Medical History

approximately 1/3 of all skulls dating to around 6500BCE are found with trepanning holes in them. Later Incan (500BCE) and Egyptian (1500BCE) bodies are found with the same markings. (McMillan)

Earliest known medical literature consisting of 48 case histories, describing condition, diagnosis, and treatment in a rational and systematic way. (Atlas of the Human Body, B McMillan)

Shown in a fresco, Greeks used Saffron to cure injuries when mixed with oils.

Chinese doctors use herbal remedies, massage, and acupuncture as well as rudimentary vaccination against smallpox with cowpox scabs crushed and blown up the nasal passage.

the first physicians known by that name and "father of Egyptian medicine" although there were much earlier origins of medical knowledge found on surviving papyri.

Esagil of Borsippa wrote a book listing a wide range of symptoms, his observations of related factors, and recommended techniques for diagnosing ailments.

Renowned Greek physician Hippocrates is born. He advanced a rational system of medical thought that ascribed illness to natural causes rather than supernatural forces.

Galen used animal dissection as the basis for detailed writing on human anatomy. physicians referenced his work for 1,400 years.

Father of modern chemistry, found oxygen and hydrogen as the principal parts of combustion (with oxygen and water with hydrogen) in the atmosphere. He also created the form of chemical nomenclature, which we still use today.

Famous for writing the Greek Epics The Iliad and The Oddysey, displaying polytheism and the enduring spirit of Greek citizens. When he lived is less than accurately known, however Herodotus placed his life around 850 BCE, 400 years before his own, and modern scholars also state 8th or 7th century BCE as the probable time. He is known as the great epic poet and his works canonized modern poetry and literature.