Chapter VI
Medical Practice Vital To
Founders Of Babel!
That a competent medical faculty, employing modern
techniques to treat present-day diseases, was developed over forty
centuries ago by the founders of Babel is an established fact. WHY it was necessary to feverishly build
such an extensive practice has yet to be explained! The question of HOW it became a universal
practice must also be dealt with here.
The Bible and secular records make it clear that
the earliest post-flood movement of the human family was down from the mountains
of Armenia on to the Mesopotamian plain.
Notice Josephus’ recount!
“Now the sons of Noah . . . Shem, Japheth, and Ham
. . . first of all descended from the mountains [Armenia] into the plains
[Mesopotamia], and fixed their habitation there” (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, I, iv, 1).
With this archaeological background in mind, we may
now proceed to the story of the famous leaders who misguided these ancient
peoples. Remember, three individuals
are indispensable to the origin of medicine in this period: Nimrod, Semiramis (Isis) and Gilgamesh
(Horus) — and principally NIMROD!
Nimrod’s father was Cush, the oldest son of Ham
(Genesis 10:6). Cush, in Hebrew, means black. Nimrod, as the Chinese records reveal, was
black — though born of his white mother-wife, Semiramis. The Greek name for Cush was Aethiops from
which the word Ethiopia comes. Cush is the
ancestor of the black East Africans!
Cush, a black man, felt discriminated against in a
society of predominantly white leadership. Cush initiated the rebellion against
God which Nimrod was to so thoroughly pursue.
Cush put himself in the place of God.
It was especially the Hamitic branch of the human family, under his
leadership, that originally determined to rebel against God!
The bitter feelings of inferiority which motivated
Cush were later reflected in the behavior of his son Nimrod.
These rebels planned a SEPARATE SOCIETY — in
opposition to God’s way of life.
Disguised as benefactors of mankind, their announced intention was to make
a better world — according to their philosophy, not God’s. Their ideas are summed up in the words, “one
race, one world.” Thus the pattern
for this world’s civilizations was set!
Cush played an important part in the fledgling
rebellion. His mark is left on the
government, politics, and philosophy of the early dynasty — but he is NOT
greatly noted for its medical development!
As noted before, Nimrod is the great patron
deity of ancient medicine. Let’s notice
why!
NIMROD
Leads The Rebellion!
The Babel project was not self-motivating. It arose against God’s plan of separating
the races. Notice: “Let us build us a city and a tower . . . let
us make us a name, LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD upon the face of the whole
earth” (Genesis 11:4)!
For a rebellion to be executed to this degree, with
such organization and the resources to build a city — it required a master
engineer. Nimrod was the mastermind!
He fomented the excitement, the
contempt for God.
God names things precisely what they are. He called him Nimrod — derived from
the Hebrew word marad meaning “to rebel.” In other words, he was The Rebel in history!
Read Genesis 10:8,
“he began to be a mighty one in the earth.” The words “mighty one” come from the Hebrew gibber
meaning, not only a warrior, but a tyrant. Moffatt translates this verse:
“Ethiopia [Cush] produced Nimrod, the first man on earth to be a DESPOT
. . . !”
Nimrod’s character is further expressed in verse 9.
We have still to discuss what is probably the most significant
phrase of all, a phrase used twice:
Nimrod was a mighty hunter “before the Eternal.” This expression, when properly translated,
means “in place of the Eternal,” or “against the Eternal,” or “OPPOSED
to the Eternal” (Exploring Ancient
History — The First 2500 Years, pp. 11-67).
Apparently,
Nimrod understood the psychology of human nature. He knew how to appeal to the people. He convinced them that happiness and freedom lay in the
transgression of God’s law. He
persuaded the majority of the human family to co-operate in the Babel project!
Nimrod gradually put himself in place of the true
God and led his people to believe that under his guidance, they would be out
of reach of God’s punishment. A
rude awakening lay ahead!
Rebellion
Brought a Penalty!
Many historians admit that the practice of medicine
is one of the oldest professions on earth — if not the oldest. Few know WHY! There is a reason, which also lies at the bottom of the
world’s ills today. Medicine was born
of necessity!
