with the Egyptian God Seth during the First Intermediate Period.  It's also interesting to note that Baal is referenced to often in the Bible as one of the gods Moses and the Hebrew God had to compete with.  (14, page 231) According to Britannica.com, Baal was worshiped by many Mediterranean societies, especially those originating in Canaan, or by the Canaanites. He was among the most important of all the gods, which makes sense considering his influence over the Hebrews. Baal designated the universal god of fertility, and in that capacity his title was Prince, Lord of the Earth. He was also called the Lord of Rain and Dew, the two forms of moisture that were indispensable for fertile soil in Canaan. In Ugaritic and Old Testament Hebrew, Baal’s epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds. In Phoenician he was called Baal Shamen, Lord of the Heavens." (15)

16. Theoris: She gave birth to the world, and was the protector of pregnant women. According to Sigerist, "she appears with the features of a pregnant hippopotamus standing on her hind legs.  Sometimes she holds the hieroglyph that means 'protection' in one paw and the sign of life in the other.  Her statues are usually small, having been used as amulets, but there are also larger ones." (14, page 242)

17.  Nephtys (Nebthet):  She was the sister of Isis, and, like Isis,had the ability to heal.  Wikepedia.com notes she and her sister watched over funerary rites because they were both protectors of the mummy.  She is the wife of  Seth.  While her sister represented the life or re-birth experience, she represented the death experience. Some myths have her as the mother of funerary deity Anubis. (17)

18.  Anubis:  He is the jackal headed god of mummification and afterlife.  He is the son of Nephtys and Seth, according to Wikepedia. (18)She was goddess of fertility and childbirth. She was also the goddess of benevolence, joy, and jokes. She was also goddess of healing and health.  She was also goddess of generosity and marriage.

19.  Nut:  According to About.com she is the mother goddess and goddess of the sky.  "She is often shown as an arch over the earth and as a protector and nourisher of the dead. (She) is the sun, Re's mother, whom she produces daily and swallows nightly. She is also mother of the stars which are shown inside her. She is part of the Ennead. In the theology of Heliopolis, Nut is a daughter of Shu and Tefnut, granddaughter of Atum, and mother of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Another version has Nut the mother of the "epagomenal"  (19) Henry Sigerist said that "a charm to ease childbirth was spoken over the two bricks on which the woman in labor knelt and it was said furthermore than a sacrifice should be brought to the goddess Nut, by placing mean, geese, and frankincense on a fire." (20, page 281)

20.   Heket: She was yet another goddess of fertility. (20, page 288)

21.  Khnuma (khnemu):  she was Heket's sister, who "on the potter's wheel molded the child and his ethereal double, his Ka.  (20, page 288)  She molded mankind using the potter's wheel, and through her water she "breathed life" into men and women.  (22) It must be understood here that water was understood as the chief source of life, and physicians were masters of this water, and were able to use it through their "water" potions to heal the sick and wounded. So worshiping gods of the water, such as Khnuma, was very important.

22  Nun (Nu):  He is the water.  Before creation mankind and all it needed to survive arose out of the water (Nu), and at the end of the world it will return to the water. According to Britannica.com his name means "primeval waters." He is the father of Re. He created eight members of the ogdoad group of gods of Hermopolis, all except for Atum who just is (see above).  The world was created out of the mud from the waters of Nun. The creation myth was recreated every day  as the sun arose out of the waters of chaos,of Nun. He was also the source of the annual flooding of the Nile. (24)

23.  Other:  Aker was god of earth, fields and poisons, anecdotes and weaving.  Ami ruled over fire. Amu was god of dawn. Anquet was goddess of water, the source of life. Apep was god of darkness, night, storm, and death. Apit is goddess of nursing. Ashkit was goddess of wind. Ashu was another water god. Auf was god of peace, rest and courage. Auit was goddess of nurses and children. Bait was goddess of the soul. Buto offered protection from evil.  Heh was god of longevity, happiness and eternity. Heqet was goddess of fertility, childbirth and creation.  She also offered protection, which is a form of prophylaxis. Khepera was god of healing and exorcism. He was god of miracles and compassion. Nefertem (Nefertum, Nefertemu) was a god associated with Atum was a flower that grew from the waters after the world was created.  By his tears he created mankind. He grew into "the water lily of the sun," and was often referred to as "he who is beautiful."

