224. If a cow doctor or a sheep doctor has treated a cow or a sheep for
a severe wound and cured it, the owner of the cow or sheep shall give
one-sixth of a shekel of silver to the doctor as his fee.(22)
(22) The Oldest Code of Laws in the World; translated by C.
H. W. Johns, Edinburgh, 1903.
HEBREW MEDICINE
THE medicine of the Old Testament betrays both Egyptian and Babylonian
influences; the social hygiene is a reflex of regulations the origin
of which may be traced in the Pyramid Texts and in the papyri. The
regulations in the Pentateuch codes revert in part to primitive times,
in part represent advanced views of hygiene. There are doubts if the
Pentateuch code really goes back to the days of Moses, but certainly
someone "learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians" drew it up. As
Neuburger briefly summarizes:
"The commands concern prophylaxis and suppression of epidemics,
suppression of venereal disease and prostitution, care of the skin,
baths, food, housing and clothing, regulation of labour, sexual life,
discipline of the people, etc. Many of these commands, such as Sabbath
rest, circumcision, laws concerning food (interdiction of blood and
pork), measures concerning menstruating and lying-in women and those
suffering from gonorrhoea, isolation of lepers, and hygiene of the
camp, are, in view of the conditions of the climate, surprisingly
rational.
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