A
few years ago I was on one of the cable channels watched show on
construction of the Egyptian pyramids, among other things it was
mentioned that the construction of the first pyramid was associated
with consolidating all Egyptian tribes with one goal in one place,
thus creating the beginnings of the Egyptian empire. It was talked
about life workers on the pyramid, construction of the first cities
around of the pyramid, and all that in order to Pharaoh, who was the
personification of God, after death, receives his eternal resting
place, as well as eternal life in the heart of the pyramid. Workers
themselves lived with their families in the settlements around the
pyramid, means they have accommodations provided , also, their wages
were paid in the form of food, and all those who have been injured at
work or they get sick, they were treated by the then physicians,
then i first time indicative heard that at the time of ancient Egypt
was health care... These days, surfing the internet I came across
these texts, and remembered the same issue a few years ago...
Paid
sick days and physicians at work: ancient Egyptians had
state-supported health care
AUTHOR
Anne
Austin
Postdoctoral
fellow at Stanford University
We
might think of state supported health care as an innovation of the
20th century, but it’s a much older tradition than that. In fact,
texts from a village dating back to Egypt’s New Kingdom period,
about 3,100-3,600 years ago, suggest that in ancient Egypt there was
a state-supported health care network designed to ensure that workers
making the king’s tomb were productive.
The
village of Deir el-Medina was built for the workmen who made the
royal tombs during the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE). During this
period, kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings in a series of
rock-cut tombs, not the enormous pyramids of the past. The village
was purposely built close enough to the royal tomb to ensure that
workers could hike there on a weekly basis.
These
workmen were not what we normally picture when we think about the men
who built and decorated ancient Egyptian royal tombs – they were
highly skilled craftsmen. The workmen at Deir el-Medina were given a
variety of amenities afforded only to those with the craftsmanship
and knowledge necessary to work on something as important as the
royal tomb.
The
village was allotted extra support: the Egyptian state paid them
monthly wages in the form of grain and provided them with housing and
servants to assist with tasks like washing laundry, grinding grain
and porting water. Their families lived with them in the village, and
their wives and children could also benefit from these provisions
from the state.
Among
these texts are numerous daily records detailing when and why
individual workmen were absent from work. Nearly one-third of these
absences occur when a workman was too sick to work. Yet, monthly
ration distributions from Deir el-Medina are consistent enough to
indicate that these workmen were paid even if they were out sick for
several days.
These
texts also identify a workman on the crew designated as the swnw,
physician. The physician was given an assistant and both were
allotted days off to prepare medicine and take care of colleagues.
The Egyptian state even gave the physician extra rations as payment
for his services to the community of Deir el-Medina.
This
physician would have most likely treated the workmen with remedies
and incantations found in his medical papyrus. About a dozen
extensive medical papyri have been identified from ancient Egypt,
including one set from Deir el-Medina.
These
texts were a kind of reference book for the ancient Egyptian medical
practitioner, listing individual treatments for a variety of
ailments. The longest of these, Papyrus Ebers, contains over 800
treatments covering anything from eye problems to digestive
disorders. As an example, one treatment for intestinal worms requires
the physician to cook the cores of dates and colocynth, a desert
plant, together in sweet beer. He then sieved the warm liquid and
gave it to the patient to drink for four days.
Just
like today, some of these ancient Egyptian medical treatments
required expensive and rare ingredients that limited who could
actually afford to be treated, but the most frequent ingredients
found in these texts tended to be common household items like honey
and grease. One text from Deir el-Medina indicates that the state
rationed out common ingredients to a few men in the workforce so that
they could be shared among the workers.
Despite
paid sick leave, medical rations and a state-supported physician, it
is clear that in some cases the workmen were actually working through
their illnesses.
For
example in one text, the workman Merysekhmet attempted to go to work
after being sick. The text tells us that he descended to the King’s
Tomb on two consecutive days, but was unable to work. He then hiked
back to the village of Deir el-Medina where he stayed for the next
ten days until he was able to work again. Though short, these hikes
were steep: the trip from Deir el-Medina to the royal tomb involved
an ascent greater than climbing to the top of the Great Pyramid.
Merysekhmet’s movements across the Theban valleys were likely at
the expense of his own health.
This
suggests that sick days and medical care were not magnanimous
gestures of the Egyptian state, but were rather calculated health
care provisions designed to ensure that men like Merysekhmet were
healthy enough to work.
In
cases where these provisions from the state were not enough, the
residents of Deir el-Medina turned to each other. Personal letters
from the site indicate that family members were expected to take care
of each other by providing clothing and food, especially when a
relative was sick. These documents show us that caretaking was a
reciprocal relationship between direct family members, regardless of
gender or age. Children were expected to take care of both parents
just as parents were expected to take care of all of their children.
