88th Historia Medica Lecture: Healthmaking in Ancient Egypt

Join us for the first Historia Medica lecture of 2024, sponsored by the Center for the History of Medicine at Bernard Becker Medical Library. Our speaker is Anne Austin, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

This event is open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Registration is encouraged but not required.

This talk explores how ancient Egyptians used their social networks to improve their health through the ancient Egyptian village of Deir el-Medina. A common myth about the history of human health suggests that without modern medical knowledge, people in the past had little control over their health outcomes. However, public health research on the Social Determinants of Health demonstrates how factors outside of medical knowledge play key roles in predicting health outcomes for modern populations. So what can the Social Determinants of Health tell us about the broader history of human health? We will explore ancient Egyptians' utilization of social networks to enhance their health, focusing on the village of Deir el-Medina. This New Kingdom village (1550-1070 BCE) offers unparalleled access to daily life in ancient Egypt due to its thousands of daily life texts. Anne Austin led research on human remains at the site for over a decade to complement the textual record. By combining these two datasets, this lecture offers a unique opportunity to explore and explain the relationship between health and wealth in the ancient world.

Anne Austin, PhD
Assistant Professor
Anthropology & Archaeology
University of Missouri—St. Louis.