Did ancient Egyptians use anesthesia in their medical practices?

CAIRO – 13 November 2022: Medicine in ancient Egypt was so advanced that many of the ancient Egyptians’ common observations and procedures were not surpassed in the West for several centuries after the fall of Rome. Their practices taught Greek and Roman medicine. 

From the dawn of history, ancient Egyptians understood that disease could be cured by medicine, and they realized the healing potential of massage and aromatherapy. They had male and female doctors specializing in certain fields, and they recognized the importance of hygiene in treating patients.

Attempts at anesthesia as a medical idea can be traced back through history to the writings of the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, and Chinese.

Surgical tools as well as crude analgesics and sedatives were used by the ancient Egyptians in surgeries and fracture repairs, possibly including an extract prepared from the mandrake fruit that was used for anesthetic purposes. 

Furthermore, ancient Egyptians used anesthesia in surgical operations and analgesics to relieve pain. The use of opium-like preparations in surgery was recorded in the famous Ebers Papyrus, which is one of the ancient Egyptian papyri describing medicine and treatments, and was written during the 18th Dynasty.However, it is questionable whether opium itself was known in ancient Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians discovered the science of anesthesia through acupuncture. When studying the arteries and veins of the body, they discovered the locations of the pulse and were able to discover the science of anesthesia, which is applying acupuncture in the exact place of the organ to be treated.