Where is the birthplace of the first Pharmacopoeia in the world?

Sumer is the birthplace of world medicine. As early as 4,000 years ago, in the Third Dynasty of Ur, people had compiled a medical code with practical value. Before the Ur Medical Code, there were many scattered medical literatures and prescriptions in the local area. These are the oldest medical documents known so far.

The medical skills in the two river basins enjoyed a high reputation at that time, and doctors in Assyria and Babylon often went out for consultations. Babylonian doctors were active in the Hittite Empire in Asia Minor, and found a batch of Akkadian medical literature in Hattusha, the Hittite capital (now Kale, Boaz, Turkey, east of Ankara 150km), including pharmacopoeia, prescriptions for treating conjunctivitis, cold and fever, natural childbirth and impotence.

In the late Babylonian period, medicine used magic spells to treat diseases. Marduk was the god of medicine in Babylon. He is good at treating various diseases and is the father of magicians. There are a lot of spells in Babylonian pottery films. This healing method is very similar to the later ones, which shows that some ideas are instinctive and exist in the subconscious mind, so witchcraft has not changed for centuries. The goddess Aea is a specialized medical god, and the goddess Ninghulsag is also very important in medical mythology. There are also eight gods related to her, each of whom can cure diseases. Ninuta is the head of many medical gods, and his wife's name is Galla; Another medical god is Ninazu, who is the king of doctors. His son is JiNing Shida, and their symbols are sticks and snakes. A snake named Sasan is regarded as a symbol and a medical god.

In medical accounts, all kinds of fever, stroke, tuberculosis and plague are mentioned; Mental illness has been identified and considered to be caused by trauma or the devil; There are also eye diseases, ear diseases, rheumatism, tumors, abscesses, heart diseases, skin diseases and various sexually transmitted diseases. Assyrians believe that toothache is caused by insect erosion, which is the same as that of Egyptians. The yellow disease is thought to be caused by the demon Asazu. "He can turn his body yellow and his tongue black." The waste is caused by the demon Sunglow. Babylonian prescriptions are usually very detailed. Up to now, there is still a medical abstract written in cuneiform on pottery tablets, and its format is divided into three parts: the first part is the name of the disease, the second part is the name of the medicine, and the third part is the usage. The medicines used are fruits, leaves, flowers, skins and roots of various plants; Olive, laurel, myrtle, chicken tail orchid, garlic, etc. Various parts and organs of animals; There are also various minerals such as alum, copper and iron. In addition, many kinds of filth are used, which is similar to other ancient peoples. But to drive away the devil with filth and let him leave the patient's body. There are also many kinds of preparations, such as pills, powders and enemas. There are various tools to inject drugs into the vagina or rectum.

Babylonian surgeons were highly valued, which can be seen from the records in code of hammurabi. Some of them are very meaningful, such as clearly thinking that doctors are a special profession and recording how people with this profession perform surgery. At that time, because of the low medical level, there were not many surgical operations. More than two thousand years ago, complicated surgical operations such as caesarean section began to be recorded in legal documents, but the operation was only carried out in a very critical situation. It is likely that the patient's family members begged the doctor for mercy with the mentality of "a dead horse is a living horse doctor". If the patient dies, the doctor can't escape the responsibility. These records are the earliest documents that stipulate the criminal responsibility and civil responsibility of doctors, which have great historical value: "Doctors who perform major operations with scalpels and cause patients to die, or who cut abscess with scalpels and destroy their eyes, will be punished for the crime of breaking their hands", "Doctors who cure bone diseases or organ diseases will receive five silver coins; If the patient is a hired slave, he will get three silver coins and his master will pay two silver coins. "

It can be seen that the social status of ancient Sumerian doctors is not as high as that of western developed countries today. Ancient documents put them on the same level as fortune tellers, innkeepers and bakers, and they are at most the middle class of society. However, a few doctors, with their superb medical skills, squeezed into the court and served as court doctors, thus gaining a higher social status. These doctors specialize in serving kings, queens and dignitaries. Sometimes, they are sent to foreign countries to entertain foreign heads of state, expand their prestige as messengers of peace and consolidate friendly relations between allies.

During the Assyrian period, court doctors had a special management organization, and the person in charge was the most prestigious doctor in China, called Mashmatu or Ashibu. During the ancient Persian Empire, there were not only domestic doctors, but also foreign doctors. Some famous Greek doctors followed the king for a long time. They knew the situation in Persia very well and left many precious records. Greek doctor Kostyasius once wrote a Persian history, some chapters of which still exist today. During the Sassanian Empire, many famous Greek doctors fled to Iran because the Byzantine church persecuted pagans. Iranians established the world's first medical university for them in Gundy Shahpour. The textbooks used in this school were widely used by medical schools in Italy during the Renaissance.