PhD in Philology and History of Ancient World (Egyptology), "Sapienza", University of Rome PhD thesis: "To Fight the Supernatural, between Medicine and Ritual Practice: A New Approach to the Understanding of the New Kingdom Medical Papyri"
ICE XII: proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 3rd-8th November 2019, Cairo, Egypt, 2023
Anubis has been always considered the master of the mummification process and one of the gods lea... more Anubis has been always considered the master of the mummification process and one of the gods leading the deceased into the Afterlife. Besides, it is still less studied another function fulfilled by the same god, i.e. the role of keeping and preserving the medical papyri reporting the formulas against the ukhedu. In some medical papyri, pEbers, pLondon BM EA 10059, and pBerlin 3038, references to this deposition below the feet of Anubis are presented: pEbers no. 856a (103, 1-2): “Anfang von dem Buch des Umherziehens der Schmerzstoffe in allen Korperstellen des Mannes, als etwas, das gefunden ist in Schriften unter den Füßen (einer Statue) des Anubis in Letopolis” (WESTENDORF 1999: 698); PBerlin 3038 no. 163a (15, 1-5): “alten Schriften in einem Kasten mit Schriftrollen unter den Füßen (eines Standbildes) des Anubis in Letopolis” (WESTENDORF 1999: 125); pLondon BM EA 10059 no. 42 (14, 1-2): “Repousser l’attaque d’un mort ou d’un dieu [au moyen] des formules magiques d’Anubis” (BARDINET 1995: 489). The aim of this paper is the presentation of all the formulas connecting the ukhedu to the god Anubis, retracing what Nunn defined as “the association between wekhedu and decomposition after death”, and the specific role of Anubis as a psychopomp deity. Moreover, the patient seems to become a gate between the world of the living and that of the dead, when he gets sick. Therefore, I suggest a peculiar relationship existed in depositing these medical texts under the feet of this particular god.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components.... more Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed a rare example and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
This paper investigates the presence and action of demons in New Kingdom medical texts, in which ... more This paper investigates the presence and action of demons in New Kingdom medical texts, in which these supernatural beings are recognisable only by their determinative, whereas the etymology of certain names is not always clearly understood. Several scholars have presented their own interpretations about this topic, most of whom believe these names can be ascribed to illnesses or to the supernatural sphere, though others have expressed reservations about these ascriptions. A fresh analysis of medical texts from an emic perspective helps in reconsidering this topic: prescriptions and incantations suggest the ancient Egyptians really perceived these entities as supernatural beings and not merely as manifestations of illnesses. The presence of the same demons in other contexts, such as funerary texts, confirms this hypothesis and encourages an in-depth study of the medical sources.
Di Natale, Anna and Basile, Corrado (eds), Atti del XIX Convegno di Egittologia e Papirologia, Siracusa 1-4 ottobre 2020, dedicati a Edda Bresciani, Quaderni del Museo del Papiro 18, Siracusa: Tyche, 2022
Le diverse collezioni egittologiche siciliane presentano manufatti interessanti soprattutto per q... more Le diverse collezioni egittologiche siciliane presentano manufatti interessanti soprattutto per quanto riguarda la storia delle loro acquisizioni e dei relativi studi. In particolare, la collezione del Castello Ursino a Catania è stata solo sommariamente studiata. Grazie a nuovi permessi e a un accesso recente ai magazzini di tale Museo (dicembre 2019), è stato possibile precisare alcuni aspetti sulla storia della collezione, in vista di una completa ed esaustiva pubblicazione dei materiali, secondo gli standard attuali, fornendo tutti i parametri tecnici e le relative fotografie. Inoltre, la ricerca tenta di fornire una reinterpretazione storica di tali manufatti, cercando di capire come essi siano effettivamente giunti a Catania, per delineare la storia delle acquisizioni archeologiche del Castello Ursino.
