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Book Review:The Physicians of Pharaonic Egypt Paul Ghalioungui

Article  in  Journal of Near Eastern Studies · January 1988

DOI: 10.1086/373292

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Review
Reviewed Work(s): The Physicians of Pharaonic Egypt by Paul Ghalioungui
Review by: Robert K. Ritner
Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Jul., 1988), pp. 199-201
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/544968
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 JULY 1988 BOOK REVIEWS 199

its larger sense or the whole sacred

the Coptic ooywn,'5 with the general meaning
This accords with Spencer's
of 'sanctuary' or 'sacred area', a point conclusio
in favor
fact, there is nothing toof exclude
of Spencer's interpretation the term. The an
tation of wbi as question the open
of whether wb3 refersspace
in general to the in fro
temple faqade and sacred much
domain of the temple to or more speci-
recommen
is clearly the case when
fically the in
to the open area immediately temple
front of of
III at Karnak is mentioned as being
the temple faqade is typical of the problems to i
(P. Harris I 5,4 and 5,11,
be faced in defining the exact shadescf. of mean- RIK II,
1. 48), since we know ing of Egyptianthe architectural terms. These are
location of t
and the fact that not the
always easy first
questions to resolve,pylonas many at K
not yet built, so timesthat the
the Egyptians seem Ramesses
to be careless in their
was in fact positioned in Their
application of specific terms. front
use of syne- of th
faqade of that period. doche or pars pro totoThreefurther complicates otherour me
houses or temples efforts inat understanding
the the wb precise meaning
can be as
apply to similar situations
of these words. The convenient compilation (P. of Harr
58,1 and 60,7), although the material provided by in Patricia Spencer,
these cases
no proof."3 Six examples presented in a clear and concise
indicateformat, is in that
or libations were itself amade in tothe
significant contribution our under- wb (P
6,1; 27,4; 28,11; 29,5 and 48,9; cf. MH III, standing of the problem and will serve as a
pl. 142), which is understandable, since this was
handy reference for further research as we con-
the most accessible part of the temple. Trees, tinue to grapple with the subject of the ancient
flowers, and gardens, known to be planted in Egyptian temple and its place in the society in
front of temples are noted in the wb3 (P. Harriswhich it played such an important part.
I 7,7; 29,8 and 49, 7),14 doorkeepers are on duty
(P. Harris I 28, 7), and captives are presented STEVEN BLAKE SHUBERT

there (P. Harris I 7, 3). Also, colossal statues Toronto, Canada

are mentioned in the wbE of a Heliopolitan
temple (P. Harris I 27, 4); along with obelisks
and flagstaves mentioned above as being found 15 Wolfhart Westendorf, Koptisches Handworter-
in the wbS, this completes the items which can buch (Heidelberg, 1965-77), p. 552.
be expected to decorate the faqade of an Egyp-
tian temple. The final example from P. Harris I
3,5 is another example of hyperbole referring
to the royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings as
being 'opposite' or 'in front of' (r hft hr) theThe Physicians of Pharaonic Egypt. By PAUL
wb3 of Karnak temple. Taken together, this GHALIOUNGUI. Deutsches Archiiologisches
evidence only strengthens the case for an in- Institut Abteilung Kairo, Sonderheft 10.
timate connection between the wbE and the Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern,
temple fagade. 1983. Pp. xi + 115.
Although Spencer states that wb? was notIn continuation of his earlier surveys of
retained into Coptic (p. 13), it does survive Egyptian
in medicine,' Ghalioungui has under-
taken the task of producing an updated ver-
sion of the fundamental prosopographical
12 Christophe, "Le Vocabulaire d'architecture monu-
mentale d'aprbs le papyrus Harris I," Milanges Mas-
study of Egyptian doctors assembled by Frans
pero, vol. 1, fasc. 4, MIFAO 66/4 (Cairo, 1961),
p. 24.
13 See also F. Daumas, "La Structure du Mammisi I P. Ghalioungui, Magic and Medical Science in
de Nectanebo k Dendera," BIFA O 50 (1952): 149. Ancient Egypt (New York, 1963) and Health and
14 See also Serge Sauneron, "Remarques de philo- Healing in Ancient Egypt (with Zeirah el Dawakhly),
logie et d'6tymologie," Milanges Mariette, Biblio- Egyptian Organization for Authorship and Transla-
thbque d'6tude 32 (Paris, 1961): 245. tion (Cairo, 1965).