When
family members neglected these responsibilities, there were fiscal
and social consequences. In her will, the villager Naunakhte
indicates that even though she was a dedicated mother to all of her
children, four of them abandoned her in her old age. She admonishes
them and disinherits them from her will, punishing them financially,
but also shaming them in a public document made in front of the most
senior members of the Deir el-Medina community.
This
shows us that health care at Deir el-Medina was a system with
overlying networks of care provided through the state and the
community. While workmen counted on the state for paid sick leave, a
physician, and even medical ingredients, they were equally dependent
on their loved ones for the care necessary to thrive in ancient
Egypt.
DISCLOSURE
STATEMENT
Anne
Austin receives funding from the Mellon Foundation.
The
Conversation is funded by the following universities: Aberdeen, Bath
Spa, Bangor, Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Brunel,
Cardiff, Cardiff Metropolitan, City, Coventry, Durham, Edinburgh
Napier, Essex, Glasgow Caledonian, Goldsmiths, Huddersfield, Hull,
King's College, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Northumbria,
Nottingham, The Open University, Queen Mary University of London,
Queen's University Belfast, Salford, Sheffield, Southampton,
Stirling, Surrey, Sussex, UCL, Warwick and York.
It
also receives funding from: Hefce, Hefcw, SAGE, SFC, RCUK, The
Nuffield Foundation, The Ogden Trust, The Wellcome Trust, Esmée
Fairbairn Foundation and The Alliance for Useful Evidence
...I
found another article about this theme...
Some
Ancient Egyptians Had State-Sponsored Healthcare
Craftsmen
who built royal tombs enjoyed sick days, designated physicians and
rationed medicine—all paid by the state
smithsonian.com
February
20, 2015
State-sponsored
healthcare might seem like a relatively modern concept, but
Egyptian papyri texts dating back 3,100 to 3,600 years tell
a different story.
These
text were discovered during archeological excavations
of Deir
el-Medina,
a village occupied during ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom period, which
spanned between 1550 and 1070 B.C. The village was the home
to the highly skilled craftsmen charged with creating rock-cut tombs
for royalty in the Valley of the Kings.
There
were real perks to being a prized, adept worker in Deir el-Medina.
The workers lived alongside their families, and the state provided
them with monthly payments in grain, homes and even house servants.
And, as the texts reveal, the workers also received the benefits
of paid sick days. As
New Historian explains:
Among
the texts discovered are numerous records detailing when and why
individual workmen were absent from work. Almost one-third of
absences were as a result of a workman being too sick to work.
Monthly ration distributions from Deir el-Medina, however, were very
consistent; indicating that these workmen were paid their monthly
grain even if they were off work for several days.
The papyri
also show that the craftsmen were provided a kind of company doctor,
“a workman on the crew designated as the swnw,
physician,” reported
Anne Austin, the
dig’s lead archaeologist. The physician, outfitted with an
assistant, was paid by the state for his services and given time off
to prepare treatments.
The
Egyptian state was involved with the pharmaceutical treatments
of the day. “One text from Deir el-Medina indicates that the
state rationed out common [medicinal] ingredients to a few men in the
workforce so that they could be shared among the workers,” writes
the Conversation. But
the distribution of treatments wasn’t always so egalitarian. As is
still the case today, some concoctions required expensive ingredients
that only the very wealthy could afford—and there’s no evidence
suggesting that state intervened to provide such treatments more
widely.
There’s
also textual evidence from Deir el-Medina that family played a big
role in caring for the ill and disabled—an indictation that in
ancient Egypt, just as in most of the world today, a complex
social system provided for those who couldn’t provide for
themselves.
It
isn’t hard to understand what might have fueled the Egyptian
state’s benefits package for skilled craftsmen. Trained and
experienced workers of this kind were valuable assets, and keeping
them healthy would have helped ensure productivity in the
construction of royal tombs. It wasn't exactly universal
health care—but, for the craftsmen who enjoyed the privilege, it
must have been a real advantage.
Source:
theconversation.com
smithsonian.com
Thanks
to all of what archaeologists and historians have discovered about
the pyramids, even this articles which testify about health care at
state level, the ancient Egyptian, due to need Pharaohs for
immortality, were and realy become eternal. Even after few thousands
years still testify about themselves from graves, through records,
hieroglyphs, cuneiform, minutely described ceremonies. With the help
of today's technology, we slowly learn what deseases infected
patients, what were their diet... Increasingly we become convinced
that immortality is not so unrealistic thing, but understanding
immortality differ us significantly from the ancient Egyptians. We
still believe in the afterlife, ehile they realized it, maybe not
personified, but with the legacy that reminds us of them... Great
people can not hope of immortality, they are working on it and
realize that...
