Patient Voices from Ancient Egypt

Descripción del proyecto

Reconstrucción de la experiencia del paciente en el Antiguo Egipto

Aunque se han realizado numerosas investigaciones sobre la medicina del Antiguo Egipto, aún queda mucho por aprender sobre la experiencia de las personas enfermas en lo que respecta a su enfermedad, su tratamiento y la reacción de la sociedad hacia ellas. Con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el proyecto PAVE llevará a cabo la primera investigación en profundidad sobre la condición de paciente en el Antiguo Egipto durante el período comprendido entre el 1550 y el 1069 a. e. c. Mediante una variedad de métodos extraídos de la historia de la medicina, la antropología, la sociología, la fenomenología, la filología y la bioarqueología, el proyecto investigará la experiencia de estar enfermo, la respuesta de la sociedad ante dichas enfermedades y las causas que subyacen a los diferentes tratamientos. Los resultados arrojarán luz sobre la historia de la medicina y pondrán en tela de juicio las suposiciones sobre la enfermedad y la atención sanitaria en el mundo antiguo.

Objetivo

PAVE is the first comprehensive study of patienthood in ancient Egypt (1550–1069 BCE). The goal is to analyze experiences of illness, sickness, and treatment, and to uncover the social dynamics that shaped these. To do so, PAVE pioneers an interdisciplinary approach that combines concepts from history of medicine, anthropology, sociology, and phenomenology with philological and bioarchaeological evidence. The project is important because it fills a major research gap—illuminating the patient’s perspective and the life opportunities of sick people in Egypt for the first time—and by doing so it demonstrates how and why theory from outside the field of Egyptology must be integrated into the discipline. Moreover, PAVE will extend the temporal depth of the history of medicine, and by bridging the gap between ancient evidence and modern theory, PAVE offers major theoretical gains, challenging common assumptions in the history of medicine. To gain insight into the patient’s view, I will unveil expressions of illness (the individual experience of being unwell) and sickness (the social construction of and response to unwellness) by analyzing the broad range of health-related texts and human remains within the framework of the “eidetic characteristics of illness” and the sick role. Moreover, I will investigate the textual sources for the treatment choices sick people made and what factors governed such choices by applying the concept of therapeutic navigation. My work will be supported by my supervisor, medical historian Ylva Söderfeldt, my mentor, medical anthropologist Claudia Merli, and colleagues at Uppsala University. The MSCA-PF will allow me to develop transferable skills in leadership, communication, and project organization, and provides a unique opportunity for me to deepen my knowledge of history of medicine, medical anthropology, and interdisciplinary research. The acquisition of these skills will have a significant impact on my future career.