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200 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES VOL. 47 No. 3

Jonckheere in 1958.2 As various additions andbe translated "Would that... !"

should not
butapparent
revisions to this corpus have become must be recognized as a nickname for
in the intervening quarter century since the
'Imn-htt3 "Amon is pleased."' The name Ns-
pi-mdw cannot represent "He belongs to the
publication of this earlier work, Ghalioungui's
Divine
revised listing is a most welcome additionWords"tobecause mdw "word" is femi-
the study of the medical profession in Egypt. whereas "staff" is masculine (ps
nine (t3 md.t),
The most innovative aspect of thismdw).6 Similarly, the title of a female cho-
new study
is the tabular summation of the obtainable achyte is not t3-syn but only syn (better swn.t),
evidence regarding hierarchical ranking, types
for the t3 is only the feminine definite article.7
and numbers of specialists, geographicalWhere and the author is forced to rely upon the
temporal distributions, social standing,work and of others, he cannot be responsible for
even name formations of physicians. As certain Gha- flaws. Thus the peculiar translation
"white house" for "treasury" (pr-hId, literally
lioungui notes, however, the resulting statistics
are far better illustrations of the fragmentary
"house of silver") is Badawy's,8 and the his-
nature of our evidence than of the actual torical summary of the predynastic union (p.
medical situation in ancient Egypt. Thus 88) from
for Emery would find many skeptics
the Old Kingdom, statistics yield 5.3 today. physi-One unfortunate mistranslation from
cians per century, for the Middle Kingdom Jonckheere of a French homonym results in a
4.7, for the New Kingdom 8.1, and for the
"physician of colons" instead of the intended
Late Period only 1.9.3 Certainly these "physician
figures of colonists" (p. 72).
cannot be accepted literally, and the degree Moreto
important for the study are two over-
which they may reflect actual trends riding is quite
philosophical attitudes which in my eyes
uncertain and must rest on subjective artificially
evalua- restrict the scope of the work. First,
tion. Ghalioungui is far more disposedthe arbitrary
than I exclusion of Ptolemaic and De-
to consider them as valuable indicators. Thus motic evidence (cf. p. 35, no. 137) does not
the supposed scenario regarding specialists-- reflect a genuine historical break in medical
proliferation in the Old Kingdom, disappear- traditions. One may justifiably exclude Greek
ance in the New Kingdom and return in physicians
the from the corpus, but native evi-
Late Period-seems to me much more a matter dence from this period is copious and valu-
of documentation than fact. able. Thus Demotic texts provide examples of
As a physician, and not an Egyptologist, the hierarchy (cf. the wr-swnw "chief physician")
author has attempted to address a general in the wisdom text of 'Onchsheshonqy' and
audience interested in the history of medicine specialists (swnw-ir.t "eye doctor"),10 as well
as well as the specialist in ancient Egypt. Toas indications of the relative wealth of such
this end are included an appendix of the Egyp-practitioners and the question of their relation
tian alphabet, attempted translations of physi-to embalmers, etc." Second, the distinction
cians' names, a one-page summary of the
origin of the "double administration," and the
5 Ranke, PN 1, pp. 233, n. 2 and 234, n. 1.
phonetic rendering of Egyptian words (for
6 Ghalioungui, Physicians, p. 61, n. 12 and pp. 19,
example, imakhou for imEhw) throughout. 32, 57, and 59.
Ghalioungui justifiably notes the frustration of 7 Ibid., p. 92.
the non-Egyptologist in dealing with special- 8 Ibid., p. 67, from A. Badawy, OrAnt 9 (1970):
ized material,4 and it is precisely in this area325, paired with Pr-nb "house of gold."
9 S. R. K. Glanville, The Instructions of cOnch-
that the book encounters its greatest problems. sheshonqy, Catalogue of Demotic Papyri in the
Thus the personal name Hwy (p. 33, no. 124)British Museum, vol. 2 (London, 1955), pp. 2-11.
10o See K. Th. Zauzich, Schreibertradition, p. 20,
n. 146.
2 Frans Jonckheere, Les Midicins de l'Egypte 11 For the transactions of a family of embalmers,
pharaonique (Brussels, 1958). htm.w-ntr (cf. Ghalioungui, Physicians, p. 6), see
3 Ghalioungui, Physicians, p. 94. P. Pestmann, OMRO 44 (1963): 8-23. In general,
4 Ibid., p. x. late documents should not be ignored as represent-

