[Removal of weremit from the abdomen. Interpretation and efficacy of an ancient Egyptian prescription by the newest scientific results]. / A weremit kiuzése a hasból. Óegyiptomi recept hatásosságának értelmezése az újabb kutatási eredmények alapján.

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 at 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 traditional medicine against rheumatism, intestinal distention and cramps, as well as an antiperspirant, and with external use for wound healing. The authors' intent is to interpret the efficacy of the above-mentioned ancient prescription with the help of modern medical and pharmaceutical knowledge.

[Urinary schistosomiasis in ancient Egypt]. / La bilharziose urinaire en ancienne Egypte.

First described by Theodor Bilharz in 1851, Schistosoma haematobium, the worm responsible for urinary schistosomiasis, was a major health problem along the Nile Valley until the present days. Haematuria, the main symptom of this parasitic disease, was known and treated in Egyptian medical papyri since 1550 B.C. A relationship between haematuria and the god Seth was envisaged. Sir Marc Armand Ruffer, pioneer of paleopathology, found (1910) calcified Schistosoma eggs in Egyptian mummies of the xxth dynasty, establishing that bilharzia plagued ancient Egypt people. The ELISA method demonstrated the Schistosoma circulating anodic antigen in 45% of mummies studied.

[Contribution of palaeopathology to defining the pathocoenosis of infectious diseases (Part two)]. / Apporti della paleopatologia alla definizione della patocenosi delle malattieinfettive (II parte).

In the second part of their review the authors focus on palaeopathological studies, performed in mummified tissues, with reference to infectious diseases. The analysis of samples obtained from both natural and artificial mummies may provide, in some favourable events, a more complete knowledge of these findings in comparison to information obtained from only comprehensive examination of the skeleton. The acquired data enable us to understand not only the diseases which afflicted mankind, but also dietary and hygiene conditions of ancient populations. We report knowledge acquired regarding some palaeopathological conditions, including schistosomiasis, smallpox, cisticercosis, trichinosis, ascaridiasis, echinococcosis, filariasis, hepatitis E virus, condylomatosis, pulmonary tubercolosis, pediculosis, visceral leishmaniasis as well as Diphyllobotrium sp., Dicrocoelium dendriticum and Fasciola hepatica infestations. In addition some interesting findings concerning the relationship between dietary and food intake colonized by streptomyces are described. This review reports the discovery of human remains from different geographic areas: while most of these studies describe findings in two Mediterranean countries (Italy and Egypt), some refer to Britain and German-speaking countries (Austria and Germany) as well as the area in Africa known as Nubia, along the Nile. Both histological and biomolecular diagnosis are useful not only to identify a specific disease in a subject from the remote past, but also to achieve information concerning its frequency and evolution. Such knowledge may thus allow us to understand the intensity of cultural exchanges and links among different populations and the role of these relationships in transmitting and spreading infectious diseases in a certain geographic area.

[About the death of Herod the Great]. / Acerca de la muerte del rey Herodes el Grande.

Herod the Great was the founder of a dynasty that reigned on Judea for several generations. His birth date is estimated on year 73 AC and died at 70 years old. Descriptions of the final disease of Herod were obtained from the classical chronicles of Flavius Josephus, "The Jewish war" and "Jewish Antiquities". A medical explanation for his death is attempted. A parasitism caused by Schistosoma haematobium is suggested as the etiology for chronic renal failure (edema, halitosis and orthopnea) and a "gangrene of genitalia that engendered worms" in the words of Josephus. This would be explained by the formation of genital and urinary fistulae, observed in such disease. The asseveration that Herod was "attacked by black bilis" is also discussed, based on the concepts of the Hippocratic medicine of that time.

[The fall of the Jericho walls]. / La caída de las murallas de Jericó (comentario de la hipótesis médica de Biggs-Hulse).

Archeologic and medical evidence and biblical texts were analyzed in search of support for the hypothesis that the fall of Jerico walls might have been related to an epidemic caused by Schistozoma hematobium. There is evidence of the presence of Balinus trunctus, a snail acting as an intermediary host, but not of the disease itself. However, the hypothesis could still be tenable if all inhabitants left the city, which is suggested by all available evidence. The text in Re 2: 19-22 may not be taken as literary evidence of infection by the agent under discussion.