Chapter V
Ancient Physicians
Identified!
DISEASE is proved to have been a constant,
ever-present menace to man from the earliest times. Even the most modern ailments
— cancer, heart and vascular disease — threatened the average man in
ancient civilizations! Yet, we have
learned that even in those dim, distant eras, the scourge of disease was fought
by what modern historians call “a competent medical faculty.” The most modern drugs, anesthetics, complicated surgical
procedures — even the vaunted antibiotic — were used by the ancients in a never-ending war against ill
health!
To the researcher, this is interesting — even
amazing, but a most important question is yet to be solved: WHO ORIGINATED THIS ANCIENT PRACTICE?
Ancient
Records Rejected As Myth
There is a reason why modern historians are confused by the
startling records of ancient history.
The structure of history, to which all material is subjected to test,
was preconceived before all the facts were in.
The result is, many historical accounts are judged not acceptable
today.
The modern study of antiquity does not take into account any
intervention of God or of the Devil in the course of history! Historians take it for granted that the
events of history, like their present lives, are NOWHERE affected by the
intervention of supernatural powers.
Since the recorded supernatural events of the past cannot be
scientifically tested, they are rejected as MYTH!
This is the universally accepted approach to history explained in
Chapter I.
The application of this theory to history has resulted in chaos as the
ancient world finds mankind intimately associated with the supernatural. Gods and demons directly influenced every
aspect of daily life! Association with
the supernatural was a way of life.
In spite of this self-evident fact, where the supernatural (myth) is
involved, the record receives no further investigation — it is summarily
rejected! (See Hockett, The
Critical Method in Historical Research and Writing, p. 62.) All ancient records, subsequently, are
reinterpreted to fit the fallacious modern assumption that the supernatural has
not affected — indeed, even guided — the development of history.
Any facts which will not fit this present theory are discarded. Consequently, the recorded history of any
nation prior to 1000 B.C. is subject to doubt, accusation and
dismemberment. The fabric of history
has been unraveled — the true picture distorted!
On occasion, there is no written record to substantiate the oral
traditions of history. In such cases,
these valuable sources are also discredited.
This is not a valid judgment, as some ancient peoples preserved and
highly valued the tradition of perpetuating important works orally. Notice!
What medicine did the Vedic Aryans [old Indians] practice? What did they think of health and disease,
of the human body and its place in the whole of nature? We have no medical book [of India] from that early period. . .
. We must keep in mind, however,
that medicine was a craft which was passed on from father to son, from master
to pupil, and appeared in medical books only centuries later (Sigerist, A
History of Medicine, p. 154).
Oral transmission of important data was official and highly
respected. “The oral tradition was more
highly cultivated in India than in any other country, and was considered the
authentic version of a text to a much higher degree than any written book” (Ibid., p. 149).
To carelessly dismiss these ancient records as myth or inaccurate and
unreliable is a travesty! It is for
just such intellectual folly that the identity of the man who initiated
medical practice, is to this day virtually unknown.
To enable proper identification of the inventors of medical practice
4000 years ago, every source —
secular history, written or oral, and the record of the Bible — must be
considered. It is these ancient
records, long regarded as unreliable myth, which REVEAL THE IDENTITY OF THE
FIRST PHYSICIANS!
Mythology
Provides A Key!
Myth simply means “an ancient traditional story of gods or heroes . .
. . a story with a veiled meaning.”
(Chambers, Chambers’ Twentieth Century Dictionary, p. 708.) The political, religious, and medical history
of every ancient civilization is considered lost among these traditional
origins.
“The History of Medicine, in the earlier ages of Greece, is enveloped, as
in every other country . . . in the
densest clouds of mystery and fable” (Hamilton, The History of Medicine,
Surgery and Anatomy, p. 35).
The present confusion results from a deliberate attempt by the ancient
priesthood to bathe their religion and medicine in mysticism. Priests purposefully kept this knowledge
obscure! It was not to be revealed to the common man. The simple practice of medicine was
purposefully veiled in a maze of mysticism.
Notice! “The real instruction in
the mysteries of his profession is not given him until his initiation ceremony
has been completed.” Even “the
initiation is carefully guarded from the public eye [historical present tense
used]” (McKenzie, The Infancy of
Medicine, p. 5). Only the priests
were to understand the origin and source of their medical prowess.