We also have to include here the rest of the ennead and creator gods: Atum, Shu, Tefnut, and Geb.  Plus there are vver 5,000 other gods were worshiped, and many of these had healing powers.  Also, any one of them had powers to cause disease if you earned their wrath.  (1)

So you can see that there was a fine line in the ancient world between mythology and the priesthood and medical practice, all being influenced by mythology; all being influenced by the gods. "As diseases were considered to be the effects of the anger of the gods," says Robley Dunglison in his 1872 history of medicine, "they could not be cured until the wrath of these estimated powerful beings was appeased.  The awe, however, with which the dieties were regarded, and the weaknesses of the diseased, required the aid of mediators who might improve pardon for them.  In the hands of the priests, consequently, the healing art was nothing more than an absurd worship paid to the different divinities of the country..." (9, page 27)

While physicians had access to natural medicines, these medicine were believed to have worked by magical means, and and these remedies were essentially gifts from one or another of the gods. Temples were build to worship most of these gods, with some of the more famous in Memphis, Thebes and Heliopolis.  Priests were educated at these temples regarding the wisdom of the gods, and the sick would sleep in them in the hopes the god would appear and offer a remedy while they slept  The process of priestly preparations --perhaps consisting of burning insence, making animal sacrifices and incantations -- and of the godly appearance revelation of a remedy was called an inundation.

The most commonly sought out temples for healing were probably those of Thoth and later Imhotep, who are most likened to the Greek god Aesculpius, who also has a significant impact on our medical history.
As you might imagine, these Egyptian inundations had a significant impact on Greek medicine, with the most common temples visited by the Greeks being held at Heliopolis.

*Most of these gods have more than one name, depending on who was referring to them.  To the best of my ability I will list as many of these names as I can.  The power and influence of these gods varied, with some gods gaining more influence and others less over time.  For the sake of simplicity I'm just listing the basic components of these gods. 

Further reading:

• 5000-50 B.C.: Egyptian gods educate physicians
• 5000-50 B.C.: The role of the Bible in medicine
• 5000-50 B.C.: The Ebers Papyrus: the first asthma remedy? 
• 800 B.C.- 800 A.D.: Asclepius will heal your asthma
• 2600 B.C.: Imhotep invents rational medicine

References:

1. Carruthers, Martyn, "Ancient Egyptian Healing:, www.soulwork.net, http://www.soulwork.net/projects/ancient_egypt_healing.htm, acce, accessed 3/21/13
2. Baas, Johann Herman, author, Henry Ebenezer Sanderson, translator, "Outlines of the history of medicine and the medical profession," 1889, New York, pages 14-17
3. Bradford, Thomas Lindsley, "Quiz questions on the history of medicine: form the lectures of Thomas Lindsley Bradford, M.D," 1898, Philadelphia, pages 3-4
4. "Serapis," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/523970/Serapis, accessed 3/21/13
5. "Apis," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/29660/Apis, accessed 3/21/13
6. "Bes" Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/62971/Bes, accessed 3/21/13
7. "Hathor," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256862/Hathor, accessed 3/21/13
8. "Re," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/492674/Re, accessed 3/21/13
9. Dunglison, Robley, author, Richard James Dunglison, editor,  "History of Medicine from the earliest ages to the commencement of the nineteenth century," 1872, Philadelphia, Lindsay and Blakiston
10. Hamilton, William, "The history of medicine, surgery, and anatomy, from the creation of the world to the commencement of the nineteenth century," 1831, volume I, London, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley
11. "Paean (god)," Wikepedia.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paean_(god)#cite_note-2, accessed 3/29/113; references referred to (1) : Homer, "Odyssey," Book 4, line 219, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D219 ,accessed 3/29/13; and (2)  Homer, "Iliad," Book 5, line 899, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D899, accessed 3/29/13
12. "Paean," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/438077/paean, accessed 3/29/13
13. "Seth,"Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/536211/Seth, accessed 4/18/13
14. Sigerist, Henry E,' "A History of Medicine: Primitive and Archaic Medicine," volume I, 1951, New York, Oxford University Press
15. "Baal(ancient Deity)", "Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/47227/Baal, accessed 4/18/13
16. "Amon (Egyptian god)," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/21208/Amon, accessed 4/18/13
17. "Nehthys," Wikepedia.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephthys, accessed 4/18/13
18. "Anubis," Wikepedia.com, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubis, accessed 4/18/13
19. "Nut- Egyptian Goddess," ancienthistory.about.com, http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/nutmyth/g/050110Nut.htm, accessed 4/20/13
20. Sigerist, Henry E, "A History of Medicine: Archaic and Primitive Medicine," volume I, 1951, New York, Oxford University Press
21. "Ennead of Heliopolis," ancienthistory.about.com, http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egyptmyth1/g/051710EnneadofHeliopolis.htm, accessed 4/20/13. The Ennead was defined in a variety of places, although I find this one to be the simplest to understand, at least for our purposes. 
22. "Egypt-Gods," ancienthistory.about.com, http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/egyptmyth/a/071809EgyptianGodsTable.htm, accessed 4/20/13
23. "Ancient Egypt: the Mythology," egyptianmyths.net, http://www.egyptianmyths.net/ptah.htm, accessed 4/20/13
24. "Nun," Britannica.com, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/422462/Nun, accessed 4/20/13

331 B.C- 619 A.D..: The School of Alexandria

Figure 1 --Alexander the Great had a vision of creating
a great city, and compiling all the science and wisdom of
the world in one place.  He died before he was 32, thus
not living to see his dream come true. 