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 JULY 1988 BOOK REVIEWS 201

maintained throughout
Instead of line drawingsthe volume
which have served in
magical and medical practitioners
the past, here the plates are reproduced from re
not the Egyptian attitude,
color photographs, but
the quality of that
which could
hardly be
modern physician. improved. Though
Extant the space is
medical t
not support the cramped,
assertion
the photographer, that docto
Dieter Johanes,
magic disappeared in
has made the
sharp, New
evenly-lighted Kingdo
copies of the
only to reappear
walls. in the Late Perio
seems at all times to
As no otherhave been could
method of reproduction a viab
of Egyptian medicine, soto much
illustrate, the damage the painted wallso t
surfaces is quite evident. This the
basic word for "prescription" orshades"rem
of
the equal nuancegray of "potion"
in a black ormight
and white photograph "spel
not always make clear. Nor could any other
ROBERT K. RITNER method show the crude later repainting of the
areas of exposed flesh, except the faces, of the
The University of Chicago
figures of the men and women, which is
especially clear on plate 4.
ing simply debased or highly modified traditions. The excellent plan of the tomb, which is not
Thus the magical role of the "House of Life"
included in the table of contents, is between
(questioned by Ghalioungui, Physicians, pp. 91-92)
is best demonstrated in the late ritual papyrus pages 8 and 9.
published by Philippe Derchain, Le Papyrus Salt
825 (B.M. 10051) (Brussels, 1965). CHARLES F. NIMS

The University of Chicago

A Theban Private Tomb: Tomb No. 295. By

EL SAYED ALY HEGAZY and MARIO TosI.
The Rock Tombs of El-Hawawish: The Ceme-
Deutsches Archiologisches Institut, Abtei-
tery of Akhmim. Vols. 3 and 4. By NAGUIB
lung Kairo, Archaologische Ver6iffentlichun-
gen 45. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern, 1983. KANAWATI. Sydney: Macquarie Ancient His-
Pp. 34 + 12 pls. + 1 plan, color. DM 120. tory Association with the Rundle Founda-
The owner of the tomb was Dhutmose, also tion for Egyptian Archaeology, 1982 and
known as Paroy, a priest in the place of 1983. Vol. 3, pp. 48 + 35 figs. + 11 pls.; Vol.
embalming, who lived during the reign of4, pp. 48 + 34 figs. + 14 pls. ?17.75 [distri-
Thutmosis IV and perhaps into the reign of buted by Aris & Phillips, Teddington House,
Amenhotep III. The scenes are of funeraryChurch St., Warminster, Wilt., England].
offerings and the memorial meal in which the Rare indeed are the archaeological publica-
relatives of the deceased, past and present, tions
are which appear in the very same year that
shown participating. the expedition took place. From 1980 to 1983,
The text gives a description of each scene,Professor Kanawati directed four seasons of
work in the rock tombs of El-Hawawish near
making clear details which are not immediately
evident on the plates because of the damageAkhmim,
to and each of the resulting reports
appeared less than a year after the work was
the walls. The hieroglyphic texts are carefully
copied and translated. The authors consider completed. Vols. 3 and 4 basically follow the
Sennetjer to be the father of Dhutmose, but same
the format devised for the first two volumes
of the series.' Each tomb is covered in a
text shown on plates 5 and 9A, copied on page
separate chapter which briefly discusses the
22, says that the offering was made by Sennet-
jer's great-grandson through the female line,
whose name has been effaced.
I For some reviews of earlier volumes, see M.
This is an exemplary publication of a tombValloggia, CdE59 (1984): 93-96; R. Drrbiikdhn, BiOr
in which the decoration is painted on plaster.
41 (1984): 86-87.

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