Medicine was practiced by two kinds of experts: the physician (asu), and the exorcist (dsipu), and the talents of either or both might be demanded at the sick bed. There
was a whole set of diagnostic texts in which a multitude of possible symptoms was
listed and the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment given. Surgery was known and even delicate operations on the eye were performed. The
Babylonians had a superb knowledge of human and animal anatomy and physiology and were aware, for example, of the circulation of the blood and the pulse.
Return to Bible History Online