“Place in my hands the inexhaustible craft of medicine!” Physicians and healing at the royal court of Esarhaddon
Vědecký článek
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Trvalý odkaz
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/104489Identifikátory
Kolekce
- Číslo 2 [6]
Autor
Datum vydání
2018Nakladatel
Univerzita Karlova, Filozofická fakultaPraha
Zdrojový dokument
Chatreššar (web)ISSN: 2571-1393
Rok vydání periodika: 2018
Ročník periodika: 2018
Číslo periodika: 2
Odkaz na licenční podmínky
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/Klíčová slova (anglicky)
Assyria, Esarhaddon, Neo-Assyrian letters, divinatory queries, medicine, medicinal texts, healing, physicians, exorcists, royal courtThe medicine of ancient Mesopotamia has long been the topic of investigation, but the texts explored
within this field are mainly “handbooks” for persons practising medicine and lists of diseases. This
medical literature, however, comprises theoretical information rather than data on actual medical
practices. Therefore, the Neo-Assyrian letters and divinatory queries (especially from the reign of
the king Esarhaddon) that provide a more colourful picture of diseases of concrete individuals and
their healing by specific physicians are a priceless source for our knowledge of “real” Mesopotamian
medicine, despite the fact that this picture is limited only to a small group of persons standing closest to the king (mostly members of the royal family) in the role of patients, with the highest-ranking
specialists as their healers.