IV. The Deceptive Medical Practices and Commerce of Ancient Egypt
The external injury treatment methods of ancient Egypt were quite peculiar, primarily involving the use of moldy bread to treat wound infections ... I hope it does not make matters worse
In addition, the ancient Egyptians also used many other diverse mediums of exchange, such as various rare stones, but the issues related to conversion have never been improved, nor was there any established official exchange rate
It should be noted that ancient Egypt never invented its own metal coins; it was only on the eve of the decline of ancient Egyptian civilization that Greek merchants brought coins to Egypt. The earliest minting of gold and silver coins took place in a region of the Hittite Empire, where the protagonist Xili from "The Red River Bank" traversed, in a kingdom called Lydia—however, this occurred several hundred years after the fall of the Hittites.
However, the problem is that grain prices in the ancient world tended to fluctuate significantly, with prices during years of famine and years of plenty differing by as much as several dozen times. Even within the same year, prices could vary several times across different seasons. Merchant ships and camel caravans often took several months to a year or more to complete their journeys. As a result, when Egyptian merchants returned home after conducting their business, they often found it difficult to determine whether they had incurred a loss or made a profit
As for the methods employed by the ancient Egyptians to treat toothaches, they were even more horrifying—specifically, they involved killing a fresh mouse, skinning it, and then gruesomely chewing it as if it were chewing gum, with the mouse's tail still protruding outside. Archaeologists, while studying an ancient Egyptian mummy dating back to 4000 BC, discovered a skinned mouse in its digestive tract, indicating that this "raw mouse" remedy was not a mere fabrication
In summary, the division of labor in ancient Egyptian medicine was quite detailed, pioneering the establishment of specialties such as ophthalmologists, dentists, headache doctors, abdominal disease doctors, and podiatrists, among others. However, it is unfortunate that the prescriptions they created, in addition to common herbs, often included various types of soil and an array of bizarre animal excrement, much like how in "Journey to the West," Sun Wukong and his companions used horse urine to concoct pills for healing.
As early as the initial period of the ancient Egyptian civilization, there existed a considerable level of domestic and international trade. At that time, Egypt exported large quantities of grain, beer, flax, gypsum, and the locally produced papyrus. The imported goods primarily consisted of timber and metals that were lacking in the country. In the capital of Egypt and in border cities, particularly in the upper reaches of the Nile and at its mouth, a series of thriving trade markets were established.
Having discussed the seemingly scientific and advanced yet ultimately unreliable medicine of ancient Egypt, let us now turn our attention to the commerce of ancient Egypt
Certainly, following the typical conventions of time-travel novels, in such cases, the price of grain should be used as a benchmark. Indeed, the ancient Egyptians did this—they established a unit called "sati" to represent a certain amount of grain, and then converted the prices of goods in the market into "sati." For instance, according to a preserved invoice, a bed at that time was valued at approximately 4 "sati."
Therefore, in ancient Egypt, to go out and buy goods, one could only engage in barter or use shells, gold, and silver as general equivalents. However, the "face value" of shells was too low, and many people refused to accept them. Gold and silver were not true currencies and could not be directly exchanged for goods. Each transaction required careful weighing of the gold and silver, and one needed a discerning eye to distinguish the quality of the gold and silver—fake gold made by wrapping lead blocks in gold leaf already existed at that time
Poor diet can lead to diseases, and when one falls ill, treatment is necessary, which brings us to the topic of ancient Egyptian medicine
It was not until the final stage of ancient Egyptian civilization, the New Kingdom period, that the Egyptian government began to issue silver rings that specified weight and purity as a legal general equivalent. Eight such silver rings could purchase a cow or exchange for four days of service from a male slave (which indicates that slaves were quite valuable in ancient Egypt, as one slave could be exchanged for a herd of cattle). However, before the ancient Egyptians could independently discover true currency, the Lydians of Asia Minor had already invented gold and silver coins, which were brought into Egypt by Greek and Phoenician merchants.
What is even more dire is that when ancient Egyptian doctors were unable to diagnose the illness afflicting a patient, they would claim it was the work of malevolent spirits that had entered the body, draining the marrow and slowly consuming the flesh. The only remedy was to beseech the deities to drive away the evil. The method of exorcism was as follows: first, the patient would be given an emetic to induce violent vomiting, after which the doctor would jump vigorously on the patient, trampling their body while shouting loudly: "Begone, malevolent spirit! The incantation of the god Horus is summoning you—he will cut you away, tear you apart!" First, the patient would be given an emetic to induce violent vomiting, after which the doctor would jump vigorously on the patient, trampling their body while shouting loudly: "Begone, malevolent spirit! The incantation of the god Horus is summoning you—he will cut you away, tear you apart!"
In summary, those enthusiastic travelers heading to the ancient Egyptian world will likely first be subjected to humiliation through stripping and shaving upon arrival, then suffer from dental caries and stomach ailments due to unhealthy diets, and subsequently be force-fed with horse manure by incompetent doctors, or even be coerced into eating raw mice!
It is evident that after such a tumultuous ordeal, the patient, who was already frail and in poor health, is very likely to be summoned to heaven by the divine.
According to the standards of the pre-Christian era, ancient Egyptian medicine can be considered quite advanced, having been categorized to a very detailed extent. According to the records of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in his work "Histories": "... the medical practices of the Egyptians are thus classified: each physician is required to master only one disease and not more. Wherever I went, there were physicians, and the division of medical duties was very strict, with each physician responsible for one disease. ... the medical practices of the Egyptians are thus classified: each physician is required to master only one disease and not more. Wherever I went, there were physicians, and the division of medical duties was very strict, with each physician responsible for one disease. Some physicians only cared for the eyes, some only for the teeth, and others only for the stomach..."
In a certain sense, using the method of eating mice to treat dental diseases fully reflects the primitive medical concept of early humans that "you are what you eat"
In this way, doing business in ancient Egypt would be quite troublesome, as one would not know how to calculate accounts, and might even be unclear whether one has incurred a loss or made a profit... This is because the exchange rates between various commodities were constantly fluctuating, yet there was no clear currency to measure them...