Significant percentage of today’s knowledge of ancient Egyptian medicine has been acquired from papyri left behind from various periods of Egyptian history. The longest and the most comprehensive is the Ebers papyrus, kept in the University Museum of Leipzig, which was written more than-one thousand years before Hippocrates (c. 460–377 BC). One of the riddles among the prescriptions of the Ebers papyrus Eb20 has been used in order to remove the so called “wemyt” weremit from the abdomen with the help of a drink, which consists of “jnnk”, Conyza dioscoridis in milk or sweet beer. The authors assume that the disease could be an infection of Schistosoma haematobium and/or Schistosoma mansoni. Nowadays the tea of Conyza dioscoridis is widely used as an important part of the traditional medicine against rheumatism, intestinal distention and cramps as well as an antiperspirant, and for external application to heal the wounds. The authors’ intent is to interpret the efficacy of the above-mentioned ancient prescription with the help of modern medical and pharmaceutical knowledge. Orv. Hetil., 2015, 156(50), 2045–2051.
Traditional ancient Egyptian medicine: a review