To secure to themselves the permanence of this monopoly, and the
full advantage of this DELUSION, the priests laboured with . . . skill, to
disguise the rules of their practice beneath a multitude of superstitious
observances, and to surround it with a fence of imposing and impenetrable
mystery (Hamilton, The History
of Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy, p. 12).
Though assuming a myriad of forms universally, throughout the ages — all
myth has essentially the same origin!
“MESOPOTAMIA was the starting point of Oriental civilization” (Garrison, History of Medicine, p.
61). The early rulers of this
Mesopotamian society are the ones around whom the basic structure of all
mythology was built.
Though given varied names, relevant to the language of the peoples by
whom they were worshipped, the gods of the ancient world were not nearly so
many as it appears. “At a very early
time it was . . . felt that this immense multitude of gods represented but
various aspects of ONE, the divine being” (Sigerist, A History of Medicine, p. 154). On the surface, however, it appears that
even the early history of Greek medicine, like that of its political
developments, is hopelessly lost in mythology.
Medicine was entirely in the hands of a priestly caste to 500 B.C. The priesthood of every nation practiced
this device of deception and exclusivism to the time of Hippocrates. Hippocrates, himself, was a member of just
such a priesthood which perpetuated the myths!
Even the renowned Hippocratic Oath gives allegiance to the Greek
pantheon of medical dieties: “I swear
by Apollo Physician, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea,
and by all the gods and goddesses . . .” (Marti-Ibanez, The Epic of Medicine, p. 65).
The mirage of gods and goddesses was a malicious farce — the important
question is: To WHOM was Hippocrates
swearing allegiance?
Scant few have ever thought this question important! Virtually no one has guessed the depths
of antiquity to which he is referring.
Supposedly the Father of Medicine himself, he has preserved in Greek
myth the true identity of the ancient physicians who established the
healing art! Though securely hidden
from the public, these priesthoods knew the identity of the gods they
worshipped.
Who, then, was this “divine” being whom the Greeks called
APOLLO?
Apollo
Identified!
Apollo was the great Greek god of healing. He was “the inventor of the healing art” (Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, p.
120). In his hymn to Apollo,
Callimachus wrote of the great physician:
“And wise physicians taught by him delay,
The stroke of fate and turn disease away.”
Hippocrates was simply following the tradition of centuries when he
recognized Apollo’s authority in medical matters — but Apollo was not Greek!
Rather, he was the principal god of an earlier Mediterranean people who
settled in Greece long before Homer’s time.
“Apollo was the early IMPORTED god of medicine . . .
(Selwyn-Brown, The Physician Throughout The Ages, p. 67).
From what nation did the Greeks import Apollo? The answer is EGYPT!
Hippocrates had recognized the eminence of, and pledged his allegiance
to, a foreign god, which originated fully 1700 years before his own age.
Notice!
The medical mythology of Greece and Egypt is essentially the same: and the Apis and Serapis, the Isis and
Osiris or Thoth, of the latter are to be recognized in the Apollo and Minerva,
the Hermes and the Orpheus of the former (Hamilton, The History of Medicine,
Surgery, and Anatomy, p. 36).
Osiris and Apollo are but NATIONAL REPRESENTATIONS of the same
individual!
Other historians record this fact.
“Osiris was much given to husbandry . . . [also] called by the Greeks Dionysus
. . .” (Williams, The
Historians History of the World, p. 28l).
Dionysus was a prominent healing deity of Greece. “The most important position belonged to
Thoth [Osiris] . . . he became identified with Hermes . . .” (Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, p.
46).
The worship of Osiris was INTERNATIONAL in scope! “In the course of time . . . Isis, Osiris,
and Horus were universally worshipped even beyond the boundaries of
Egypt” (Sigerist, A History of
Medicine, p. 269). All the ancient
medical gods and goddesses primarily revolve around these three original Egyptian
(and Mesopotamian) deities. The
identification and involved relationship of these gods throughout the world,
all of which is hopelessly bathed in mysticism, is a full subject in
itself. Even the initiate priests, who
lived in those days, required lengthy instruction to fully understand the
labyrinth.
