Ancient Babylonian Medicine (eBook)

Markham J. Geller is Professor of Semitic Languages at University College London and Professor for the History of Science at the Free University Berlin. He is the author of Evil Demons: Canonical Utukku Lemnutu Incantations (2007) and Melothesia in Babylonia (2014), editor of Melammu, the Ancient World in an Age of Globalization (2014), and co-editor of Disease in Babylonia(2007) and Imagining Creation (2008).

List of Illustrations viii

List of Abbreviations x

Acknowledgments xii

Introduction to Babylonian Medicine and Magic 1

1 Medicine as Science 11

2 Who Did What to Whom? 43

3 The Politics of Medicine 56

4 Medicine as Literature 89

5 Medicine and Philosophy 118

6 Medical Training: MD or PhD? 130

7 Uruk Medical Commentaries 141

8 Medicine and Magic as Independent Approaches to Healing 161

Appendix: An Edition of a Medical Commentary 168

Notes 177

References 202

Subject Index 211

Selective Index of Akkadian and Greek Words 217

Index of Akkadian Personal Names 220

"Ancient Babylonian Medicineis an important and
fascinating book which not only provides a much needed introduction
to the theory and practice of medicine in ancient Mesopotamia but
also makes a significant contribution to the study of ancient
Mesopotamian scholarship. It is clearly and elegantly written,
nicely illustrated, and well produced."
(Aestimatio, 1 June 2013)
"This book is a rare achievement: as a scholarly work, it provides
an important addition to the history of medicine; for the general
reader, it is a fascinating introduction to the theory and practice
of medicine in Mesopotamian society." (Antiquity Reviews, 2011)

"In sum, Geller has written a remarkably useful and thoughtful
volume on what is an elusive topic. Assyriologists and historians
of medicine will gain much from reading this work and it will
certainly become required reading for the discipline." (Bryn Mawr
Classical Review, 19 August 2011)

"Markham J. Geller brings a welcome, dual expertise now rather
rare in medical history (he is an MD as well as a Rabbi and
Professor of Semitic Languages), and some of his previous studies
of Talmudic texts led him to the discovery of medical loan-words
that turned out to be embedded Akka-dian dating from the period
known as the "Babylonian Captivity". (Times Literary Supplement, 21
January 2011)

"He appends a commentary probably composed by the Uruk scholar
Iqisa, who flourished in the latter part of the fourth century BC;
the transcription, and possibly the translation, is from a 1924
edition by Campbell Thompson." (SciTech Book News, December
2010)

"A magisterial overview of Babylonian medicine, extremely well
written. Geller is eminently successful in opening up the subject
to non-experts and stimulating historians of medicine of other
periods to engage with the field."

Philip van der Eijk, Humboldt University Berlin