Zeitschrift für Infektionskrankheiten und Präventivmedizin
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Crime and Punishment in Ancient Surgery: An Examination of Assyrian and Egyptian Physicians

Amana Ali and Johna SD

The history of physicians’ roles in ancient Babylonia and Egypt has been studied and documented extensively, however, surgeons’ roles in these societies are somewhat less understood. Ancient Assyrian/Babylonian surgeons were subject to severe punishments and faced a difficult environment in which to develop surgical treatments; yet they did undertake Cesarean sections, ophthalmic operations, and trephinations. Egyptian surgeons, on the other hand, seem to have been offered more protection though a rigid hierarchy, leading to more freedom. They performed a wider range of operations and were even allowed experimental treatments in certain circumstances. We sought to explore these roles and their impact on surgical development in these influential historic eras.