&
& &
Pre
par godina sam na jednom od kablovskih kanala gledao emisiju o
gradjenju egipatskih piramida, izmedju ostalog spomenuto je da je
gradjenje prvih piramida bilo povezano sa objedinjavanjem svih
egipatskih plemena sa jednim ciljem i na jednom mestu, samim tim i
stvaranje zacetaka Egipatskog carstva. Bilo je price i o zivotu
radnika na piramidi, gradjenju prvih gradova oko piramide, a sve u
cilju da faraon, koji je bio olicenje boga, posle smrti, dobije svoje
vecno prebivaliste, kao i vecni zivot u samom srcu te piramide. Sami
radnici su ziveli sa svojim porodicama u naseobinama oko piramide,
znaci imali su obezbedjen smestaj, takodje, nadnice su im bile
placane u vidu hrane, i svi oni koji su na radu bili povredjeni, ili
su se razboleli, bili su leceni kod tadasnjih lekara, tada sam prvi
put okvirno cuo da je u vreme starog Egipta bilo zdravstvene nege...
Ovih dana, surfujuci internetom naisao sam na ovaj clanak, i setio
sam se iste emisije od pre par godina...
Placeni
slobodni dani i lekari na poslu: stari Egipcani su imali drzavno
potpomognutu zdravstvenu zastitu
Autor
En
Ostin
doktor
nauka na Univerzitetu Stanford
Mogli
bi smo da drzavom potpomognutu zdravstvenu zastitu zamisljamo kao
inovacijom dvadesetog veka, ali ta tradicija je mnogo starija. U
stvari, tekstovi iz sela, koje datira iz perioda egipatskog Novog
Kraljevstva, pre oko 3100-3600 godina, sugerisu da je u drevnom
Egiptu postojala mreza drzavne zdravstvene zastite, osmisljena tako,
da radnici, koji su radili na gradnji kraljeve grobnice budu sto
produktivniji.
Selo
Deir el-Medini je izgradjeno za radnike koji su gradili kraljevske
grobnice tokom Novog Kraljevstva ( 1550-1070 pre nove ere). Tokom
ovog perioda kraljevi su sahranjivani u nizu grobova isklesanih u
stenama, a ne u ogromnim piramidama iz proslosti. Selo je sa namerom
izgradjeno dovoljno blizu kraljevske grobnice, kako bi se osiguralo
da radnici tamo dolaze svake nedelje.
Ovi
radnici nisu onakvi kako ih obicno zamisljamo, kada mislimo na
ljude, koji su gradili drevne egipatske kraljevske grobnice- oni su
bili veoma veste zanatlije. Radnici
na Deir el-Medini su dobili niz pogodnosti koje se pruzaju samo
izuzetno vestim zanatlijama i radnicima sa neophodnim znanjem za rad
na necemu toliko vaznom kao sto je bilo gradjenje kraljevske
grobnice. Selo je dobilo dodatnu podrsku: Egipatska drzava im je
placala mesecne izdatke u vidu zitarica, bilo im je obezbedjeno
stanovanje, kao i sluge, koje su pomagale pri zadacima kao sto je
pranje vesa, mlevenje zitarica i donosenju vode. Njihove porodice su
zivele sa njima u selu, a njihove zene i deca su imali koristi od
ovih zakonskih odredbi drzave.
Medju
ovim tekstovima su brojne dnevne evidencije o detaljima kada su i zasto pojedini radnici odustvovali sa posla. Skoro trecina ovih
izostanaka se javljala kada je radnik bio isuvise bolestan da radi.
Ipak, distribucija mesecnog sledovanja iz Deir el-Medine bila je
dovoljno dosledna da pokaze da je tim radnicima bilo placeno, cak i kada su bili bolesni nekoliko dana.
Ovi
tekstovi takodje predstavljaju i radnika oznacenog kao svnv, lekara.
Lekar je imao asistenta, i obojici su bili dodeljeni slobodni dani za
pripremu leka, kako bi vodili racuna o svojim kolegama. Egipatska
drzava je dodelila cak i sledovanje vise lekaru, kao platu za njegove
usluge u zajednici Deir el-Medine.
Ovaj
lekar je najverovatnije lecio radnike pomocu lekova i molitvi
nadjenih medju njegovim medicinskim papirusima. Otkriveno je oko
desetak obimnih medicinskih papirusa iz drevnog Egipta, ukljucujuci
jedan komplet iz Deir el-Medine.
