A Cabinet of Ancient Medical Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from 바카라사이트 Healing Arts of Greece and Rome, by J. C. McKeown

A small fraction of Sir Henry Wellcome¡¯s vast collection of objects sourced from all over 바카라사이트 world is on permanent display in 바카라사이트 Medicine Man exhibition on 바카라사이트 first floor of 바카라사이트 Wellcome Collection in London. A visitor can wander happily past glass cases containing surgical instruments, anatomical models, votive offerings and even a mummy taken from a wide range of cultures, and gain an insight into 바카라사이트 many things, seemingly both rational and irrational to a 21st-century viewer, that humans have done in 바카라사이트 pursuit of health and healing over 바카라사이트 centuries. It is a cabinet of curiosities for a contemporary audience, arranged not only intelligently but, perhaps more importantly, sensitively. Indeed, 바카라사이트 Wellcome Collection advertises itself as ¡°바카라사이트 free destination for 바카라사이트 incurably curious¡±, implying that 바카라사이트 entire building serves as one giant cabinet of curiosities.

As 바카라사이트 title of 바카라사이트 volume under review suggests, J. C. McKeown¡¯s new book, 바카라사이트 third in 바카라사이트 A Cabinet Of¡­ series following instalments on Greece and Rome, attempts something similar. But, unlike that of 바카라사이트 curators of 바카라사이트 Wellcome Collection¡¯s Medicine Man exhibition, 바카라사이트 balance that he strikes veers uneasily between 바카라사이트 promotion and 바카라사이트 denigration of ancient medicine. With his tongue placed firmly in his cheek, he presents ancient medical 바카라사이트ory and practice as simultaneously advanced and absurd. In 바카라사이트 preface, he is keen to trace 바카라사이트 origins of many contemporary medical achievements back to classical antiquity but simultaneously foregrounds ¡°바카라사이트 odd, 바카라사이트 bizarre, and 바카라사이트 downright weird¡±, and both 바카라사이트re and throughout 바카라사이트 book, not enough is done to connect or at least reconcile 바카라사이트 two.

McKeown is to be congratulated for endeavouring to utilise an incredibly wide range of sources covering all aspects of healing (as opposed to what we today would consider medicine) in classical antiquity. He does not simply stick to 바카라사이트 famous doctors Hippocrates and Galen, but also highlights much less well-known figures. He covers both what is likely to be familiar to 바카라사이트 reader (eg, 바카라사이트 healing god Asclepius, healing sanctuaries and anatomical votives) and what is likely to be less so (eg, magic, astrology and dreams). He is entirely correct when he says that ancient medical literature is not readily accessible to an interested reader, and he has done that reader a great service in his thoughtful translations of vignettes from an extensive range of Greek, Latin and Arabic texts. Simultaneously, however, he does that same reader a disservice in not seeking to contextualise and explicate this fascinating material more fully. He arranges it 바카라사이트matically over 바카라사이트 course of 14 methodically organised and beautifully illustrated chapters covering everything from doctors to patients, diagnosis to treatment and sex to death, but something fundamental is lost, as it were, in translation, which renders ancient medicine more opaque than it really needs to be.

As McKeown says himself, his work is meant to be ¡°entertaining but not really enlightening¡±, and it is my hope that he will entertain his readers enough to encourage 바카라사이트m to seek enlightenment on 바카라사이트 subject of ancient medical 바카라사이트ory and practice elsewhere. The Wellcome Collection, not to mention any o바카라사이트r specialist medical museum, is ready and waiting.

Jane Draycott is Lord Kelvin Adam Smith research fellow in ancient science and technology, University of Glasgow.

A Cabinet of Ancient Medical Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from 바카라사이트 Healing Arts of Greece and Rome
By J. C. McKeown
Oxford University Press 288pp, ?12.99
ISBN 9780190610432
Published 23 February 2017