Long ago, the Creator God revealed a principle
which governs the health of all mankind — now, and in Nimrod’s age!
And it shall come to pass, IF thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to
do ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS . . . . And all these blessings [including
robust physical health] shall come on thee . . . (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
However, the promise did not end there. It also included a clause for
disobedience and rebellion!
Mankind was enjoying good health.
Nimrod and his followers had not fully counted the cost of SIN —
PART OF WHICH IS PHYSICAL SUFFERING THROUGH DISEASE! Sickness is the natural consequence of living contrary to
God’s way of life. Notice!
But it shall come to pass, IF thou wilt not hearken
unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do ALL HIS
COMMANDMENTS . . . all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee.
. . . The Lord shall make the PESTILENCE cleave unto thee until he have
consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it [virtually no
one today lives in the cities Nimrod established]. The Lord shall smite thee with a CONSUMPTION, [tubererculosis], and with a FEVER, and
with an INFLAMMATION [rapidly
consuming cancer], and with an extreme BURNING [mental anguish] . . . . The Lord will smite thee with the BOTCH
OF EGYPT [Elephantiasis, a horrible
skin disorder], and with EMERODS and with the SCAB [odd skin diseases], and with the ITCH,
whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with MADNESS
[insanity], and BLINDNESS, and ASTONISHMENT OF HEART [heart attack] . . . . Because
thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep His
commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee . . . (Deuteronomy
28:15, 21-22, 27-28, 45.)
God knew what would happen when they rebelled. He warned them through Noah and Shem! Nimrod and his rebellious followers KNEW of the prophesied
punishment. Sure they did! One reason they built the tower was
to protect themselves against another flood!
All medical historians note the belief that disease resulted from “an
offence to the gods” — SIN — was universal! In Mesopotamia every disease was regarded as DIVINE
PUNISHMENT for deliberate or unwitting sin.
However, the early founders of civilization did not listen to the
warnings, and all nations were ravaged by the “modern” diseases of Deuteronomy
28, as history reveals.
WHY
Medicine Was Developed
Suddenly sickness occurred. Epidemics struck — whole cities were
immobilized! Epidemic and plague — in
every nation — is the medical
history of the years after Babel. As
leader of the rebellion, the one who stood “before” God, it fell Nimrod’s lot
to deliver the people from disease as he had from wild animals.
As previously quoted, Nimrod “was noted for his
expertness in public health work and EPIDEMICS [his kingdom and rulership
depended on it]. When the
plague visited Keos [Greece] HE WENT THERE and restored the public health.
. . .” As we shall see, Nimrod visited
many areas of the earth in the interests of medicine.
As new sickness occurred, new drugs had to be found
to fight them. This became a frantic,
frustrating attempt to thwart the natural penalty of breaking God’s law. The race against disease became such a
hectic affair that Nimrod-the-physician was renowned for his “admirable
ingenuity and quick invention.” As
Shun, the Chinese physician-god, he is reputed to have discovered as many as seventy
drugs in one day! Whether this
actually occurred is not important. The
point is, it vividly shows the impression left on that ancient time of Nimrod’s
desperate effort to avert God’s penalty through MEDICINE!
Supernatural
Intervention
Nimrod’s medical efforts met a certain
success. For centuries, thereafter,
physicians felt confident in the mode of medical practice he established. He became so revered, even the pronouncing
of his name at the bedside of the sick was believed to contain great curative
power. Any deviation, from the
medical code he established, which failed, was considered a CAPITAL
offense!
“In the letters like those quoted earlier in the
thesis the writers expressed perfect confidence in the professional
skill and ability of the doctors. . . .”
Even today, historians do not hesitate to say “the proportion of
cures to deaths of patients appears HIGHER than it is today” (Selwyn-Brown, The Physician Throughout
The Ages, p. 197).
The question which must be raised, after such a
statement, is how did Nimrod develop a system which produced such a high
rate of successful treatment? The
evidence is that he did, but HOW?
The answer to this question is vital to
learning the lesson of medical history!