Ovi
tekstovi su bili neka vrsta medicinskog prirucnika za drevne
egipatske lekare navodeci pojedinosti tretmana za razne bolesti.
Najduzi medju njima, papirus Ebers, sadrzi preko 800 tretmana koji
pokrivaju sve- od problema sa ocima do probavnih poremecaja. Kao
primer navodi se tretman protiv crevnih parazita koji zahteva od
lekara da skuva: urmu sa pustinjskom biljkom Colocynth ( rodjaka
lubenice) u slatkom pivu, procedjenu tecnost pacijent pije
naredna cetiri dana.
Bas
kao danas , za neke od ovih drevnih egipatskih lekova bilo je
neophodno prikupiti skupe i retke sastojke, koji su ogranicavali
njihovu upotrebu na one ljude, koji su to mogli sebi priustiti, ali,
vecina tih namirnica; med , mast…; mogla se naci kao uobicajen
sastojak u svakom domacinstvu. U jednom tekstu iz Deir el-Medine,
navodi se, kako je drzava rasporedila namirnice na nekoliko radnika,
koji ce vrsiti dalju distribuciju medju ostalim radnicima.
Uprkos
placenom bolovanju, medicinskom sledovanju I drzavnoj zdravstvenoj
zastiti, jasno je da su neki radnici radili i tokom bolesti.
Primer
iz jednog teksta, gde se navodi radnik Merisekhmet, koji je pokusao
da ode na posao bolestan. Tekst nam govori, kako je radnik dolazio na
Kraljevsku Grobnicu dva dana zaredom, ali nije bio sposoban za rad.
Vrativsi se u selo Deir el-Medinu, ostao je deset dana kako bi
ozdravio i nastavio sa radom. Iako kratak, put iz Deir el-Medine do
Kraljevske Grobnice je strm, a uspon je veci nego penjanje na vrh
Velike piramide. Citav taj put kroz dolinu Tebe je imao uticaja na
njegovo zdravlje.
Iz
ovoga se zakljucuje, da bolovanje i medicinska nega nisu bli
velikodusni gestovi egipatske drzave, vec, prilicno proracunate
odredbe zastite zdravlja u nameri da osiguraju ljude kao sto je
Merisekhmet- njegovo zdravlje za rad. Iz licnih prepiski saznajemo da
kada drzava nije bila u mogucnosti da pruzi dovoljno, mestani Deir
el-Medine bili su upuceni jedni na druge, deleci odecu i hranu,
posebno u slucaju bolesti clanova porodice. Ova prepiska nam
prikazuje uzajamnu pomoc medju clanovima porodice, nezavisnu od pola i uzrasta. Od dece se ocekivalo da brinu o oba roditelja, kao sto se
ocekivalo i od roditelja da brinu o svoj svojoj deci. Ako bi clanovi
porodice zanemarili svoje obaveze to bi rezultiralo novcanim i drustvenim posledicama. U svom testamentu seljanka Naunakhte navodi,
da iako je bila majka posvecena svoj svojoj deci, cetvoro njih je
napusta, kada je ostarila. Ona ih opominje i lisava nasledstva,
kaznjava ih finansijski, ali i podvrgava ruglu pred najvisim
staresinama Deir el-Medine.
Ovo
nam ukazuje da je zdravstvena zastita Deir el-Medine bila sistem sa
isprepletenom mrezom drzavne i medjusobne pomoci. Dok radnici ocekuju
placeno bolovanje, lekara, cak i medicinske sastojke od drzave,
istovremeno se oslanjaju na svoje najblize kada im zatreba pomoc
neophodna za napredovanje u drevnom Egiptu.
Izjava
En
Ostin dobija sredstva od Melon fondacije
Konverzacija
je finansirana od strane: Aberdin, Bat Spa, Bangor, Bat, Birmingem,
Bredford, Brajton, Bristol, Brunel, Kardif, Kardif Metropoliten,
Siti, Koventri, Duram, Edinburg Napier, Eseks, Glazgov Kaledonia,
Goldsmit Hadersfild, Hal, Kraljevski koledž, Lankaster, Lids ,
Lester, Liverpul, Nortumbria, Notinghem, Otvoreni univerzitet ,
Londonski univerzitet kraljica Meri, Kraljicin univerzitet u
Belfastu, Salford, Sefild, Southempton, Stirling, Sari, Saseks, UCL,
Vorvick i Jork.
