Disease (Egyptian Bookshelf) Review

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(More customer reviews)Though this is a short book (only 112 pages) , Joyce Filer has packed it with information. She opens with a chapter on the effect of the environment on Egyptian health. Egypt had a "remark-able landscape." The Nile was its focal point. Unfortunately it was this close contact with the Nile that led to contact with parasites in its waters.

The evidence for the existence of disease is often the surviving art of the people. Yet art can be subject to ideology. Akhenaten is thought to have Froehlich's Syndrome. He is portrayed with feminine atributes. But those who suffer from this malady can _not_ have children and Ahkenaten had six. At this point the expression "go figure" comes to mind.

In addition to disease due to the environment, there are congenital diseases, acquired disorders, and trauma. Seqenenre is the pharaoh who rid his country of the Hyksos. His mummy shows six wounds. Did he suffer these during battle? X-ray analysis shows that bone around one of the wounds had partially healed. So did Seqenenre die of palace intrigue?

Two things need to be said about Filer's book. First of all, the reader will not need a medical dictionary to follow along. Filer does a good job of explaining medical terms. Don't know what anencephaly is? See page 63.

Second of all, the reader may ponder the causes of death then and now. Then...in ancient Egypt sand was used to help grind wheat. Since it could not be sifted back out, it became part of the bread. Egyptians developed abscesses which could become fatal infections. Filer mentions (p. 76) that tumors were a feature of the elderly. Now... our longevity has been increased and we face those diseases which Filer found in the elderly.

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In common with other cultures of the ancient world, disease and sickness were prevalent in Egypt and Nubia. Drawing on the evidence provided by human remains as well as texts, statuary and works of art, Joyce Filer describes some of the health problems suffered by king and commoner alike. Dental disease, chest complaints and parasitic infections from the waters of the Nile were a part of daily life for all Egyptians. Set against the background of the ancient Egyptian environment, the aetiology of various diseases is described, together with the efforts of individuals and society to cope with ill-health and infectious disease. "Disease" is part of the "Egyptian Bookshelf" series which explores themes of Egyptian life and culture in a format accessible to students and general readers with particular emphasis on the evidence of archaelogy.

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