Papyri and sources
Two very old medical papyri from ancient Egypt have been kept until today. Both are about the same age, more than three thousand years old. The first is mostly about injuries. It tells a doctor how to look at the patient, what to ask, and what might happen next. The second is about many different illnesses. It lists many remedies made from plants and other things, it has a section about the heart and the blood vessels, and it also includes writing that we would call magic. Today we do not use these remedies as advice. We use these papyri to learn how people thought long ago. A papyrus is a primary source, because it was made at the time. A book that a modern writer wrote about the papyri is a secondary source. A letter, an old photo and a coin from long ago are primary sources. A textbook, an encyclopedia and a TV programme about history are secondary sources.
| First papyrus | Second papyrus | |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly about | injuries | many illnesses |
| Age | very old | very old, about the same |
| Special part | how to examine a patient | a section on the heart and vessels |
Source hunt. At home or in school, find six sources about the past, for example an old photo, a family letter, a school book, a coin or an encyclopedia. Ask a grown-up to help. Sort them into primary and secondary. Make a table with the columns Source, Primary or secondary, and What it tells me. Do not take anything from a museum or share private family papers online.