Ancient Remedies
What were stones and herbs used for before systems of writing?
Medicine / healing.
What type of surgery was practiced in the Neolithic era?
Trepanation (drilling holes in the skull)
Who is known as the “Father of Medicine”?
Hippocrates
What treatment for wounds used by the Egyptians is still used today?
Honey
What metal did the Romans use for surgical tools?
Bronze (later iron/steel)
What plant used in Ancient times has properties like aspirin?
Willow bark.
When was the first known use of dentistry?
Around 7000 BCE
What is Hippocrates’ main contribution to medical ethics?
The Hippocratic Oath
What treatment for wounds used by the Egyptians is still used today?
Treatable, uncertain, untreatable.
Why were Roman surgical tools innovative?
They were precise and specialized.
How was medicine for malaria discovered?
From cinchona bark (quinine)
What metal did the Romans use for surgical tools?
Bronze (later iron/steel)
What did Hippocrates believe caused illness?
Imbalance of the four humors.
What did Egyptians use to study the human body?
Mummification
What did Romans build that improved public health?
Aqueducts and sewers.
What is an example of a treatment from ancient times that we don’t use today?
Bloodletting / animal dung poultices / trepanation
Why were Roman surgical tools innovative?
They were precise, durable, and specialized
Who’s the Roman physician whose theories shaped medicine for 1,000 years?
Galen
What role did priests play in Egyptian medicine?
They acted as healers and linked medicine with religion.
Which Greek theory influenced Roman medicine?
The four humors.
What did ancient people believe caused sickness before germs were discovered?
Evil spirits or supernatural forces.
How did early surgeons prevent infection?
They didn’t — infections were common.
About how many texts are in the Hippocratic Corpus?
Around 60
What was the Ebers Papyrus?
An ancient Egyptian medical text.
What did Romans use military hospitals (valetudinaria) for?
Treating wounded soldiers.