Page 223 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

The Apothecary's Art, Drugs and Cures

Worship and Medicine in the First Temple Period

Residents of Jerusalem throughout generations, as well as pilgrims who came to worship
in the city, were in need of medical services and aid. Physicians and pharmacists prepared
remedies from raw materials, some brought from areas surrounding Jerusalem and others
from foreign lands. The exhibit "The Apothecary's Art" displays a variety of traditional
curative substances which were used in Jerusalem throughout its history.

The Bible describes routine treatments for curing illnesses with the aid of doctors and
medications as well as miraculous acts of healing. In biblical Jerusalem the pharmaceutical
profession was also known. The description of the burial of King Asa with “perfumes
and various spices” (2 Chronicles 16:14) attests to the use of remedies compounded by
professional apothecaries whose profession was closely identified with religious rites.
Priests (Kohanim) “prepared the mixing of spices” (1 Chronicles 9:30) and specialized in
making incense to be lit in the Temple

,‫קמע בצורת עין האל המצרי הורוס‬ ‫קמע בדמות אלת המלחמה‬
‫ התקופה הישראלית‬,‫ ירושלים‬,‫עיר דוד‬ ,'‫והמגפות המצרית סחמת‬
‫| רשות העתיקות‬ ,‫ ירושלים‬,‫חפירות הכותל‬
‫ לפנה"ס‬6-10 ‫מאות‬
Amulet in the shape of the ‫| רשות העתיקות‬
eye of the Egyptian deity Horus
City of David, Jerusalem, Ritual statuette of Sekhmet,
Israelite Period | the Egyptian goddess of war
Israel Antiquities Authority and pestilence, Western Wall
excavations, Jerusalem,
10-6th centuries BCE, Israel |
Antiquities Authority

221 ■ ‫זית ומיני בשמים‬