These central, prominent deities were given as many as fifty different
names! OSIRIS was also called: Anepu, Apis, Serapis, Marduk, Enlil, Cosmas
Belos, Vishnu, Surya, Dhanvantari, Moloch, Mithras, Du’uzu, Tammuz, Baal, Min,
Dumuzi, Adonis, Apollo, Bacchus, Phaethon, Anubis, Hephaestus, Saturn, and
Pluto. ISIS was named: Hept, Ashtoreth, Neit, Athena, Neit-hotep,
Ma, Enio, Cybele, Minerva, Astarte, Themis, Bellona, Venus, Aurora, Aphrodite,
Hygieia and Diana. HORUS was
named: Itit, Gilgamesh, Jupiter,
Ninyas, and etc.
As one historian writes, “We find ourselves bewildered in a motley crowd
. . . whom we are at a loss to discriminate from each other” (Ibid., p. vi). The reason being that these many names, including
some titles, refer to only three original deities! Of course many of the above names later
became associated with certain nations and cities, but this was a gradual,
nationalistic development. Originally
all nations gave allegiance to a single triad of gods!
Ancient
Gods — Really Early Rulers!
It has often been said, “great actions are oftentimes the forerunners of
great reactions.” In a word, the
apparently miraculous results obtained by early physicians, gave rise to the
origin of medical gods. The healing
gods of the ancient world appear to us as romantic fancies of a mythological
age, but in those early times, they were very real personages!
The traditional gods from Dionysus and Heracles up to Zeus and Cronis
were simply ONE-WORLD RULERS and benefactors of mankind — who had by
their own insistence or the gratitude of their subjects been transferred to
the ranks of Heaven (Selwyn-Brpwn, The Physician Throughout the Ages,
p. 67).
The mysticism we call mythology today was well developed in the earliest
times. James Breasted proved that the Papyrus
Ebers dated from the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
At that early date, Osiris, Hermes, Isis, and Horus are already being
mentioned as medical deities. A
pantheon of healing gods was then under development — “developed from
outstanding surgeons and physicians” who had previously lived (Ibid., p. 199)!
As explained in Chapter IV, the medical procedures used by the ancient
physicians produced a remarkable effect!
It is easy to see how such practitioners, in a profoundly religious age,
could claim deification.
Epidemics, exposing entire nations to annihilation, posed a particularly
dangerous threat. Rulership depended
on their ability to thwart the ravages of disease. This will be explained more fully in the following
chapter. The following quotation
reflects this vital interest in containing disease and the subsequent public
response to a successful effort.
Aristaios [Apollo-Osiris] . . . was noted for his expertness in public
health work and EPIDEMICS. When the
plague visited Keos he went there and restored the public health, and
was rewarded by the building of a temple and healing sanctuary [in his name] in
that town. In other places he had
temples and was worshipped . . . (ibid., p. 65).
Such results were considered miracles!
From what has been just said [the miraculous recovery of Keos], we can
readily understand . . . HOW almost every nation of antiquity came to refer
the origin of medicine to the immediate instruction of the Gods; and HOW
the Isis and Osiris, the Apis and Serapis of the Egyptians CAME TO BE REGARDED
AS DIVINITIES, and worshipped with divine honours (Hamilton, The History of
Medicine, Surgery and Anatomy, p. 9-10).
These old world “benefactors” had special, direct contact with
supernatural powers and as a result were themselves accorded divine
attributes. Later they were worshipped
as gods — when in reality, they were only men!
Today, the medical developments of the ancient civilizations are
obscured by mythology. Many records are
lost or dismissed. However, one fact
has clearly emerged — in every nation the origin of medicine is coeval with
the commencement of its empire! The invention of medicine is traced to the deified first kings
whose rule was worldwide!
Which
Ancient Rulers?
The evidence proving that the ancient gods of medicine were simply early
rulers is ample! The question now
becomes WHICH RULERS? The key to
this problem is a matter of elimination.
The answer is easily found.
In every case the central figure in the medical pantheon is a MALE DEITY
who is pictured discovering many drugs
— at times they are a result of “quick invention.” Of course he is a “benefactor.” In some records, following his demise, a
FEMALE DEITY and HER SON are represented as pharmacists for the world.
A single quotation for each is sufficient for example: “THOTH [also Apollo-Osiris] was also credited
with the discovery of healing herbs, of which . . . the Egyptians possessed
a great number” (McKenzie, The Infancy of Medicine, p. 21-22).
