Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

Joumon era, (Joumon means braid). When archaeologists
excavated the remains of residences dating to this period, they
discovered the bark of Kihada (Phellondron amurense Rupr.). It is
the oldest herbal drug discovered in Japan.
1760 BC The code of laws promulgated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon,
1792-1750 BC. These are inscribed on a stone monument, which
was discovered at Susa, Iran.
§ 215. If a doctor has treated a gentleman for a severe wound with
a bronze lancet and has cured the man, or has opened an abscess
of the eye for a gentleman with the bronze lancet and has cured the
eye of the gentleman, he shall take ten shekels of silver.
§ 218. If the doctor has treated a gentleman for a severe wound
with a lancet of bronze and has caused the gentleman to die, or
has opened an abscess of the eye for a gentleman with the
bronze lancet and has caused the loss of the gentleman’s eye,
one shall cut off his hands.
§ 219. If a doctor has treated the severe wound of a slave of a
poor man with a bronze lancet and has caused his death, he shall
render slave for slave (Gutenberg project).
It is to be noted that there is no mention of drugs in these laws,
solely surgery, but there remains the possibility that there was a
similar set of laws concerning medicines. These stringent laws
must have dissuaded surgeons from operating on cases with a
poor prognosis in a similar way to the present situation where
operative mortality lists might dissuade junior surgeons from
operating on cases with a poor prognosis.
1600–1500 BC Mercury was shown to be present in the tombs of the 18 th /19 th
dynasty of Egypt (Almkvist, 1932).
1550 BC The Ebers 12 Papyrus is a collection of 829 prescriptions, mentioning
700 drugs in just 135 pages. Compounded medications during this
time period included gargles, snuffs, inhalations, suppositories,
fumigations, enemas, poultices, decoctions, infusions, pills, troches,
lotions, ointments and plasters. Beer, milk, wine and honey were
popular vehicles for drugs while honey and wax were used as
binding agents. Salts of minerals of lead, iron, copper, antimony and
mercury were used. Amongst the herbs mentioned are: hyoscyamus
12 Ebers =George Ebers, 1837 – 1898, was a German Egyptologist who discovered the papyrus at Luxor
(Thebes) Egypt