Introduction

Abstract

A papyrus discovered in one of the tombs of the nobles (scribes, artists and artisans) at El Assassif, Thebes, Egypt in 1862 (Frontispiece), later acquired by the German Egyptologist, Georg M. Ebers (1837–1898), and therefore called the ‘Ebers Papyrus’(Leake, 1952), possibly represents the first known medical text describing diabetes and its treatment (Figure 1.1). The ‘Ebers Papyrus’, a teaching text, was written about 1500 BC during the 18th Dynasty (the brilliant period of Egyptian culture) when ancient Thebes rose to its political and religious zenith, marking the beginning of the New Kingdom, 1567–1080 BC (18th to 20th Dynasties).