THE HARVEIAN ORATION, 1904
The first evidence of definite inquiry, in any
degree worthy to be called scientific by a body of
men specially educated for, and devoting their
lives to medical service, occurs in the early history
of Egypt. The ability, learning, and artistic skill
shown during the early dynasties, which all
Egyptologists recognize, are paralleled by the
remarkable interest then manifested in medicine.
Works on anatomy and medicine are stated to have
been written even by the early sovereigns of
Egypt. Athothis, the son of Menes, who lived
six thousand years ago, is stated in the Berlin
papyrus to have written a book on medicine, and
I shall soon have to quote from the anatomical
writings of the Pharaoh Usaphais, one of his
successors; Semti, the seventh monarch of the
same dynasty, pursued similar investigations. It
is clear that, like the Greeks, these men in the
childhood of the world believed that vylaivew μèv
aporov σTIV, sanitation was to them the first of the
sciences.
THE MEDICINE GOD I-EM-HOTEP
During the third dynasty, about the year 3,500 B.C. there lived a learned physician (pro- bably a priest of Ra, the sun-god) the founder of a cult, whose eminence was such that in course of he is deified and becomes for later genera- tions the special god of medicine. His temples ages 1. In all estimations of date I have taken the lower limit, thus probably much understating the remoteness of the events recorded.