Current Research in Egyptology 2019. Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium, University of Alcalá, 17–21 June 2019, 2021
Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egyp... more Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egypt sent physicians and medical ingredients to the Hittite land; on the other, the Hittites provided Egypt with raw materials used to prepare remedies for healing purposes. The Egypto-Hittite correspondence frequently mentions the dispatch of medicines to cure the sicknesses of members of the Hittite royal family, and the Amarna letters had already reported the exchange of medical notions and remedies. Egyptian physicians were needed by the Hittites on many occasions, e.g. to cure the sterility of the Hittite princess Matanazi, or to treat ocular diseases affecting Ḫattušili III and Kurunta of Tarḫuntašša. Despite official and propagandistic accounts of political events, connections between Egypt and Ḫatti were strong including those in the field of medicine. This paper offers an overview of such relationships, reconsidering the work of previous studies in the light of both the Egyptian and the Hittite documentation: a history behind (and alongside) the official accounts, which provides us with greater insight on ancient medical practices and international relationships.
La lingua egiziana è caratterizzata dall’aggiunta, a fine di parola, di classificatori (o determi... more La lingua egiziana è caratterizzata dall’aggiunta, a fine di parola, di classificatori (o determinativi) che identificano la sfera semantica di appartenenza del lemma utilizzato. La scelta molto accurata del segno aiuta enormemente gli studiosi moderni poiché offre chiarimenti quando il significato intrinseco del termine non trova traduzioni univoche e soddisfacenti. Il cambio del classificatore di una parola può, dunque, indicare una diversa sfumatura di significato nello stesso termine. Esemplare, a dimostrazione di ciò, l’uso del determinativo G7 (il falco sul trespolo) o I12 (il cobra) dopo la parola madre (mw.t): il termine, solitamente affiancato dal classificatore B1 (la donna seduta) o H8 (l’uovo), indica in questo caso non una madre comune ma “la Madre”, la divinità. Nel corpus dei testi medici di Nuovo Regno si riscontrano circa una ventina di lemmi che riportano determinativi diversi da quelli solitamente attesi ma che, per quanto concerne la sfumatura del significato, sono stati, a mio avviso, sottovalutati negli studi precedenti e, quindi, non valorizzati nelle traduzioni. Il presente intervento si propone di offrire una panoramica di questi specifici termini e di analizzare in particolare due casi studio.
Plants for Health
from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021... more Plants for Health from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed rare examples and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Il contenuto dei ricettari conservati tra i papiri medici, tanto di periodo faraonico quanto di e... more Il contenuto dei ricettari conservati tra i papiri medici, tanto di periodo faraonico quanto di età greco-romana, lascia supporre che le raccolte di prescrizioni anonime ivi contenute fossero dei compendi utili ai medici per trasmettere la conoscenza di questa disciplina o per essere consultati al momento del bisogno. Non è raro che di un medicamento venisse decantata o registrata in qualche modo l’efficacia. In alcuni casi peculiari, che saranno oggetto del presente intervento, troviamo poi l’indicazione di un personaggio illustre del passato che ne avrebbe fatto uso o al quale sarebbe stato destinato, un fatto che apre la strada a interessanti spunti di riflessione, come la possibilità che specifici rimedi venissero realizzati su commissione per figure di rilievo, e che ciò potesse valere anche come garanzia dell’antichità e dunque di ulteriore prestigio del prodotto (come già attestato in altri modi). Nei testi egiziani esistono due riferimenti riguardanti ricette create ad hoc per personalità del clero o della corte reale, come mostra il Papiro Ebers, che registra un preparato destinato ad un “Gran Veggente” Khui (Eb. 419) ed uno alla madre del sovrano Teti, Shesh (Eb. 468). Questi rimedi (uno per gli occhi e l’altro per la ricrescita dei capelli) sembrano rispondere ad esigenze specifiche. Poiché è probabile che il Papiro Ebers sia una copia di un documento più antico, è possibile che un rimedio creato per una personalità di spicco potesse in seguito divenire “alla moda” e quindi essere tramandato. Una simile impressione si ha anche di fronte alle ugualmente scarse (e problematiche) testimonianze greche, in cui si riscontrano un riferimento ad un farmaco detto βαϲιλικ̣[όν] “regio” (cioè utilizzato dai re, PSI X 1180 fr. b, ii 22, Tebtynis, II sec. d.C.) e ad uno τῆϲ] | βαϲ̣ι[λίϲϲηϲ “della regina” (cioè Cleopatra, autrice o utilizzatrice del preparato, P.Ant. III 127 fr. 5b, 4-5, Antinoupolis, VII sec. d.C.). L’intervento mira a presentare, attraverso la discussione di un caso significativo, una ricerca in corso all’Università di Parma per una comparazione formale e contenutistica dei testi medici egiziani e greci su papiro. Ai casi specifici verrà dunque premessa un’introduzione generale sulla ricerca, collocata all’interno del progetto PRIN 2017 “Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Texts, Contexts and Readers”.
