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Mesopotamia covered the region between the Euphrates River and the Tigris River in present day Iraq.
The region was home to cities listed in The Old Testament, such as Ninive and Babylon.

Mesopotamia covered the region between the Euphrates River and the Tigris River in present day Iraq.
The region was home to cities listed in The Old Testament, such as Ninive and Babylon.

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Left: Sumerian medical clay tablet – Medical clay tablet from Nippur dated to about 2200 BC is
considered the oldest known Sumerian medical book.

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Pharmacopoeia from Nippur, around 225 BC

All our knowledge of medicine in ancient Mesopotamia comes from texts such as these.

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Gula, the Sumerian goddess of healing

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Adam, the God that causes colds

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Incantation bowl with demon, Nippur

In ancient Mesopotamia the gods infused every aspect of daily life and this, of course, extended to
health care. The goddess Gula presided over health and healing aided by her husband Pabilsag () and her
sons Damu and Ninazu and daughter Gunurra. Gula was the primary deity of healing and health.
the rod intertwined with serpents, which today is the insignia of the medical profession, originated with
her son, Ninazu.

The serpent symbolized regeneration and transformation because it sheds its skin. Ninazu was
associated with the serpent because he helped people to pass over to the afterlife or enabled them to
recover from whatever ailed them.

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fragment of a talisman used to exorcise the sick

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Amulet to ward off plague

person who was suffering simply had to confess the sin and submit to the proper treatment to remove
the hand of whatever demon had been sent by the gods to inflict the punishment on the patient. Illness,
in fact, was often referred to as `the hand of…’, as in “The patient is touched by the hand of the
god Shamash” or “The hand of the demon Lamashtu is upon her” or the hand of this or that
unhappy ghost.

It is known that a pregnant woman, and one who was in labor, wore special amulets to protect her
unborn child from Lamashtu and to invoke the protection of another demon called Pazuzu, who was a
protective demon

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Seal of a Babylonian Azu (doctor) with reverence to the gods, a self-portrait and depictions of bronze
knives, cups and needles.

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An 'Ashipu' or spiritual doctor attempting to heal a patient.

Doctors in Mesopotamia were simply the agents through which these deities worked in order to
maintain the health of the people.

There were two primary kinds of doctors throughout Mesopotamia’s history:

1)the Asu (a medical doctor who treated illness empirically) and

2)the Asipu (a healer who relied upon what modern sensibilities would call `magic’).

Both types of physician operated out of the temples and treated patients there but also, more
frequently, made house calls. Most patients were treated in their homes. The city of Isin was the cult
center for the goddess Gula, and it is thought that Isin served as a training center for physicians who
were then sent to temples in various cities as needed. Women and men could both be doctors. From
ancient texts it is known that the doctor shaved his head so as to be easily identifiable.The
Mesopotamians had an understanding of sickness being associated with uncleanliness .The
Mesopotamians recognized that washing a wound with clean water, and making sure the doctor’s hands
were also clean, prevented infection and hastened healing.

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Medical instruments included bronze lancets, metal tubes used to blow remedies into bodily holes
(orifices).

Doctors also treated gastrointestinal problems, urinary tract infections, skin problems, heart disease,
mental illness, and there were even eye, ear, nose, and throat specialists.There were also surgeons and
Dentistry was also practiced.

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ancient mesopotamian pharmacist prepares elixir

Prescriptions were ground by the doctor, usually, in the presence of the patient, while some incantation
was recited. If a prescription was followed precisely as written, even if the patient was not cured, the
doctor had acted properly. The only exception to this rule concerned surgery where, if the operation
failed, the doctor would have a hand amputated. Surgery was performed as early as 5000 BCE even
though “the Mesopotamians knew little about anatomy and physiology; they were restricted by the
religious taboo against dissecting a corp.

Legacy of Mesopotamia in field of medicine

medicine in ancient Mesopotamia was a well-established profession that included diagnosis,
pharmaceutical applications, and the proper treatment of wounds. It is notable that the staff with
intertwining serpents, the symbol of the medical profession in the modern day, is associated with
Hippocrates and the Greeks when, in actuality, like medical practice itself, it originated in Mesopotamia.