Nimrod faced a losing battle against disease. This consequence of their sin had not been foreseen — surely they
would be forced back into at least nominal obedience of God’s laws.
The rebellion was not yet lost!
Babel was Satan’s master project in leading
the human race away from God in the years immediately after the Flood. He did all in his power to keep it from
failing! Satan knew that it is
impossible to avoid paying the penalty of transgression. Once man has sinned, there is sure retribution. He also knew certain of the physical
penalties can be modified or delayed!
Delaying the penalty would establish the
rebellion. Relieving man from the
immediate penalty would deceive him into believing his freedom to sin was
assured. The tower gave him a
sense of security against another flood — medicine became assurance
against the penalty of disease. The
tragic consequences would be paid, but later, at a time when mankind was
so removed from God, severe suffering alone would not bring them back.
History reveals SATAN led Nimrod to
establish the Art of Medicine! The “god
of this world” understood the principle of antibiotics! He well knew which substances would have a
devastating effect on bacteria. It
required no effort on Satan’s part to determine the substances which were
available for man to use as drugs — it simply had to be revealed!
All available records, secular and Biblical,
maintain that the origin of medicine was supernatural. And it was! It is this facet of the early beginnings of
medicine, which encrusted with fabulous tradition, have left it open to the
charges of mythology! All modern
criticism to the contrary, history remains adamant — the origin of medicine was “of the gods.”
“Almost every nation of antiquity came to refer the
origin of Medicine to the IMMEDIATE INSTRUCTION of the gods” (Hamilton, The History of Medicine,
Surgery and Anatomy, p. 9). Another
historian adds, “. . . but even the gods themselves condescended to import
their therapeutic secrets to mankind”
(McKenzie, The Infancy of Medicine, p. 12). Yes, the art of
medicine was revealed to man!
In spite of such an amazing revelation, historians
generally conclude that HOW ancient physicians learned the specific
effectiveness of their remedies is of no importance!
When in fact, THIS IS VITAL! The ancients communicated daily with the
spirit world. The priest-physicians
even contacted “their spirits” for advice in individual cases! As we shall see, it was through this
intimate association with the spirit world that ancient physicians could
maintain their rate of success.
Diagnosis, in difficult cases, was based on astrology, dreams,
auguries, and visions. Basically, there
were three divisions in the medical priesthood (using the Mesopotamian names)
the ashipu or exorcist, the asu or physician in the modern sense
of the word, and the azu or diviner.
The latter’s chief responsibility was divination. He was a medium for visions and knew how to
interpret them!
The relationship between doctor and patient went as
follows. The patient sought out a
physician, as is done today. In
difficult cases, all of which were catalogued for future reference, the
priest-physician would resort to a guiding spirit! As all hospitals were originally temples,
this was a simple procedure. The
physician then made the prognosis. As
both the patient’s future and his own fate (per Hammurabi’s Code) depended on
his findings, ancient doctors were brutally frank!
Terse examples of ancient prognosis have been
found. “The favourable prognosis was
expressed with the words: ‘I [the
physician] will cure this disease’; if the prognosis was doubtful: ‘Nothing can be done in this case’; or if
UNfavourable: ‘The patient will die’,” (Castiglioni, A History of Medicine, p. 55).
As previously noted, Satan knew that the course of
certain diseases could be altered AND he knew which specific substances would
have a moderating effect on each ailment.
There were some illnesses which could not be halted at all by medication
— even as today, physicians freely admit:
“There is no cure for the common cold.”
Many times the patient heard the dreaded report of imminent death. No hope was held out on the basis of
experimentation, as ancient doctors were not allowed to freelance through trial
and error with their medications.
The Bible records an example of just such
doctor-patient reliance on the supernatural as late as 892 B.C.
And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper
chamber . . . and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of
BAALZEBUB the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. (II Kings 1:2).
Ahaziah’s servants were sent to the
priest-physician of the temple in Ekron.
In such matters, a priest was always the mediator between Satan and
man. The priest was to then inquire as
to WHETHER Ahaziah could be healed with their medications or was doomed to
die. In this case, the God of the Bible
intervened to foretell the outcome:
“Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt
surely die” (verse 4).
