Serena Buzzi
Department of Humanities, University of Turin
Chiara Zanforlini
Petrie Study Center
Keywords:
Crocodile , Dung, Ancient Egypt , Greek medicine
Abstract
Animal dung has always been used as part of medicines; even if magic played an important role in ancient medicine, doctors of past centuries have considered for centuries dung as an effective drug. This paper discusses the use of excrements in ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine medicine, in particular crocodile dung. Crocodile were familiar animals for those who lived along the Nile, but with Ptolemaic era, also the Greeks (and then the Romans) became acquainted with this reptile, also cosmetically and from a medical point of view.