La figura del leone è una tra le più ricorrenti nelle diverse culture, preclassiche e non, e assu... more La figura del leone è una tra le più ricorrenti nelle diverse culture, preclassiche e non, e assurge spesso a simbolo di potere, forza e protezione, ma anche di potenza negativa da acquietare o sconfiggere. Si sviluppa, quindi, una nettissima dicotomia che fornisce interessanti spunti di riflessione e di studio. Questa dualità si riscontra anche nella cultura faraonica, al punto che il pantheon egiziano si arricchisce di numerose figure divine dal volto e dalla forma leonina che richiamano una o l’altra qualità dell’animale. Nonostante ciò, una divinità su tutte riesce a incarnare con maggiore complessità le diverse sfaccettature dell’indole del leone ed è su di essa che si focalizza questo intervento: Sekhmet. Il nome della dea, “la Potente”, rievoca nella mente la ferocia e l’indole sanguinaria dell’animale, complice il mito della Distruzione dell’umanità nel quale la dea, in qualità di Occhio del Sole, è incaricata di porre fine all’esistenza degli uomini colpevoli di essersi ribellati a Ra. Se, da una parte, questa divinità spietata contro i nemici d’Egitto deve essere costantemente tenuta sotto controllo con rituali e formule propiziatorie, dall’altra numerosi testi ci mostrano Sekhmet come protettrice dell’uomo e, ancor di più, del mondo. Il presente contributo si propone di analizzare la figura della dea Sekhmet attraverso diverse tipologie testuali, da quelle funerarie e letterarie a quelle mediche e magiche, per comprendere in che modo ogni singolo aspetto del carattere del leone viene evidenziato dalla cultura egiziana e incarnato dalla dea.
The Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 2019
Anubis has been frequently considered as the chief of mummification and one of the gods leading t... more Anubis has been frequently considered as the chief of mummification and one of the gods leading the deceased into the Afterlife. Also, another function fulfilled by the same god has been studied: the role of keeping and preserving the medical papyri reporting formulas against wḫd.w (Pap. Ebers no. 856a and Pap. Berlin 3039 no. 163a). The lecture provides an overview of the many roles played by the god Anubis, and especially his correlation with the wḫd.w, recalling what John F. Nunn defined as “the association between wekhedu and decomposition after death”, with a focus on the function of Anubis as a psychopomp. Moreover, the ill-patient seems to become a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead: therefore, I suggest a peculiar purpose in depositing medical texts about wḫd.w under the feet of this particular god connected to the Netherworld.
