Physician's Box
ca. 1938-1700 B.C.E. or later
Maker Unknown
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
The ancient Egyptians, like their modern counterparts, suffered from eye diseases called ophthalmias that could lead to blindness. Because ophthalmias are transmitted by flies, they occur primarily in the summer when the insects are most abundant in Egypt.
This box belonged to a physician who treated seasonal eye diseases. Each of the three compartments contained a powder for one of the seasons of the Egyptian year—winter, “inundation” (flood), and summer. The hieroglyphs on the exterior state that the summer powder remedied “running ophthalmia.”
This box belonged to a physician who treated seasonal eye diseases. Each of the three compartments contained a powder for one of the seasons of the Egyptian year—winter, “inundation” (flood), and summer. The hieroglyphs on the exterior state that the summer powder remedied “running ophthalmia.”
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Container
- Formatted Medium
- Wood (ebony?)
- Locations
- Place made: Egypt
- Period
- Middle Kingdom
- Dimensions
- 2 1/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 1/4 in. (5.3 x 7.5 x 3.1 cm)
- Accession Number
- 16.77
- Credit Line
- Gift of Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield, Theodora Wilbour, and Victor Wilbour honoring the wishes of their mother, Charlotte Beebe Wilbour, as a memorial to their father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
- Exhibitions
- Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, Ancient Egyptian Art
- Rights Statement
- Creative Commons-BY
- Museum Location
- Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
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