Medical knowledge in ancient Egypt had an excellent reputation,

and rulers of other empires would ask the Egyptian pharaoh to send
them their best physician to treat their loved ones. Egyptians had
some knowledge of human anatomy, even though they never
dissected the body. For example, in the classic mummification
process, mummifies knew how to insert a long hooked implement
through a nostril, breaking the thin bone of the brain case and
remove the brain. They also must have had a general idea of the
location in the body cavity of the inner organs, which they removed
through a small incision in the left groin. But whether this
knowledge was passed on to the practitioners of medicine is
unknown and does not seem to have had any impact on their
medical theories.

Egyptian physicians were aware of the existence of the pulse and of

a connection between pulse and heart. The author of the Smith
Papyrus even had a vague idea of a cardiac system, although not of
blood circulation and he was unable, or deemed it unimportant, to
distinguish between blood vessels, tendons, and nerves. They
developed their theory of "channels" that carried air, water and
blood to the body by analogies with the River Nile; if it became
blocked, crops became unhealthy and they applied this principle to
the body: If a person was unwell, they would use laxatives to
unblock the "channels".

Quite a few medical practices were effective, such as many of the

surgical procedures given in the Edwin Smith papyrus. Mostly, the
physicians' advice for staying healthy was to wash and shave the
body, including under the arms, and this may have prevented
infections. They also advised patients to look after their diet, and
avoid foods such as raw fish or other animals considered to be
unclean.

Many practices were ineffective or harmful. Michael D. Parkins says

that 72% of 260 medical prescriptions in the Hearst Papyrus had no
known curative elements and many contained animal dung which
contains products of fermentation and molds, some of them having
curative properties, but also bacteria posing a grave threat of
infection. Being unable to distinguish between the original infection
and the unwholesome effects of the faeces treatment, they may
have been impressed by the few cases when the patient's condition
improved.

Magic and religion

Magic and religion were an integral part of everyday life in ancient
Egypt. Gods and demons were thought to be responsible for many
ailments, so often the treatments involved a supernatural element,
such as beginning treatment with an appeal to a deity. There does
not appear to have existed a clear distinction between what
nowadays one would consider the very distinct callings of priest and
physician. The healers, many of them priests of Sekhmet or Selket,
often used incantations and magic as part of treatment.

The widespread belief in magic and religion may have resulted in a

powerful placebo effect; that is, the perceived validity of the cure
may have contributed to its effectiveness. The impact of the
emphasis on magic is seen in the selection of remedies or
ingredients for them. Ingredients were sometimes selected
seemingly because they were derived from a substance, plant or
animal that had characteristics which in some way corresponded to
the symptoms of the patient. This is known as the principle of simila
similibus ("similar with similar") and is found throughout the history
of medicine up to the modern practice of homeopathy. Thus an
ostrich egg is included in the treatment of a broken skull, and an
amulet portraying a hedgehog might be used against baldness.

Amulets in general were very popular, being worn for many magical
purposes. Health related amulets are classified as homeopoetic,
phylactic and theophoric. Homeopoetic amulets portray an animal
or part of an animal, from which the wearer hopes to gain positive
attributes like strength or speed. Phylactic amulets protected
against harmful gods and demons. The famous Eye of Horus was
often used on a phylactic amulet. Theophoric amulets represented
Egyptian gods; one represented the girdle of Isis and was intended
to stem the flow of blood at miscarriage.

Paul Ghalioungui published two books on this subject in English and

french.