From Iology to Toxicology: A new specialization in Ancient Alexandrian School.

Alexandria was both an important city and a place of inspiration in the history of medicine since the 3rd century BC until 7th century AD. Its fertile intellectual and scientific environment gave rise to a radical and new thinking and understanding of the disease process. King Ptolemy I (323-285 BC) established the and the Great Library of Alexandria fabled in Antiquity for its treasures of wisdom.

Alexandria, An emporium in the Silk Road, and the Traffic of Unusual Medicines.

In Ancient times, an active trade of exotic and peculiar drugs tool place along the Silk Road. Coming through China, India, Central Asia, Armenia, including Colchis, Arabia, Nubia as far as Greece and Rome, it was centered during Ptolemaic and Roman times in Alexandria, the world Emporium, remarkably advanced in scientific medicine. Physicians required a variety of active ingredients for their pharmacotherapy, following various related branches of medicine.

Mummification in the Ancient and New World.

In the Ancient and New World there was a custom to preserve the corpse in a natural and artificial way. Since Paleolithic man believed in an afterlife and even in Mesoamerica and the Andes cultures, care and ceremony were practiced to the burial of the dead in an ancestral cult. Mortuary rituals were developed in Pre-dynastic Egypt (4500-3100 BC) but apparently they had begun before in America, c.

Beer and wine in antiquity: beneficial remedy or punishment imposed by the Gods?

Different types of alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer were used in ancient times for various medicinal purposes. Being the oldest and probably the most widely used drugs, they were known to have some therapeutic value, in addition to the vital part they played in the daily life of people. Ethanol is produced by fermentation of a variety of plants and consumed either in a diluted form or concentrated by distillation to concoct alcoholic beverages.

[Light and blindness in ancient Egypt].

In Ancient Egypt, light and fire, which were closely related to the Sun God Ra, were the sources of life and well-being, while the dark meant danger and death. Similar to death, darkness drops on human beings in deep sleep and they enter a space inhabited by shadows. Dreams were believed to reveal an unknown world, to give the sleeper a glimpse into the future.