All diagnosis and treatment in ancient history, to
the age of Hippocrates, was based on supernatural revelation!
Nimrod
— Spirit Possessed!
Keep in mind — Babel was Satan’s master plot to
lead man astray. The direction that
civilization was to go was revealed through its leaders. SATAN first revealed the knowledge of
medicine after the Flood through Nimrod, the great physician! “It is no exaggeration to say that science
[medicine] owes most to the shining individualism of a few chosen spirits” (Garrison, History of Medicine, p.
45). There is more truth to this
statement than meets the eye!
Greek history records of Dionysus or Nimrod: “His medical practices were derived from
his powers of PROPHECY AND INSPIRATION . . .”
(Selwyn-Brown, The Physician Throughout The Ages, p. 67). This phenomenon is also preserved in Indian
history where it is believed that Brahma, the creator god and
personification of the world spirit (Satan), transmitted medical knowledge in
the earliest times to Atri — Nimrod!
The Chinese History Of Nimrod (Shun) adds more
understanding to how medical knowledge became available to mankind. The Chinese Classics by James Legge,
volume III, part 1, page 115, reveals China’s first physician was a black man —
Nimrod. Furthermore, he is depicted as
having eyes that shone with “double brightness!” In modern terminology, Chinese history has
retained a unique description of the facial appearance of a demon possessed
person!
His condition, recognized worldwide, is further
substantiated by the Egyptian name for Nimrod — Osiris. Osiris has the meaning of many eyed or
overseer. Today, we would call
such a person clairvoyant.
“This term or title ‘Osiris’ implies one having
unusual powers of perception. The
traditional sense of this word is that it refers to a person who has many eyes to
see that things are done right” (Exploring
Ancient History — The First 2500 Years, p. 11-91).
Based on the Biblical description, it could have
been assumed Nimrod was in this spiritual condition. These accounts, however, provide concrete, historical proof! The POINT IS, Satan used Nimrod to insure
the effective commencement of a medical practice at Babel — 4000 years ago!
Medical
Practice Universal!
The occurrence of a competent medical practice in ancient
societies is universal. “Hence, they
[prescriptions] were recorded in writing at an early date, and in ALL ancient
civilizations medical texts are found among the oldest literary documents
preserved” (Sigerist, A History of Medicine, p. 21).
HOW did a similar system of medicine, one based on
drug therapy and surgery as directed by the spirit world, become common to
all nations?
As previously quoted, “Isis, Osiris, and Horus were
UNIVERSALLY worshipped even beyond the boundaries of Egypt.” The early inhabitants of the Indus Valley,
principally Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, possessed “a large number of statuettes
of a woman alone or with a child. . . . Serpent and dove are her
attributes. . . . This is the GREAT MOTHER, the goddess worshipped all
over the Near and Middle East. . . . In the Indus Valley she was apparently
worshipped in every home” (ibid.,
p. 141)!
The culture of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa flourished
in the second to third millennium B.C. — thus were contemporary with The
Old Kingdom of Egypt. The great Mother
Goddess of India was none other than Isis or SEMIRAMIS!
This trinity of healing gods was known intimately
throughout Europe and the Middle East — and generally around the world. “Historical researches have shown that there
is an identity of all forms of ancient social and MEDICAL CUSTOMS, and a
unity of all folk ways. Man’s
instinctive actions, in all countries . . . tend to converge to a common
point” (Selwyn-Brown, The
Physician Throughout The Ages, p. 25).
That common point is the Middle East and the
building of the Tower of Babel, 2256-2254 B.C. NIMROD was its principal purveyor!
Apollo was the Homeric god of medicine; but it was Askelpios
who was the real healer of men. Both
are two of the many names of NIMROD.
Today he is the real emblematic god of healing, whose portrait and twin
serpents appear on all doctors’ seals, diplomas, charters and books. HE IT WAS who presided over a great
healing cult that developed into a WORLD-WIDE ORGANIZATION which for
centuries . . . conferred great benefits upon the world (ibid., p. 54).
