In Hungary, archaeologists have discovered the grave of an ancient doctor who was buried around 2000 years ago along with his medical instruments. What is unusual about it is the completeness and high quality of the surgical equipment, including some copper scalpels decorated with silver. A comparable find is only known in Europe from Pompeii. The scientists suspect that the ancient doctor traveled from the Roman Empire to what was then “Barbaricum” – possibly to treat a special patient.
The city of Jászberény is now around 55 kilometers east of the capital Budapest. Nearly 2000 years ago this area was part of the Barbaricum – the regions bordering the Roman Empire to the north and east and which the Romans believed were inhabited by “barbarians”. On the territory of today’s Hungary, these were mostly members of the Sarmatians, a people related to the Scythians who lived in this area from around the 3rd century BC.
Artfully crafted scalpels and utensils
All the more surprising is a find that archaeologists led by Vida Tivadar from the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest have made during excavations near Jászberény. They came across a first-century tomb containing not only the bones of a male but also numerous paraphernalia that had apparently once been placed in wooden boxes at the foot of the tomb. Closer examination revealed that these were containers with drug residues and high-quality medical instruments, including forceps, needles, tweezers and high-quality scalpels suitable for surgical procedures.
The dead man must have been an ancient doctor, as Tivadar and his team reported at a press conference. What is unusual for the site, however, is the rich equipment and high quality of the instruments, especially the scalpels: the handles of the surgical knives consisted of a copper alloy decorated with silver, the blades of the scalpels were interchangeable. Similar medical instruments are known from various sites around the Roman Empire, the team reports.
A doctor from the Roman Empire on a “barbarian visit”?
However, the tomb of the ancient doctor from Jászberény is unique in Europe in terms of the number and completeness of the medical equipment, as the archaeologists explain. Previously, a similarly extensive set of ancient medical devices of this type was only known from Pompeii – and thus from an ancient city in the center of the Roman Empire. This makes the discovery of such finds in the area of the former Barbaricum all the more unusual.
The archaeologists suspect that the dead man could have been a Roman doctor from one of the centers of the empire at the time. It is possible that he made the journey to the Barbaricum to treat a special patient. For reasons that are unclear, the man, who was 50 to 60 years old at the time of his death, either stayed there or died during treatment on site and was then buried in the Sarmatian region together with his medical equipment. In addition to the surgical instruments and residues of medicines, a whetstone was also found in his grave, which the doctor probably used to sharpen his knives during his lifetime.
Source: Eötvös Loránd University, p.m