Highlights from the Collection:
Medical treatise from the New Kingdom, c. 1200 BC

Papyrus Carlsberg 8 is a group of fragments from a medical treatise dating to the period around 1200 BC. The recto side of the manuscript deals with eye diseases while the verso side concerns obstetricts.

Only a partial publication of the larger fragments of the verso has so far been undertaken. This, however, is enough to show that the individual cases belong to a well-established medical tradition. One case finds a parallel in a medical manuscript from Lahun (c. 1850) and two others find parallels in a medical manuscript in Berlin (c. 1300 BC).

Fragment of P. Carlsberg 8 verso

Detail of writing, P. Carlsberg 8 verso