DIAGNOSES OF MEDICAL CONDITIONS

MS 2670
MS Short Title DIAGNOSES OF MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Text DIAGNOSES OF MEDICAL CONDITIONS WITH PROGNOSES OF THE OUTCOME, SUCH AS: IF A MAN'S EPIGASTRIUM IS LOOSE, HE IS IN A CRITICAL STATE. IF A MAN'S EYELIDS THICKEN AND HIS EYES SHED TEARS, IT IS A "BLAST OF THE WIND". IF A SICK MAN IS RELAXED DURING THE DAY, BUT FROM DUSK HE IS SICK FOR THE NIGHT, IT IS AN ATTACK OF A GHOST. IF A SICK MAN'S ADAM'S APPLE IS LOOSE, HIS SINEWS ARE DISEASED AND HIS NOSTRILS CLOSED, HE IS IN A CRITICAL STATE
Description MS in Old Babylonian on clay, probably Larsa, Babylonia, ca. 1900-1700 BC, 1 tablet, 10,4x7,8x3,2 cm, 45 lines (originally 66) in cuneiform script.
Commentary Medical texts of this category are well known from Neo Babylonian literature, while from the over 1000 year older, Old Babylonian period, few survive. Many of the Babylonian diagnoses and prognoses still hold true in modern medicine.
Place of origin Babylonia
Dates ca. 1900-1700 BC