Health and Wellness in Antiquity through the Middle Ages

273 Pages·2012·7.58 MB·English

by  William H. York

HEALTH AND
WELLNESS
IN ANTIQUITY THROUGH
THE MIDDLE AGES

HEALTH AND
WELLNESS
IN ANTIQUITY THROUGH
THE MIDDLE AGES
william h. york
Health and Wellness in Daily Life
Joseph P. Byrne, Series Editor
Copyright 2012 by William H. York
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
York, William Henry, 1968–
Health and wellness in antiquity through the Middle Ages /
William H. York.
p. ; cm. — (Health and wellness in daily life)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-313-37865-2 (hardcopy : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-313-37866-9 (ebook)
I. Title. II. Series: Health and wellness in daily life.
[DNLM: 1. Health—history. 2. History of Medicine.
3. History, Ancient. 4. History, Medieval. WZ 51]
610.938—dc23 2012011917
ISBN: 978-0-313-37865-2
EISBN: 978-0-313-37866-9
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
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Manufactured in the United States of America
For my boys,
Arthur and Galen,
and most especially my wife,
Michelle,
with love.

Contents
Series Foreword xiii
1. Factors in Health and Wellness 1
Health and Disease in History 1
Health, Disease, and the Body 3
Disease Theory in the Ancient Near East:
Mesopotamia and Egypt 3
Disease Theory in the Western Medical Tradition: Greece,
Rome, the Islamic World, and Medieval Europe 5
Disease Theory in Indian Ayurvedic Medicine 9
Disease Theory in Traditional Chinese Medicine 11
Health and Social Well-Being 16
2. Education and Training: Learned and Non-Learned 17
Medical Learning in the Ancient Near East 18
Mesopotamia 18
Egypt 20
Medical Learning in the Ancient Greek and Roman World 22
Hippocratic Medicine 22
Galen and the Hippocratic Tradition 24
viii Contents
Medical Learning in India: The Written Tradition of Ayurveda 26
The Origin of the Ayurvedic Medical Texts 26
Medical Education 28
Medical Learning in China 29
Foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine 29
The Rise of Formal Medical Education 30
Medical Learning in the Islamic World 32
Translation and the Written Tradition of Islamic Medicine 32
Practitioners and Their Training 34
Medical Learning in Medieval Europe 36
Translation and the Rise of Universities 36
The Hierarchy of Medical Practitioners and the
Non-Learned Tradition of Medieval Medicine 40
3. Religion and Medicine 43
Faith, Magic, and Healing in Mesopotamia and Egypt 43
Gods and the Causes of Disease 43
Religious Healing in Ancient Mesopotamia 45
Magical Cures in Egypt 47
Religious and Naturalistic Medicine in Ancient Greece 48
Medicine and Religion in India and China 50
Magic and Medicine in Early Indian and Chinese
Civilizations 50
Confucianism and Taoism in Chinese Medical Thought 51
Buddhism in Indian Medicine 53
Faith Healing in the Islamic and Christian Traditions 54
Prophetic Medicine in the Islamic World 54
Magical and Miracle Cures in Medieval
European Medicine 56
4. Women’s Health 59
Gynecology: Women’s Bodies and Women’s Diseases 59
Mesopotamia and Egypt 59
Greek and Roman Gynecological Literature 61
Gynecology in Ayurvedic Medical Literature 62
Gynecology in Traditional Chinese Medicine 63
Female Practitioners and Women Patients in the
Islamic World 65
Contents ix
The “Secrets of Women” and Male Physicians in
Medieval Europe 67
Obstetrics: Managing Pregnancy and Childbirth 68
Childbirth in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt 68
Childbirth in Ancient Greece and Rome 71
Childbirth in India 74
Childbirth in China 75
Childbirth in Medieval Europe 78
5. Health in Infancy, Childhood, and Old Age 81
Aging and the Life Cycle in Premodern Medical Theories 81
Pediatric Medicine 83
Mesopotamian Cures for Children 83
Egyptian Cures for Children 85
Children and Medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome 87
Pediatric Care in the Ayurvedic Tradition 89
Pediatrics in Traditional Chinese Medicine 91
Childcare and Pediatric Medicine in Medieval Europe 94
Geriatric Care in the Premodern World 96
6. Infectious Disease in the Premodern World 101
Studying Disease in History 101
Epidemics and Theories of Disease Causation 102
Smallpox 105
Bubonic Plague, or the Black Death 109
The Origin and Spread of the Bubonic Plague 109
Medical Responses to the Black Death in Europe and the
Islamic World 110
Religious Responses to the Black Death 112
Popular and Civic Responses to the Black Death 113
Leprosy 114
Leprosy in India 115
Leprosy in China 116
Leprosy in Medieval Europe 118
7. Environmental and Occupational Hazards 121
Living and Working Conditions in Rural Communities 122
Living and Working Conditions in Urban Centers 126