ICE XII: proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 3rd-8th November 2019, Cairo, Egypt, 2023
Anubis has been always considered the master of the mummification process and one of the gods lea... more Anubis has been always considered the master of the mummification process and one of the gods leading the deceased into the Afterlife. Besides, it is still less studied another function fulfilled by the same god, i.e. the role of keeping and preserving the medical papyri reporting the formulas against the ukhedu. In some medical papyri, pEbers, pLondon BM EA 10059, and pBerlin 3038, references to this deposition below the feet of Anubis are presented: pEbers no. 856a (103, 1-2): “Anfang von dem Buch des Umherziehens der Schmerzstoffe in allen Korperstellen des Mannes, als etwas, das gefunden ist in Schriften unter den Füßen (einer Statue) des Anubis in Letopolis” (WESTENDORF 1999: 698); PBerlin 3038 no. 163a (15, 1-5): “alten Schriften in einem Kasten mit Schriftrollen unter den Füßen (eines Standbildes) des Anubis in Letopolis” (WESTENDORF 1999: 125); pLondon BM EA 10059 no. 42 (14, 1-2): “Repousser l’attaque d’un mort ou d’un dieu [au moyen] des formules magiques d’Anubis” (BARDINET 1995: 489). The aim of this paper is the presentation of all the formulas connecting the ukhedu to the god Anubis, retracing what Nunn defined as “the association between wekhedu and decomposition after death”, and the specific role of Anubis as a psychopomp deity. Moreover, the patient seems to become a gate between the world of the living and that of the dead, when he gets sick. Therefore, I suggest a peculiar relationship existed in depositing these medical texts under the feet of this particular god.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components.... more Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed a rare example and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
This paper investigates the presence and action of demons in New Kingdom medical texts, in which ... more This paper investigates the presence and action of demons in New Kingdom medical texts, in which these supernatural beings are recognisable only by their determinative, whereas the etymology of certain names is not always clearly understood. Several scholars have presented their own interpretations about this topic, most of whom believe these names can be ascribed to illnesses or to the supernatural sphere, though others have expressed reservations about these ascriptions. A fresh analysis of medical texts from an emic perspective helps in reconsidering this topic: prescriptions and incantations suggest the ancient Egyptians really perceived these entities as supernatural beings and not merely as manifestations of illnesses. The presence of the same demons in other contexts, such as funerary texts, confirms this hypothesis and encourages an in-depth study of the medical sources.
Di Natale, Anna and Basile, Corrado (eds), Atti del XIX Convegno di Egittologia e Papirologia, Siracusa 1-4 ottobre 2020, dedicati a Edda Bresciani, Quaderni del Museo del Papiro 18, Siracusa: Tyche, 2022
Le diverse collezioni egittologiche siciliane presentano manufatti interessanti soprattutto per q... more Le diverse collezioni egittologiche siciliane presentano manufatti interessanti soprattutto per quanto riguarda la storia delle loro acquisizioni e dei relativi studi. In particolare, la collezione del Castello Ursino a Catania è stata solo sommariamente studiata. Grazie a nuovi permessi e a un accesso recente ai magazzini di tale Museo (dicembre 2019), è stato possibile precisare alcuni aspetti sulla storia della collezione, in vista di una completa ed esaustiva pubblicazione dei materiali, secondo gli standard attuali, fornendo tutti i parametri tecnici e le relative fotografie. Inoltre, la ricerca tenta di fornire una reinterpretazione storica di tali manufatti, cercando di capire come essi siano effettivamente giunti a Catania, per delineare la storia delle acquisizioni archeologiche del Castello Ursino.
Current Research in Egyptology 2019. Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium, University of Alcalá, 17–21 June 2019, 2021
Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egyp... more Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egypt sent physicians and medical ingredients to the Hittite land; on the other, the Hittites provided Egypt with raw materials used to prepare remedies for healing purposes. The Egypto-Hittite correspondence frequently mentions the dispatch of medicines to cure the sicknesses of members of the Hittite royal family, and the Amarna letters had already reported the exchange of medical notions and remedies. Egyptian physicians were needed by the Hittites on many occasions, e.g. to cure the sterility of the Hittite princess Matanazi, or to treat ocular diseases affecting Ḫattušili III and Kurunta of Tarḫuntašša. Despite official and propagandistic accounts of political events, connections between Egypt and Ḫatti were strong including those in the field of medicine. This paper offers an overview of such relationships, reconsidering the work of previous studies in the light of both the Egyptian and the Hittite documentation: a history behind (and alongside) the official accounts, which provides us with greater insight on ancient medical practices and international relationships.
