Ricercatori dell'Università di Manchester, in collaborazione con colleghi egiziani, stanno dando vita ad un progetto teso ad appurare quali fossero le medicine usate nell'antico Egitto.
Questo l'articolo che ne parla sul sito dell'Università:
Discovering the pharmacy of the pharaohs
26 Jan 2007
Scientists at The University of Manchester have teamed up with
colleagues in Egypt in a bid to discover what medicines were used by
the ancient Egyptians.
The KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology in the Faculty of Life
Sciences and the Egyptian Medicinal Plant Conservation Project in St
Katherine's, Sinai, have formed a partnership to research Egyptian
pharmacy in the times of the pharaohs.
The 'Pharmacy in Ancient Egypt' collaboration, which is funded by a
grant from the Leverhulme Trust, will compare modern plant species
common to the Sinai region with the remains of ancient plants found in
tombs.
Researcher Ryan Metcalf said: "We know that the ancient Egyptians
had extensive trade routes and it is entirely possible that both
medicinal plants and the knowledge to use them effectively were traded
between regions and countries.
"By comparing the prescriptions in the medical papyri to the
medicinal plant use of the indigenous Bedouin people we hope to
determine the origins of Pharaonic medicine."
The Medicinal Plant Conservation Project, headed by Professor
Mohamed Al-Demerdash, is helping to preserve the biodiversity of the
region through close cooperation with the local Bedouin.
Fellow researcher Dr Jenefer Cockitt added: "Many of the plants are
endemic to the Sinai and extremely valuable to the Bedouin, whether as
fodder, cash crops, building materials or as pharmaceuticals.
"St Katherine's will be able to supply us with seeds and information
that covers the entire Sinai peninsula, which will be an invaluable
resource for our work."