Plants for Healing in Papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.75+.86

Unger, Juliane (2022) Plants for Healing in Papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.75+.86. In: Aegyptus et Pannonia VIII. : Acta Symposii anno 2021. Magyar-Egyiptomi Baráti Társaság, Ókori Egyiptomi Bizottság, Budapest, pp. 223-237. ISBN 978-615-6571-02-1

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Abstract

This paper aims to give an overview of the plants and plant-based products used in the yet unpublished medical papyrus Brooklyn 47.218.75+.86, recto. The text is of special interest on the one hand for its date in the 26th Dynasty, from which not many medical papyri have yet been published, and on the other hand for the focus of its prescriptions. A considerable number of them is directed at the treatment of ailments afflicting the back of the ancient patient – a subject yet nearly unattested in Egyptian medical texts. Further remedies are prescribed for afflictions of the lower abdomen, the urinary tract, against intestinal worms and the influence of evil spirits. Another medical text dating slightly later and focusing on gynaecological ailments was written on the verso of this papyrus, but its poorer state of preservation does not allow for drawing extensive conclusions. Apart from statistics on the employment of plants and other substances in this papyrus one example of a healing plant that has not yet been attested in Egyptian texts will be presented in detail showing possible methods for its identification. It will become obvious how each newly published text can still greatly broaden our knowledge of ancient Egyptian medicine and pharmacology and may also shed some light on the transfer of medicinal knowledge between Egypt and its neighbours.

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