From the few magic texts we have quoted, it is apparent that ISIS held
an important place in the pantheon of healing deities. Her legend is full of episodes of magic
cures, and over and over again she appears as the great magician whose
counsel is the breath of life, whose sayings drive out sickness. . . . It is well known that . . . the [medical]
cult of Isis SPREAD ALL OVER THE ANCIENT WORLD and at a time when people
were pining for healing . . . . To Diodorus she was a healing goddess,
DISCOVERER OF DRUGS, versed in the art of curing people. . . .
HORUS, the child of Isis and Osiris . . . appeared frequently
and acquired himself special faculties to cure people . . . . The Greeks and
Romans worshipped him as a healing god also who had been instructed in
the healing art by his mother Isis . . . (Sigerist, A History of
Medicine, p. 288).
The god of healing, a deified old-world ruler, was the first
pharmacist — often called “the great husbandman.” Who was he? Are there any ancient rulers credited with
the same discoveries? YES — The
phenomenon is worldwide! All nations point to one man as
originator!
EGYPT: In Egypt the first ruler to be accorded great
respect due to his exploits as a physician is the Second King: ATHOTHSIS!
“Works on ANATOMY and MEDICINE are stated to have been written even by
the early sovereigns of Egypt. Athothis,
the son of Menes is stated in the Berlin Papyrus to have written a
book on medicine” (Selwyn-Brown, The
Physician Throughout The Ages, p. 203).
Furthermore, “Teta, styled Athothis. . . . According to Manetho, he constructed the
royal castle of Memphis and wrote a work on anatomy, being PARTICULARLY
OCCUPIED WITH MEDICINE” (Williams, The
Historians History of the World, p. 91).
“Ata [the fourth sovereign — Teta’s mother-wife Uenephes]: A great plague broke out in [her]
reign” (ibid.). It was just such incidence of disease which
she was renown for attempting to control with her “great magic.”
Osiris, then is Athothis.
It follows that Uenephes is Isis; the son, Horus is Kenkenes.
CHINA: Chinese history
states unequivocally that the origin of medicine was coeval with the foundation
of their empire!
The Chinese established a medical system, which according to tradition,
is as ancient as the monarchy.
They have drawn the whole [of medical] science from the experience of
the ancients. To SHIN-NUNG the DIVINE
HUSBANDMAN, is the honor ascribed of having laid the foundation of this
useful art. He [taught] that
heaven had created herbs to remedy diseases.
He therefore examined their
qualities and communicated the result of his researches to the people. It has been justly inferred that the
remedies invented by him must have been very excellent (Selwyn-Brown, The Physician
Throughout The Ages, p. 246).
According to ancient legends, the origin of Chinese medicine is
attributed to the Emperor Shin-Nung . . . .
He is said to have taught his subjects . . . compiling an herbal, in
which more than a hundred remedies are mentioned (Castiglioni, A History of
Medicine, p. 99).
Tradition records that he encountered as many as seventy different
drugs in a single day.
Shen-Nung, which may be spelled Shen, Shun or Shin, is the second of
the five legendary rulers — himself
a god of medicine. However, Shun was not
Chinese; he was a foreigner. The Bamboo
Annals make it clear Shun was a black foreigner! His identity will be revealed later.
INDIA: “True Indian
history begins with the famous battle of Kuruksetra in the winter of 1650-1649
B.C.” (Hoeh, Compendium, p.
333). This heavy attack was launched
against the Indians by the Assyrians from the West. As subsequent events developed, the Indian king perished, but
through an unusual turn of circumstances, the Assyrians were defeated and India
became truly independent. Prior to this
significant date, names, but no dates, of previous kings are preserved.
From earlier times India, particularly the civilizations along the Indus
River valley, had been dominated by Aryans.
As a result, the earliest kings belong to a foreign empire. However, Indian history does preserve, in
tradition, the origin of medicine prior to 1650 B.C. “AGNI, the Aryo-Indian god . . . links
with TAMMUZ. . . . Agni . . . he who has been looked for has entered all
herbs. Tammuz is ‘the healer’ and Agni
‘drives away all disease’,” (MacKenzie,
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 94).
Agni is considered the first physician of India. Agni is known to be Tammuz, so his true identity will be revealed
when we reach the early rulers of Mesopotamia!