The evolution of medicine was slow moving through most of history.  One of the reasons for this was that it was illegal to touch a human corpse except in preparing it for burial or cremation.  This was one of the main reasons Galen's ignorant explanations of the human body were worshiped as the medical Bible for over a thousand years after his death.  This created a roadblock for learning about diseases like asthma and allergies.

This roadblock made it so it was nearly impossible for there to be any major advancements in medicine.  If someone learned something about the human body by dissecting, it was usually done by stealing a corpse from a graveyard, or from a prison, and performed illegally.  And the information learned was kept secret from a monarchy that might kill you, or at least throw you in prison, for learning something that opposed the view of the establishment. So even if something was learned, it was probably never published.  And if it was published, it was so posthumously. 

Thankfully, however, there were a few places scattered around the world where it was legal to perform autopsies.  It was at these places where physicians would flock to obtain medical knowledge, and patietns would flock to get the best treatment.  Among the first such place was the great city of Alexandria in Egypt. 

Alexander the Great is considered one of the greatest military leaders of all time.  Born in 356 B.C. in Macedonia, a city just north of Greece (Macedonia was not a city-state like Athens and Sparta).  He spent his childhood watching his father, Phillip II, build Greece into a great military power, winning battle after battle. (1)

When he was 13 Aristotle was hired to be his personal tutor.  Like other Greeks, he learned about science, medicine, and philosophy.  (1) Aristotle taught him to read and speak Greek, and taught him to respect philosophy the way the Greeks did.  He loved Greece, it's gods, it's history, and he dreamed of teaching it's culture to people all over the world. (2)

Figure 2 -- A rendering of Ancient Alexandria.  The lighthouse
you see depicted here was one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world.  This was one of the most beautiful cities ever.

His father, Phillip, conquered most of the Greek city-states, and when his father died he went on to conquer many nations, including Egypt.  As he did in other places he conquered, he championed Greek culture.  "The rapid extension of Grecian arms under Alexander the Great, lead to the diffusion of taste and learning among the surrounding nations.  Pergamus and the new capital of Egypt (Alexandria), became points of scientific attraction second only to Athens; and with the spread of general knowledge, the study of medicine extended to these cities.  (4, page 74)

The Asclepion of Pergamus was surrounded with "were occupied as places of public instruction and scientific intercourse.  Here the orators, sophists, and philosophers of the city, held their daily conferences, and sometimes amused themselves in expounding to the sick the vaticinations of the priests. As a school of medicine, the Asclepion of Pergamus enjoyed a long continued celebrity." (4, page 74)

Alexander died in 323 B.C. of a mysterious illness in the palace of Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon.  He was only one month shy of his 32nd birthday.  At this time the Egyptian portion of Alexander's empire was given to Ptolomy Soter (367-282 B.C.), the brother of Alexander. 

Figure 3 -- The library of Alexandria was one of the largest libraries
in the ancient world.  Physicians came from all over the world
to study here.  Unfortunately it was destroyed by barbarians.
Can you just imagine if this was never destroyed?  Perhaps medical
knowledge would have been advanced faster, and there would be
better asthma and allergy knowledge today, and maybe even better
medicine, or a cure.  If I could go back in time, I'd want to go to the
City of Alexandria during its glory days and peruse ancient writings

Like Alexander, Ptolomy loved arts and sciences, and he formed the great library of Alexandria, and he placed Aristotle in charge of it.  (3, page 33) The flow knowledge through this city was so abundant its great library "rendered Alexandria the great repository of science and wisdom." Some estimate that by the reign of Ptolomy Philadelphus (36-29 B.C.) the library had accumulated a collection " about two hundred thousand rolls of papyrus, equal to about ten thousand of our modern printed volumes." (4, page 79)

Ptolomy also started Museum of College of Philosophy, or the school of Alexandria, in 331 B.C., which is described best by John Watson:

It's chief apartment was a lecture room and place of general concourse.  Around the main building, on the outside, was a covered walk or portico.  And connected with it was an Exhedra, in which the philosophers sometimes sat in the open air... This noble institution was originally designed to serve in part as a school for the training of  youth in the higher walks of learning, and in part as a retreat within which men of genius and acquirements, free from the necessary and providing for their daily wants, might have leisure and opportunity, each in his own way, for extending the domain of science, or for increasing the enjoyments of improving the condition of their fellow beings. (4, pages 77-8)