La lingua egiziana è caratterizzata dall’aggiunta, a fine di parola, di classificatori (o determi... more La lingua egiziana è caratterizzata dall’aggiunta, a fine di parola, di classificatori (o determinativi) che identificano la sfera semantica di appartenenza del lemma utilizzato. La scelta molto accurata del segno aiuta enormemente gli studiosi moderni poiché offre chiarimenti quando il significato intrinseco del termine non trova traduzioni univoche e soddisfacenti. Il cambio del classificatore di una parola può, dunque, indicare una diversa sfumatura di significato nello stesso termine. Esemplare, a dimostrazione di ciò, l’uso del determinativo G7 (il falco sul trespolo) o I12 (il cobra) dopo la parola madre (mw.t): il termine, solitamente affiancato dal classificatore B1 (la donna seduta) o H8 (l’uovo), indica in questo caso non una madre comune ma “la Madre”, la divinità. Nel corpus dei testi medici di Nuovo Regno si riscontrano circa una ventina di lemmi che riportano determinativi diversi da quelli solitamente attesi ma che, per quanto concerne la sfumatura del significato, sono stati, a mio avviso, sottovalutati negli studi precedenti e, quindi, non valorizzati nelle traduzioni. Il presente intervento si propone di offrire una panoramica di questi specifici termini e di analizzare in particolare due casi studio.
Plants for Health
from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021... more Plants for Health from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed rare examples and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Il contenuto dei ricettari conservati tra i papiri medici, tanto di periodo faraonico quanto di e... more Il contenuto dei ricettari conservati tra i papiri medici, tanto di periodo faraonico quanto di età greco-romana, lascia supporre che le raccolte di prescrizioni anonime ivi contenute fossero dei compendi utili ai medici per trasmettere la conoscenza di questa disciplina o per essere consultati al momento del bisogno. Non è raro che di un medicamento venisse decantata o registrata in qualche modo l’efficacia. In alcuni casi peculiari, che saranno oggetto del presente intervento, troviamo poi l’indicazione di un personaggio illustre del passato che ne avrebbe fatto uso o al quale sarebbe stato destinato, un fatto che apre la strada a interessanti spunti di riflessione, come la possibilità che specifici rimedi venissero realizzati su commissione per figure di rilievo, e che ciò potesse valere anche come garanzia dell’antichità e dunque di ulteriore prestigio del prodotto (come già attestato in altri modi). Nei testi egiziani esistono due riferimenti riguardanti ricette create ad hoc per personalità del clero o della corte reale, come mostra il Papiro Ebers, che registra un preparato destinato ad un “Gran Veggente” Khui (Eb. 419) ed uno alla madre del sovrano Teti, Shesh (Eb. 468). Questi rimedi (uno per gli occhi e l’altro per la ricrescita dei capelli) sembrano rispondere ad esigenze specifiche. Poiché è probabile che il Papiro Ebers sia una copia di un documento più antico, è possibile che un rimedio creato per una personalità di spicco potesse in seguito divenire “alla moda” e quindi essere tramandato. Una simile impressione si ha anche di fronte alle ugualmente scarse (e problematiche) testimonianze greche, in cui si riscontrano un riferimento ad un farmaco detto βαϲιλικ̣[όν] “regio” (cioè utilizzato dai re, PSI X 1180 fr. b, ii 22, Tebtynis, II sec. d.C.) e ad uno τῆϲ] | βαϲ̣ι[λίϲϲηϲ “della regina” (cioè Cleopatra, autrice o utilizzatrice del preparato, P.Ant. III 127 fr. 5b, 4-5, Antinoupolis, VII sec. d.C.). L’intervento mira a presentare, attraverso la discussione di un caso significativo, una ricerca in corso all’Università di Parma per una comparazione formale e contenutistica dei testi medici egiziani e greci su papiro. Ai casi specifici verrà dunque premessa un’introduzione generale sulla ricerca, collocata all’interno del progetto PRIN 2017 “Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Texts, Contexts and Readers”.
