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Stories

  • Article

The doctor who challenged the unicorn myth

Our era of fake news and medical misinformation is nothing new. Estelle Paranque relays the thrusts and parries of a 440-year-old row over a magical cure-all, the unicorn horn.

  • Article

The healing power of the physic garden

Having experienced the healing power of plants and gardens, Iona Glen goes in search of present-day “physic gardens” and their origins in history.

  • Article

Bleeding healthy

For thousands of years, and in many different cultures, people have practised bloodletting for health and medical reasons. Julia Nurse explains where and when bleeding was used, how it was done, and why.

  • Article

A symbol of a lost homeland

The story of one protective amulet from Palestine reveals a complex tale. Encompassing the personal history of an influential doctor and collector, it provides a window onto dispossession and exile, and the painful repercussions that are still felt today.

All stories (6)

Images

  • Cast of Thoth, Egyptian Deity of Medicine
  • An invocation to I-em-hetep, the Egyptian deity of medicine. Oil painting by Ernest Board.
  • Imhotep, the vizier and physician of King Zoser and afterwards the Egyptian god of medicine / by Jamieson B. Hurry.
  • Travelling medicine chest of Egyptian Queen 2000BC. Possably belonging to Queen Mentu-Hotep. Postcard from Adolf Fonahn to Walter Pagel (front)
  • Figure of Thoth, Egyptian Moon God, divinity of wisdom - and was the possessor of every kind of knowledge including medicine. From a figure in Wellcome trust.
  • Back of postcard from Adolf Fonahn to Walter Pagel. Front depicts travelling medicine chest of Egyptian Queen, possibly Queen Mentu-Hotep c. 2200BC. Postcard from Adolf Fonahn to Walter Pagel
  • Egyptian papyrus: circa 1000 B.C.
  • Man suffering from umbilical hernia, Egypt
  • Papyros Ebers : das hermetische Buch über die Arzeneimittel der alten Ägypter in hieratischer Schrift / herausgegeben mit Inhaltsangabe und Einleitung versehen von Georg Ebers. Mit hieroglyphisch-lateinischem Glossar, von Ludwig Stern. Mit Unterstützung des Königlich Sächsischen Cultusministerium.
  • Papyros Ebers : das hermetische Buch über die Arzeneimittel der alten Ägypter in hieratischer Schrift / herausgegeben mit Inhaltsangabe und Einleitung versehen von Georg Ebers. Mit hieroglyphisch-lateinischem Glossar, von Ludwig Stern. Mit Unterstützung des Königlich Sächsischen Cultusministerium.
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Catalogue

All works (293)