Medical healers or physicians existed from the middle of the 3rd millennium. In conjunction with the strong theocratic state culture and a deity was officially recognized as the civil Ruler, healers were closely integrated with the powerful priestly fraternity. The Mesopotamians believed that all illness and diseases came from gods, demons and other evil spirits, either as retribution for sins or as malevolent visitations. There were two distinct types of professional medical practitioners in ancient Mesopotamia. The first type of practitioner is called ashipu, who was also being identified as a sorcerer or a witch doctor.
Ashipu is an exorcist while the other type is the healing priest, asu. One of the most important roles of the ashipu was to diagnose the ailment. In the case of internal diseases or difficult cases, the ashipu determined which god or demon caused the illness. He also attempted to determine if the disease was the result of some error or sin on the part of the patient. He performed rituals to calm angry Gods and persuade them to turn away their madness, drive away the spirit, lift curses and reverse spells for public and private clients.
He also might prescribe charms, spells and medical preparation. The ashipu would also sometime refer the patient to a different type of healer called an asu. Asu was a specialist in herbal remedies, and was frequently called “physician” because he dealt with empirical applications of medication. For example in case of wounds the asu applied washing, bandaging, and making plasters. The knowledge of the asu in making plasters is of particular interest. The asu physicians were trained in schools related to temples of the goddess of medicine and healing, Temple of Gula.
The source of their learning was the combination of a large number of texts available in the form of clay tablets, the equivalent of rounds, and practical experience. Asu focused more on the patients’ accounts of their illnesses rather than on physical examination like the ashipu. The practices of asu physicians and their more religious counterparts were so commonplace and widespread that a law called the Code of Hammurabi was made. Beyond the role of the ashipu and the asu, there were other health care providers in ancient Mesopotamia. The first one is barber, which was called gallabu by that time.
The barbers were the one who performed some surgical procedures and did the branding of slaves. They also provided dental services to the community by treating toothache, tooth disorders, and did extractions. Besides, another health provider during Mesopotamia was “baru”. Baru was in a specialized category and higher class of priesthood, being like a god and interpreter and foreteller of the future. His role in medicine was mainly as a prognosticator. After praying to the gods for inspiration and guidance, the baru sacrificed an animal, usually a sheep and based the prognosis of the patient on inspection of internal organs, especially the liver (hepatoscopy).
Other than that, there were other means of procuring health care and curing diseases in ancient Mesopotamia. One of these alternative sources was the Temple of Gula. Gula was one of the most significant gods and recognized as a goddess of medicine and healing. This temple was not only one of the sites for diagnosis of illness, but it was also a library that held many useful and important medical texts. When the ashipu or asu were employed, the main center for health care was the home.
The majority of health care and treatment were provided at the patient’s own house, with the family members acting as care givers with whatever knowledge they had. Outside of the home, other important sites for religious healing were nearby rivers. Mesopotamians believed that the rivers had the power to take away evil and bad substances that had caused the illness. Sometimes a small hut was built for the infected person either near the home or the river. This was done to help the family in centralization of home health care center. God was seen as the best healer and, generally, physicians were priests who had special ways of requesting to the higher power in order to cure diseases.
Along the same spiritual lines, ancient Mesopotamians attributed illness to demons and believed that good health could be achieved through proper precautions to prevent and protect one from diseases. These included adequate hygiene. The Mesopotamians accepted that washing a wound with clean water, and making sure the physicians’ hands were also clean could prevent contamination and speed up healing phase. Purity of the body and mind can be achieved through good deeds and thoughts. During the time when Babylonian King Hammurabi ruled the state, he enacted a set of rules or laws called The Code of Hammurabi. The code governed the citizens in his fast-growing empire.
The law states that medical fees were on a sliding scale dependent on one’s social class (awelum were elites, mushkenum were commoners, and wardum were slaves), that the Babylonian government had the right to inspect a physician’s work, and that errors of omission or commission were corporally punishable, among other detailed rules. It is also a strict set of rules controlling how much a medical practitioner will get and earn for his efforts, and what will happen if he fails to do the right thing. The ancient Babylonians also show a great way to treat sick people.
According to Herodotus, there was no physician by that time but if any one was ill, they would take and lay him in the public square, and etiquette demanded that every passersby should come up to him and ask him to describe his symptoms. If the strangers had ever had his disease themselves or had heard of a similar case from any one who has suffered from it, they were expected to give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found good in their own case. As a conclusion, although most of the methods are not reliable and suitable to be used in this modern days, but Mesopotamia contributed a lot of things for the ancient civilizations.