La figura del leone è una tra le più ricorrenti nelle diverse culture, preclassiche e non, e assu... more La figura del leone è una tra le più ricorrenti nelle diverse culture, preclassiche e non, e assurge spesso a simbolo di potere, forza e protezione, ma anche di potenza negativa da acquietare o sconfiggere. Si sviluppa, quindi, una nettissima dicotomia che fornisce interessanti spunti di riflessione e di studio. Questa dualità si riscontra anche nella cultura faraonica, al punto che il pantheon egiziano si arricchisce di numerose figure divine dal volto e dalla forma leonina che richiamano una o l’altra qualità dell’animale. Nonostante ciò, una divinità su tutte riesce a incarnare con maggiore complessità le diverse sfaccettature dell’indole del leone ed è su di essa che si focalizza questo intervento: Sekhmet. Il nome della dea, “la Potente”, rievoca nella mente la ferocia e l’indole sanguinaria dell’animale, complice il mito della Distruzione dell’umanità nel quale la dea, in qualità di Occhio del Sole, è incaricata di porre fine all’esistenza degli uomini colpevoli di essersi ribellati a Ra. Se, da una parte, questa divinità spietata contro i nemici d’Egitto deve essere costantemente tenuta sotto controllo con rituali e formule propiziatorie, dall’altra numerosi testi ci mostrano Sekhmet come protettrice dell’uomo e, ancor di più, del mondo. Il presente contributo si propone di analizzare la figura della dea Sekhmet attraverso diverse tipologie testuali, da quelle funerarie e letterarie a quelle mediche e magiche, per comprendere in che modo ogni singolo aspetto del carattere del leone viene evidenziato dalla cultura egiziana e incarnato dalla dea.
The Twelfth International Congress of Egyptologists, 2019
Anubis has been frequently considered as the chief of mummification and one of the gods leading t... more Anubis has been frequently considered as the chief of mummification and one of the gods leading the deceased into the Afterlife. Also, another function fulfilled by the same god has been studied: the role of keeping and preserving the medical papyri reporting formulas against wḫd.w (Pap. Ebers no. 856a and Pap. Berlin 3039 no. 163a). The lecture provides an overview of the many roles played by the god Anubis, and especially his correlation with the wḫd.w, recalling what John F. Nunn defined as “the association between wekhedu and decomposition after death”, with a focus on the function of Anubis as a psychopomp. Moreover, the ill-patient seems to become a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead: therefore, I suggest a peculiar purpose in depositing medical texts about wḫd.w under the feet of this particular god connected to the Netherworld.
Bovo, Alessia (ed.), La trasmissione del sapere medico. Linguaggi e idee dai papiri ad oggi, 2022
All’interno della vasta produzione scribale egizia grande preponderanza ebbero i testi di natura ... more All’interno della vasta produzione scribale egizia grande preponderanza ebbero i testi di natura medico-magica, nel corso di vari secoli, nel solco di una tradizione continua che, pur con evoluzioni e modifiche, continuò ad essere trasmessa ininterrottamente, testimoniando la peculiare valenza e il continuo uso di questo genere di testi. Il presente contributo intende mostrare, attraverso quattro esempi di ambito medico-ginecologico, datanti a partire dal Medio Regno fino all’età romana, come la tradizione medico-magica sia stata sempre tenuta in grande considerazione dalla civiltà egizia.
Within the ample Egyptian scribal production, medical-magical texts had great relevance, over several centuries, in the wake of a continuous tradition which, despite evolutions and modifications, continued to be transmitted uninterruptedly, testifying to the peculiar value and the continuous use of this kind of texts. This contribution aims to show, through four specimens of medical-gynecological texts, dating from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman age, how the medical-magical tradition has always been kept in high regard by the Egyptian civilization.