As the threat of disease expanded, the demand for
new, more powerful drugs increased.
Egyptian doctors were eager to obtain new plants with healing
properties. The need for additional medication forced the importation of
drugs from foreign countries.
Drug traffic had begun! In the Ebers Papyrus we find prescriptions calling for
cinnamon, pepper, and ginger. Seemingly
common agents, these spices grew thousands of miles distant from the Nile — in China,
India, and Ceylon. These
are but a few examples of the valuable drugs and minerals, which were imported
from afar. However, they represent telling
evidence of the intense interest in procuring medicines from every possible
source!
Nimrod, himself, began this practice! This is precisely the reason Chinese annals
record him being in their country to thoroughly analyze indigenous plants
and herbs. The result was he may
have discovered some seventy drugs in one day.
Obviously, his search for new medicine was frantic!
Apparently, Nimrod traveled to the far reaches of
the earth to locate sources for new drugs and to instruct local leaders in
the art of medicine. History
specifies that he not only attended to the medical needs of Mesopotamia and
Egypt, but he also TAUGHT HIS ART to adjacent peoples!
Again notice the Greek record:
Medicine and surgery . . . came to Greece through a long
line of other civilized peoples from a remote antiquity. Dionysus [Nimrod] was the god of . . .
health and healing. Born in Thebes and bringing
to Greece the customs, lore, and science of his native Egypt, he settled on
the slopes of Mount Nysa . . . Later on, he set out on a TRIP AROUND
THE WORLD TO TEACH . . . (ibid., p. 208).
Sometime after the erection of the Tower of Babel,
while the building of the city was still in progress, God scattered the
rebellious people abroad.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower,
which the children of men builded . . . this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from
them, which they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language . . . .
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth
. . . (Genesis 11:5-8).
Nimrod’s worldwide excursion, taken some time
after the dispersion of the nations, was significant to the old world! It revived the breath of rebellion and
renewed his dominion. Arriving in
person among the scattered peoples, his trip helped to further establish
the way of life initiated at Babel — also helping to set the uniform pattern in
medical practice evidenced worldwide!
Notice a partial record of this trip:
OSIRIS moreover built Thebes in Egypt . . . . They say
that Osiris was much given to husbandry [including the medical
properties of plants and herbs] . . . called by the Greek Dionysus . . . .
He was honored under the name Hermes as:
One of an admirable ingenuity and quick invention in
finding out what might be useful to mankind.
It is reported that Osiris, being a prince of a publick spirit and
very ambitious of glory, raised a great army with which he resolved to go
through all parts of the world that were inhabited and to TEACH MEN
. . . . For he hoped that if he could civilize men . . .
by such a public good and advantage, he should raise a Foundation among all
mankind for his immortal praise and honor.
Having settled his affairs in Egypt and committed the
government of his kingdom to his wife Isis. . . . Then marching out of Egypt,
he began his expedition. He marched
away through ETHIOPIA . . . every country received him for his merits and
virtues as a god [his prowess
was remembered from Babel]. Thence he
passed through ARABIA . . . to INDIA and the UTMOST COASTS [records indicate
this included CHINA] that were inhabited. He built many cities in India. . . . He left likewise many
other marks of his being in those parts [including a medical practice as
the histories of those nations record] . . . . Thence passing to the rest of
ASIA, he transported his army . . . into EUROPE.
To conclude, Osiris having traveled through THE WHOLE
WORLD, by finding out . . . what was fit and convenient for man’s body, was a
benefactor to all mankind. He
brought back with him into Egypt the most precious and richest things that every
place did afford [of course the knowledge of new drugs] (Williams, The Historians’ History of The
World, pp. 281-283).
Medical knowledge was essential to the founders of
Babel. Without it, their rebellion
was doomed to failure! Mankind
would have been forced back to obedience to God. SATAN’S intervention through Nimrod preserved the
rebellion. Nimrod’s historic, worldwide trip served to perpetuate the confusion
and provide a semblance of unity to “all forms of ancient social and MEDICAL
CUSTOMS!”