Description
Strategies for the preservation of health and for the prevention and treatment of illness and disease have been discerned in the surviving written records and material remains of most societies since earliest times. Compared to the prehistoric past the evidence for the ancient Greek and Roman periods is comparatively full, though still sparse or lacking in some key areas. Most accounts of the history of Greek and Roman medicine are based on ancient medical texts. As a study of the subject through its material remains, this book will be a unique and major contribution to the understanding of ancient medical implements and surgical instruments, of surgery, and of the history of medicine.
In addition to medical instruments, the British Museum collection also includes an important range of objects which help to illustrate the multi-faceted approach to healing in antiquity. They include one of the largest holdings of collyrium-stamps small inscribed stone tablets which were used to mark sticks of eye medicine; Greek inscriptions honouring public physicians; stone statues, bronze figurines and engraved gemstones depicting the principal healer deities; and marble and terracotta models of body parts ('anatomical votives') dedicated to the healer deities by those seeking divine cures. Together with the instrumentation, the publication will show how they encompass most aspects of ancient medicine and represent starting points from which to develop discussions of strategies for health and healing.
About the Author
Ralph Jackson is a former senior curator at the British Museum. For many decades his research has been focused upon the history and archaeology of Greek and Roman medicine. His previous publications include Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire; Cosmetic Sets of Late Iron Age and Roman Britain; Camerton: A Catalogue of Late Iron Age and Early Roman Metalwork; (with Tim Potter) Excavations at Stonea, Cambridgeshire 1980-85; (with Gilbert Burleigh) Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire; and (with Richard Hobbs) Roman Britain.
Book Information
ISBN 9780861592326
Author Ralph Jackson
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint British Museum Press
Publisher British Museum Press
In addition to medical instruments, the British Museum collection also includes an important range of objects which help to illustrate the multi-faceted approach to healing in antiquity. They include one of the largest holdings of collyrium-stamps small inscribed stone tablets which were used to mark sticks of eye medicine; Greek inscriptions honouring public physicians; stone statues, bronze figurines and engraved gemstones depicting the principal healer deities; and marble and terracotta models of body parts ('anatomical votives') dedicated to the healer deities by those seeking divine cures. Together with the instrumentation, the publication will show how they encompass most aspects of ancient medicine and represent starting points from which to develop discussions of strategies for health and healing.
About the Author
Ralph Jackson is a former senior curator at the British Museum. For many decades his research has been focused upon the history and archaeology of Greek and Roman medicine. His previous publications include Doctors and Diseases in the Roman Empire; Cosmetic Sets of Late Iron Age and Roman Britain; Camerton: A Catalogue of Late Iron Age and Early Roman Metalwork; (with Tim Potter) Excavations at Stonea, Cambridgeshire 1980-85; (with Gilbert Burleigh) Dea Senuna: Treasure, Cult and Ritual at Ashwell, Hertfordshire; and (with Richard Hobbs) Roman Britain.
Book Information
ISBN 9780861592326
Author Ralph Jackson
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint British Museum Press
Publisher British Museum Press
