Prescriptions or Patents? Intellectual Property on Ophthalmologist’s Stamps

Oculist’s stamp, Roman, 400 BCE-400 CE, excavated from the bed of the Moselle river in Trier, Germany on 22 November 1875. Science Museum, London, Accession number: A629428. The inscriptions on each side give us the name of the oculist, “Eugenius”, and the preparation’s name and use. “Chloron” is a green salve used for eye complaints and was made from egg whites. “Diarhodon” was used to treat inflammation. © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

The ancient town of Schwarzenacker lay within the Roman region of Gallia, near(ish) the city of Trier, formerly Augusta Trevorum. The town was founded between 52-58 AD and  destroyed in 275 AD by Germanic tribes who quickly abandoned the site, leaving it in relative isolation. In one house, which can be seen reconstructed in the image here, lived a certain Sextus Ajacius Launus. Medical instruments found on site suggest that the building was used for surgical or medical practices, but the instruments themselves, such as scalpels, forceps, probes and spatulas are fairly generic. Also found at the site was a square stone stamp, engraved on four sides, and a cake of medicament, identifying the individual as an eye doctor or Ophthalmologist.

Hiding the Natural Face – Alutae et Splenia

Bronze Cosmetic Box, British Museum 1866,0415.235, 1st-2nd century AD

Non tamen expositas mensa deprendat amator
Pyxidas: ars faciem dissimulata iuvat.

Still, don’t let your lover find cosmetic bottles on your dressing table: art delights in its hidden face.

It’s no surprise to find that Ovid was yet another man fond of the ‘natural look’, the unblemished, thrown together, I-woke-up-like-this woman whose imperfections are as deliberate as her smooth cheeks. In his advice for lovers, Ovid refers to alutae, small soft leather patches worn like plasters to cover blemishes on the face (Ars, 3.202). Unfortunately these bizarre patches are only found in literary references, so we have no archeological evidence to suggest what they looked like and how they were applied. It’s thought that the patches would have been treated with alum and pasted directly onto the skin with a thick paste or foundation, which would then cover them, creating the impression of a flawless skin. 

A note on the language of shells, vulvas and wombs

 Birth of Venus, Botticelli

Whilst the association of cowrie shells and vulvas is never explicitly stated by ancient writers, there are a few clues which draw connecting lines between the two, even if never stating the obvious. In addition to the cowrie girdles placed near the womb and vulva, etymological links suggest a linguistic parallel to our visual one.  

Concha Veneris: the shell of Love

Cowries are native to the Indian Ocean, but have been found en masse in archaeological excavations across Egyptian, Phoenician and Mesopotamian sites, often modified or pierced – presumably to be suspended as a pendant. Whilst some lack context, many have been found in the tombs of children and women. Around the 2nd millennium BC, objects appear which imitate the form of cowrie shells, with characteristic elliptical shape and central split with serrated edges. A brief look at such imitations brings up some questions: why recreate a shape which forms so naturally? And what meaning could be hidden within this intriguing form?

Breast buttons and the Cesnola Collection

Bronze Buttons, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Acc. No. 74.51.5693

The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art, comprising over 6000 objects, was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1872. The collection is known best for its unrivalled stone statues and spans a vast period between 3000 BC to 300 BC, encompassing the twists and turns of Cyprus’ rich history. It was amassed by the American consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola, who served in Cyprus between 1865 and 1877 and later became a director of the Met (a deal he set up in return for his collection).

Votive Breasts and Where to Find them

 

Votive breasts from Asklepieion, Corinth

For over two thousand years, a phenomenon took hold in the ancient world, from the Levantine coast of Phoenicia to the rainy fields of Somerset. In sanctuaries and temples, anatomical votives were dedicated to a range of different deities, calling upon their healing powers. These anatomical votives have been found in their hundreds, among them hands, feet, eyes, noses, breasts, ears, penises and uteri.

These Toes Were Made for Walking

Battle past the hoards of school children in the British Museum ogling at the dried up body of a 5417 year old ginger man from Upper Egypt and you might just make it to a small nondescript case standing on the north-facing side of room 63. Here is where, in my humble opinion, the real treasures are to be found.

Perfect Pubic Hair

Pubis fragment from large kouros, with flat-trimmed hair style with razor in shape of anvil. Marble, W:16cm. From Samos (found 1984). Dated to the mid-late sixth century BC.

Were you to find this delicate fragment under the hot Mediterranean sun, coated in a layer of Samian dust, what conclusions might you draw? From the sharp straight line, horizontal in our photograph, you might be tempted to visualise some kind of repeated pattern, like a border. I asked a trusted archaeologist, who opted for the depiction of cattle horns, carved into large-grained marble. What we’re actually looking at, so R. R. R. Smith assures me, is a fragment of a colossal kouros statue featuring nothing other than the careful definition of pubic hair.

Greco-Egyptian Uterine Amulets

Current location: Michigan, A. Alfred Taubman Medical Library

Small, roughly cut and covered in strange symbols, these little stones have made their way through museum collections, passed from Classical departments to Egyptology ones, Medieval to European Prehistory. They’ve represented exotic religious doctrines and containers carried by devotees of Isis. Their central motif has depicted a “vase of sins” of the Gnostic Christian sect, a vase to collect water from the Nile, a pneumatically driven musical instrument, a cooking pot and no doubt many more entertaining conjectures which never made it to paper.

Prescription No. XI: Treatment for a woman who loves bed

These prescriptions are all taken from the Kahun Gynaecological papyrus, edited and translated by F.L.Griffith in 1989. The Papyrus was found at El-Lahun in Northern Egypt and is currently housed in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London. The papyrus is dated to circa 1800BC, the late Middle kingdom, making it the oldest known medical text in Egypt.