Current Research in Egyptology 2019. Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium, University of Alcalá, 17–21 June 2019, 2021
Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egyp... more Some Egyptian and Hittite documents refer to the exchange of medical knowledge; on one hand, Egypt sent physicians and medical ingredients to the Hittite land; on the other, the Hittites provided Egypt with raw materials used to prepare remedies for healing purposes. The Egypto-Hittite correspondence frequently mentions the dispatch of medicines to cure the sicknesses of members of the Hittite royal family, and the Amarna letters had already reported the exchange of medical notions and remedies. Egyptian physicians were needed by the Hittites on many occasions, e.g. to cure the sterility of the Hittite princess Matanazi, or to treat ocular diseases affecting Ḫattušili III and Kurunta of Tarḫuntašša. Despite official and propagandistic accounts of political events, connections between Egypt and Ḫatti were strong including those in the field of medicine. This paper offers an overview of such relationships, reconsidering the work of previous studies in the light of both the Egyptian and the Hittite documentation: a history behind (and alongside) the official accounts, which provides us with greater insight on ancient medical practices and international relationships.
Uploads
Papers by Elena Urzì
Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a
mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one
has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed a rare example and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791).
This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Grazie a nuovi permessi e a un accesso recente ai magazzini di tale Museo (dicembre 2019), è stato possibile precisare alcuni aspetti sulla storia della collezione, in vista di una completa ed esaustiva pubblicazione dei materiali, secondo gli standard attuali, fornendo tutti i parametri tecnici e le relative fotografie. Inoltre, la ricerca tenta di fornire una reinterpretazione storica di tali manufatti, cercando di capire come essi siano effettivamente giunti a Catania, per delineare la storia delle acquisizioni archeologiche del Castello Ursino.
Conference presentations by Elena Urzì
from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic:
1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy);
2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons).
In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed rare examples and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Nei testi egiziani esistono due riferimenti riguardanti ricette create ad hoc per personalità del clero o della corte reale, come mostra il Papiro Ebers, che registra un preparato destinato ad un “Gran Veggente” Khui (Eb. 419) ed uno alla madre del sovrano Teti, Shesh (Eb. 468). Questi rimedi (uno per gli occhi e l’altro per la ricrescita dei capelli) sembrano rispondere ad esigenze specifiche. Poiché è probabile che il Papiro Ebers sia una copia di un documento più antico, è possibile che un rimedio creato per una personalità di spicco potesse in seguito divenire “alla moda” e quindi essere tramandato. Una simile impressione si ha anche di fronte alle ugualmente scarse (e problematiche) testimonianze greche, in cui si riscontrano un riferimento ad un farmaco detto βαϲιλικ̣[όν] “regio” (cioè utilizzato dai re, PSI X 1180 fr. b, ii 22, Tebtynis, II sec. d.C.) e ad uno τῆϲ] | βαϲ̣ι[λίϲϲηϲ “della regina” (cioè Cleopatra, autrice o utilizzatrice del preparato, P.Ant. III 127 fr. 5b, 4-5, Antinoupolis, VII sec. d.C.).
L’intervento mira a presentare, attraverso la discussione di un caso significativo, una ricerca in corso all’Università di Parma per una comparazione formale e contenutistica dei testi medici egiziani e greci su papiro. Ai casi specifici verrà dunque premessa un’introduzione generale sulla ricerca, collocata all’interno del progetto PRIN 2017 “Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Texts, Contexts and Readers”.
Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic: 1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a
mythological episode and in the final remedy); 2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons). In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one
has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed a rare example and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791).
This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Grazie a nuovi permessi e a un accesso recente ai magazzini di tale Museo (dicembre 2019), è stato possibile precisare alcuni aspetti sulla storia della collezione, in vista di una completa ed esaustiva pubblicazione dei materiali, secondo gli standard attuali, fornendo tutti i parametri tecnici e le relative fotografie. Inoltre, la ricerca tenta di fornire una reinterpretazione storica di tali manufatti, cercando di capire come essi siano effettivamente giunti a Catania, per delineare la storia delle acquisizioni archeologiche del Castello Ursino.
from ancient Egypt to present day
Dates of the conference: October 14-16, 2021.
Egyptian pharmacopoeia consists of many ingredients still unclear, especially vegetal components. Albeit scholars do not know exactly the species of many plants, the application of some of them can be recognised as ritual, to the detriment of medical use. Generally, two are the clues suggesting a correlation with magic:
1) in formulas reporting mythological events, the ingredients are quoted both in the myth and in the final rubrum (e.g. Eb. 811, same types of rushes are mentioned both in a mythological episode and in the final remedy);
2) the link between vegetal species and gods: plants are used in replacement of the deity whom they are related to (e.g. Bln 111, the bdd.w-kA-plant, connected to Seth’s testicles, is used to chase away demons).
