Description
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