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Oh look! Another erroneous claim abt #ancientEgypt #woman physician! This time in (I've heard otherwise great) intro to #MedHum book.
#HistMed
1/ https://twitter.com/CarlyASilver/status/1348689074220109833
#HistMed
1/ https://twitter.com/CarlyASilver/status/1348689074220109833
Here's the piece. We have "Emena" (not real ancient Egyptian 
name), and quote that comes from admonition text that is directed to male scribe, and has nothing to do with medicine (p. Anastasi IV). Citation trail leads to Puschmann's "History of Medical Education" from 1891.
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name), and quote that comes from admonition text that is directed to male scribe, and has nothing to do with medicine (p. Anastasi IV). Citation trail leads to Puschmann's "History of Medical Education" from 1891.2/
Puschmann's work cites 1870s FJ Lauth, but I have not time to dig deeper there. My bet is on Puschmann misunderstanding Lauth. So, WHY this type of misunderstanding academic game of "telephone" keeps happening? I don't know, but here's my guess. Part of explanation is that ppl
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...ppl think abt #AncientWorld, and especially Egypt, as a bit of a legendary fairy-tale land. Even historians (there's one amongst authors of this book!) feel less compelled to check details about antiquity, than they are for let's say 19th century. But i think there's also..
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...a not-fully-conscious desire for "better past". Past that is richer, more interesting - and, hopefully, sometime even better than today ("golden age"), past that can serve as model of better society today. That's why dry statement "we know almost nothing about healers'...
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...healer's education in ancient Egypt" are easily overlooked, but idea that 4000 years ago (in civilization ppl in the West idolize!) there was gender equity in education will catch everyone's attention, even if this statement is poorly supported by evidence. That's why it's
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...it's important that vigilant people like @CarlyASilver catch such discrepancies, reach out to people around, or ask for evidence, before repeating erroneous statement.
As a rule of thumb - when dealing with "news" from ancient Egypt, always have your sceptic's hat on!
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As a rule of thumb - when dealing with "news" from ancient Egypt, always have your sceptic's hat on!7/
And if anyone want's to read more about another case of mistaken identity and supposed woman physician from ancient Egypt, here's my whole thread (and article!) on it
8/8 https://twitter.com/jakub_kwie/status/1199006310622093316
8/8 https://twitter.com/jakub_kwie/status/1199006310622093316