In every nation the
origin of medicine invariably is traced back to a god and/or ancient ruler of
the empire’s first dynasty. This
strange phenomenon is universal! We
have already seen this is true in Rome, Greece, Egypt, India, and China. And all other nations of Asia trace their
medical origins to China or India. All
modern nations trace their medical history to Greece or Rome — so, in effect,
we have briefly traced the origin of all the world’s medical practice to this
ancient period!
Can it yet be simplified further?
YES! Remember the first
physicians of all nations, excepting Egypt and Mesopotamia, were not native
sons.
MESOPOTAMIA
— Origin of Medical History!
As Garrison previously stated, “Mesopotamia was the starting point of
Oriental civilization.” In the
framework of history, the records of all ancient nations go back to one
momentous event: the building of the
city and tower of Babel! This was
the beginning of the civilization of this world. All nations reckon their origin from this event!
It is at this point that the Bible becomes absolutely essential to the
understanding of medical history. It
is the Bible which reveals the names and the significance of the most ancient
medical men and their practice.
The Biblical account of the building of Babel is found in Genesis
11:1-9, which reads in part:
And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And they said one to another: “Come, let us build us a city, and a tower .
. . let us make us a name. . . .” And
the Lord said: “Behold, they are one
people, now nothing will be withholden from them. . . .” From thence did the Lord scatter them abroad
upon the face of all the earth.
The most complete secular record of this event is that found in the Akkadian
Creation Epic. It includes the
statements which follow:
“Having built a stage-tower a great height, they set up in it an abode
for MARDUK, Enlil and Ea. This is Babylon,
the place that is your home. . . .”
It continues with the establishment of a throne which dominated many
other nations: the commencement of
human government! At this point the document is fragmentary
but one who dominates the human race is clearly mentioned:
“He set up a throne
Another in. . . .
Verily, the most exalted is the son. . . .
His sovereignty is surpassing. . . .
MAY HE SHEPHERD THE HUMAN RACE!”
The Biblical account reveals who these first two rulers of
ancient Mesopotamia were! The Biblical Cush
is the father; Nimrod is the son.
“And Cush begat Nimrod: he
began to be a mighty one in the earth. . . . And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel . . .” (Genesis 10:8, 10).
“With the reign of Cush and of Nimrod, the history of civilization
begins. At this point (2254 B.C.)
commences also the chronology of Egypt, of Assyria, of Babylonia, and of the
whole Near East” (Hoeh, Compendium, p.
45).
Now the seemingly coincidental origins of medicine in Egypt, India, and
China take on added significance! It
becomes clear why so many nations point to a foreign physician-ruler. China’s first king was a black
foreigner. They called him Shun. His father’s name was spelled Chusou or
Kusou — simply a variant of Cush! His
mother was “Queen of the West Land” or “Queen Mother of the West.”
This ancient Shun of the Chinese records is none other than the
BIBLICAL NIMROD!
On to Egypt!
Immediately after the building of Babel, Egypt became the second center
of civilization of the world. All the famous
hero-gods who founded Babel are buried in Egypt. The development of these two societies was similar and contemporary. It is easy to see how both Babylonians and
Egyptians later claimed to be the first people in the world.
The first four rulers of Egypt’s Dynasty I (Menes, Athothis,
Kenkenes, and Uenephes) are the ones important to the medical history of
the world. These individuals were
also the first four rulers of Babylon! For a complete account and proof of the inter-relationship of
these two dynasties, see the Compendium of World History by Dr. Herman
L. Hoeh, Chapter 3.
The Egyptian god Osiris (Athothis — Second King) was the Apollo of the Greeks, the Baal
of the Phoenicians, the Agni of the Indians, the Shun of the
Chinese, the Nabu of the Assyrians, the Tammuz of the Semites and
the MARDUK of the Babylonians. All
these national god-names refer to the NIMROD of the Bible!
In Babylon, where the universal pattern was set, medicine was a
sacred art taught in the temple. “The
divine husbandman,” the Babylonian Osiris was Marduk. In Babylon, the center of the world’s pagan civilizations, MARDUK
“held the power to overcome all disease” (Marti-Ibanez, The Epic of
Medicine, p. 47). History traces
the ancient, original god of Medicine in every nation on earth to Marduk! Marduk is Nimrod. The Biblical Nimrod is the patron
deity — indeed the FATHER OF
MEDICINE — to all nations of the world!
The amazing story of how this occurred — and WHY — is told in the
following chapter.