Figure 4 -- Ptolomy

By the time of Ptolomy Philadelphus the school "had already risen to the highest rank among the Greek schools. (4, page 79) One of the main reasons for this was that for the first time in the ancient world, dissection was lagal in Alexandria.  This was significant, because religion made even touching a human corpse illegal in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.  Now, for the first time in history, the human body could be studied, and it was.  In this way Aristotle was able to describe the insides of the human body by actual dissection. (3, page 33)  

The school was also a place for public lectures and readings, which were very important in Alexandria, as in all ancient civilizations.  This was because books were expensive and few could read.  Great minds would orally educate about the common wisdom of the day, and readers, or orators, would "familiarize" people with the writings of Homer and other great authors of the day. (4, page 82) Watson explains:

Among the Greeks this had been the common mode of enlightening the people, of amusing them, and of molding their opinion.  Most of the poetry, and much of the written history of the nation, were prepared for public recitation.

Placed in charge of medicine at the school were Erasistratus and Herophilus.

Erasistratus (304-250 B.C.) was from the Isle of Chios, and was the grandson of Aristotle.  Herophilus (335-280 B.C.) was a native of Chalcedon and was educated at the school of Cos. (4, page 85) 


Figure 5 -- Aristotle

Along with Aristotle, they both made stunning observations, and postulated various hypothesis based on these observations.  For instance, Erasistratus discovered that the trachea was a passageway for air (pneuma) to the lungs, and he discovered veins and arteries both originate from the heart.  Only he, like Aristotle,  believed the arteries were filled with air not blood, and hence the name 'arteries.'  And the passage of pneuma from the veins to arteries was the cause of disease(3, page 35-6, 4, page 86))

He disregarded the four humors of Hippocrates and the four elements of Empedocles, and instead postulated that fevers were caused by inflammation.  He was not a believer in purgatives and most medicine, and instead preferred a a good diet and gymnastics.  Some believe he was the first to recommend exercise as a means to stay healthy and for healing.  (4, page 86)

Herophilus was among the "first of the Hippocratic school to distinguish himself as an atomist."  He was the first to use the pulse as an "index of varying conditions of health and disease."(4, page 84)  He properly attributed the pulsations of the arteries to the heart. 




Figure 6 -- Herophilus

Of interest is that Herophilus was charged with opening "the bodies of living criminals, to discover the secret springs of life."  (3, page 35)  Unlike Erasistratus, he was a believer in the hypothesis that imbalances of the four humors cause most diseases.  (4, page 85)  He revered Hippocrates to the point that "when obliged to contradict him he always avoided mentioning his name."   Also unlike his counterpart he placed a "high value on drugs, which he called, 'the hands of the gods,' and used them in great variety.  (5, page 62-3)

Erasistratus was an empiracist.  Herophilus was a rationalist. In this way, "the same rivalry which existed in Greece between Cos and Cnidos arose also between Alexandria and Pergamus, in which later place Galen was born, and Aesculapius was held in great respect as one of its most celebrated divinities."  (3, page 36-37)

Regardless, anyone who wanted to be a physician in the ancient world was eager to learn at the school of medicine in Alexandria, as "to have studied medicine at Alexandria, was everywhere considered a passport to the confidence and patronage of the public."  (4, page 92) The school continued "its celebrity as a seat of learning and as a school of medicine, until it was taken by Saracens in 638 of the Christian era."  (3, page 36)

Figure 7 -- 1532 woodcut showing Herophilus (L) and Erasistratus (R)

Alexandria would fall in 619 A.D., and that ended whatever medical wisdom came out of it.  Many of it's wonders were destroyed by barbarians, including it amazing library.  As the library went up in flames, so to did all medical wisdom except for random scrolls scattered here and there.  (6, page 150-2) (7, page 28)

Until the  School of Salerno was established in the 10th century, there were no known autopsies performed, and medicine was left in limbo, or what historians like to refer to as the dark ages of medicine.  (6, page 150-2) (7, page 28)

References:

1. "Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography: King of Macedonia and Conqueror of the Persian," historyofmacedonia.org, http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html
2. "Alexander the Great: Ancient Greece for kids," mrdonn.org, http://greece.mrdonn.org/alexander.html
3. Meryon, Edward, "History of Medicine: comprising a narrative of its progress from the earliest ages to the present and of the delusions incidental to its advance from empericism to the dignity of a science," volume I, London, 1861,
4. Watson, John, "The medical profession in ancient times," 1856, Baker and Godwin, New York
5. Withington, Edward Theodore, "Medical history from the earliest times,"
6. Garrison, Fielding Hudson, "An introduction to the history of medicine," 1922, Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders Company
7. The John Hopkins Hospital bulleton," (volume XV 1904), "from the epoch of the Alexandria School (300 B.C.)"