Medicine between Cultures in the Hellenistic Fayum

Abstract

This paper looks into the relationship between Greek medicine and Egyptian culture in Tebtynis. Cultural interaction in this context has often been interpreted from a perspective that privileges the status of Greek culture: Hellenistic medical treatises (and other texts) were imported to Tebtynis to ‘improve’ the local community and local health-care. This paper looks at two aspects of Greek medical culture at the site: theoretical Hippokratic treatises and pharmaceutical recipes. These medical documents were associated with the Egyptian community in the village, especially the famous sanctuary of Soknebtynis. Analysis suggests that these documents were part of a medical culture that transcended cultural or ethnic divides; there is, this paper argues, considerable evidence for the co-existence of Greek medicine and Egyptian religious practice and ritual life.