10 Major Contributions Ancient Egyptians Made to Modern Medicine

Dental Bridges

Physicians in ancient Egypt proved to be masters of dentistry and had already learned how to craft effective dental bridges. According to the British Dental Journal, on several occasions early dental bridges were discovered on ancient Egyptian skulls, and three of the teeth are on display at various museums with evidence of the bridges still in tact.

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Pain Killers and Anesthesia

For thousands of years, ancient Egyptians already had a thorough understanding of painkillers and laid the foundation for modern-day medical means of pain relief. Both the Edwin Smith Papyrus and the Ebers Papyrus make note of the fact that ancient Egyptians already had knowledge of the narcotics in natural herbs like the water lily and lotus, cannabis, the poppy and the mandrake. They used these natural remedies to control pain long before Europeans figured out the natural powers of such herbs.

Splinting Broken Bones

Sir Grafton Elliot Smith in the early years of the 20th century revealed fractures of some 5,000 years ago that had healed property thanks to the Egyptians’ medical expertise. The skeletons of ancient Egyptians revealed that they already discovered how to splint bones so they would heal properly after being broken. Even modern medical journals have noted this major contribution by the Egyptians. Thousands of years ago, Egyptians were already creating splints out of bark and cushioning them with linen.

Antibiotics

It turns out that Alexander Fleming’s discovery of using a certain type of mold as an antibiotic wasn’t as original as many initially believed. Thousands of years before he discovered penicillin, ancient Egyptian papyri suggest priest-doctors were using moldy bread as an antibiotic, according to Mark Nelson, an editor of Tetracyclines in Biology, Chemistry and Medicine.

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Amputations and Prosthetics

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilian University noted that ancient Egyptians weren’t just pioneers when it came to natural treatments, they also had a thorough understanding of surgical processes including amputations and giving people prosthetic limbs. In one case, the researchers noted that the ancient Egyptians successfully amputated a man’s toe and created a wooden prosthetic one to improve the man’s balance.

Draining Abscesses

Many scholars have noted the incredible advances the Egyptians made in dentistry. As one report by theBBC explained, ancient papyri revealed that medical experts of the time not only knew how to successfully extract teeth, but they were able to successfully drain dental abscesses on a regular basis. Modern academic journals suggest that dental surgeons of the time used hollow reeds and natural anesthetic to drain dental abscesses.

Pomegranate to Kill Worms

According to Pomegranates: Ancient Roots to Modern Medicine, Ancient Egyptian papyri listed pomegranate as a way to cure “snakes of the digestive system.” These “snakes” were what modern physicians would refer to as worms. Modern medical studies also revealed that the ancient Egyptians were absolutely right to treat worms with the fruit. Modern scientists confirmed that the high tannin content in pomegranate can actually paralyze worms. Using the fruit to treat worms remained a very common medical practice for quite some time.

Benefits of Mint

Even today, many doctors will tell you that mint can be used to help ease gastric pains. While some people are still just now realizing the benefits of mint, the Ebers Papyrus reveals that ancient Egyptians had been utilizing the herb for centuries as a way to treat gastric ailments.

Aloe for Skin

It would be hard for anyone to walk down the personal-care aisle in the grocery store and not see a bottle of lotion promoting that there is aloe in it. Modern Americans often pay no mind to whether or not aloe is in their lotion, but perhaps they should. Aloe is an incredibly healthy natural method to heal and soothe conditions that ancient Egyptians used thousands of years ago, according to the University of Manchester’s Dr. Jackie Campbell.

Celery for Rheumatism

Today, researchers have discovered that celery seed is an effective anti-inflammatory that can be used as treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. According to a report by Medical Daily, ancient Egyptian papyri made mention of celery and saffron as a form of treatment for rheumatism.

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