In both the circumstances, vegetal ingredients have very impersonal names: in order to recognise potential connections with gods, one has to consider all the textual typologies where a plant’s name appears. Conversely, some plants with divine names do exist (e.g. “Protection of Isis” or “Feather of Nemty”): they are indeed rare examples and we have no other mentions beyond the medical literature. Quite the opposite, these components seem not to have any correlation with the magical-ritual sphere. We could be tempted to suppose that these names were the real nomenclature of the plants, but, given the absence of herbals specifying possible synonyms, in order to define the specific plant species, one could also have to take into account a popular denomination (e.g. nowadays St. James-wort in place of Jacobaea vulgaris Gaertn., 1791). This paper aims at analysing individual case studies in order to speculate on the real use of this typology of ingredients and to try to understand how the ancient Egyptians took advantage of magic in medical practice.
Nei testi egiziani esistono due riferimenti riguardanti ricette create ad hoc per personalità del clero o della corte reale, come mostra il Papiro Ebers, che registra un preparato destinato ad un “Gran Veggente” Khui (Eb. 419) ed uno alla madre del sovrano Teti, Shesh (Eb. 468). Questi rimedi (uno per gli occhi e l’altro per la ricrescita dei capelli) sembrano rispondere ad esigenze specifiche. Poiché è probabile che il Papiro Ebers sia una copia di un documento più antico, è possibile che un rimedio creato per una personalità di spicco potesse in seguito divenire “alla moda” e quindi essere tramandato. Una simile impressione si ha anche di fronte alle ugualmente scarse (e problematiche) testimonianze greche, in cui si riscontrano un riferimento ad un farmaco detto βαϲιλικ̣[όν] “regio” (cioè utilizzato dai re, PSI X 1180 fr. b, ii 22, Tebtynis, II sec. d.C.) e ad uno τῆϲ] | βαϲ̣ι[λίϲϲηϲ “della regina” (cioè Cleopatra, autrice o utilizzatrice del preparato, P.Ant. III 127 fr. 5b, 4-5, Antinoupolis, VII sec. d.C.).
L’intervento mira a presentare, attraverso la discussione di un caso significativo, una ricerca in corso all’Università di Parma per una comparazione formale e contenutistica dei testi medici egiziani e greci su papiro. Ai casi specifici verrà dunque premessa un’introduzione generale sulla ricerca, collocata all’interno del progetto PRIN 2017 “Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt: Texts, Contexts and Readers”.
Within the ample Egyptian scribal production, medical-magical texts had great relevance, over several centuries, in the wake of a continuous tradition which, despite evolutions and modifications, continued to be transmitted uninterruptedly, testifying to the peculiar value and the continuous use of this kind of texts. This contribution aims to show, through four specimens of medical-gynecological texts, dating from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman age, how the medical-magical tradition has always been kept in high regard by the Egyptian civilization.
sent physicians and medical ingredients to the Hittite land; on the other, the Hittites provided Egypt
with raw materials used to prepare remedies for healing purposes. The Egypto-Hittite correspondence
frequently mentions the dispatch of medicines to cure the sicknesses of members of the Hittite royal
family, and the Amarna letters had already reported the exchange of medical notions and remedies.
Egyptian physicians were needed by the Hittites on many occasions, e.g. to cure the sterility of the
Hittite princess Matanazi, or to treat ocular diseases affecting Ḫattušili III and Kurunta of Tarḫuntašša.
Despite official and propagandistic accounts of political events, connections between Egypt and Ḫatti
were strong including those in the field of medicine. This paper offers an overview of such relationships,
reconsidering the work of previous studies in the light of both the Egyptian and the Hittite
documentation: a history behind (and alongside) the official accounts, which provides us with greater
insight on ancient medical practices and international relationships.