Takodje
dobija sredstva od: Hefca, Hefcva, SAGE, SFC, RCUK, Nafild fondacije,
Ogden trasta, Velkom trasta, Esme Ferbern fondacije, i Alijanse za
korisne dokaze.
...nasao
sam jos jedan clanak o ovoj temi...
Drevni
egipcani su imali zdravstvenu zastitu finansiranu od strane drzave
Zanatlije,
graditelji kraljevske grobnice su koristili bolovanje, lekare i
medicinsku zastitu
Napisala
Laura Klark
smithsonian.com
20.
februara 2015.
Drzavna
zdrvastvena zastita izgleda kao relativno savremen koncept, ali
tekstovi sa papirusa, koji datiraju od 3100. do 3600. godine pre nove
ere, govore drugacije. Ovi tekstovi su otkriveni tokom arheoloskih
iskopavanja Deir el-Medine, selu nastanjenom tokom Novog kraljevstva
drevnog Egipta, od 1559. do 1070. godine pre nove ere. Selo je bilo
postojbina jako vestih majstora, koji su isklesali gronice u stenama
za plemstvo u Dolini kraljeva.
Cenjen,
vican radnik je bila prava privilegija u Deir el-Medini. Radnici su
ziveli zajedno sa svojim porodicama, a drzava im je davala mesecnu
platu u zitaricama, kuce, cak i sluge. Tekstovi takodje otkrivaju da
je drzava placala bolovanje. Kako "Novi istoricar" objasnjava:
"Medju
nadjenim tekstovima su brojni zapisi, kada su i zasto pojedini
radnici odsustvovali s posla. Skoro trecina odsustava je bilo zbog
bolesti radnika. Mesecni pokazatelji distribucije iz Deir el-Medine
su jako dosledni, ukazuju na to da je radnicima placano mesecno
sledovanje zitarica, i ako su bili odustni samo nekoliko dana."
Papirusi
takodje pokazuju da su zanatlije osnovale neku vrstu drustva lekara,
"radnik iz ekipe je oznacen kao svnv, lekar", izvestava En Ostin, vodeci arheolog na iskopini. Za usluge i vreme provedeno na
pripremi tretmana, lekare, zajedno sa asistentima je placala drzava.
Egipatska
drzava je imala udela i u raspodeli lekova u toku dana: "Jedan
tekst iz Deir el-Medine kaze da je drzava odredila par sposobnih
ljudi, kako bi oni rasporedili lekove medju radnicima."navodi "the Conversation". Ali podela lekova nije uvek bila jednaka. Kao sto je i danas
slucaj,dolazilo je do izmisljanja nepotrebno skupih sastojaka, da
lekove mogu sebi da priuste samo oni najbogatiji, pa se sugerise da
je drzava intervenisala kako bi lekovi bili raspodeljeni jednako.
Tu
su i tekstualni dokazi iz Deir el-Medine da porodica ima velikog
udela u brizi oko bolesnih i invalida, sto ukazuje da je u drevnom
Egiptu, kao u danasnjem svetu, postojao slozen sistem pomoci
predvidjen da pomogne onima koji ne mogu sebi obezbediti negu.
Nije
tesko razumeti kako je drzava paketom ovakvih beneficija uticala na
zanatlije. Ovako obuceni i iskusni radnici su bili vredni sredstava,
a odrzavanje zdravlja je osiguralo produktivnost u izgradnji
kraljevskih grobnica. Ovakva zdravstvena zastita nije bila
univerzalna, ali je za zanatlije bila realna prednost.
Izvori:
theconversation.com
smithsonian.com
Zahvaljujuci
svemu sto su arheolozi i istoricari otkrili o piramidama, pa i ovi
clanci, koji svedoce o zdravstvenoj nezi na nivou drzave, stari
Egipcani su zahvaljujuci potrebi njihovih Faraona za besmrtnoscu,
zaista i postali besmrtni. I posle nekoliko hiljada godina jos uvek
svedoce sami o sebi iz grobnica, zapisima, hijeroglifima, klinastim
pismom, do tancina opisanim obredima... Uz pomoc danasnje
tehnologije, polako saznajemo i od kojih bolesti su oboljevali, kakva
im je bila ishrana... Sve vise bivamo uvereni da besmrtnost i nije
tako nerealna stvar, ali shvatanje besmrtnosti nas znatno razlikuje
od starih Egipcana... Mi jos uvek verujemo u zagrobni zivot, dok su
ga oni i ostvarili, mozda ne personifikovano, ali zaostavstinom koja
nas na njih podseca... Veliki ljudi se ne nadaju besmrtnosti, oni
rade na tome da je i ostvare...
