Is illness a punishment, or a broken body?

That time, that place

In ancient Egypt, illness was mostly the work of gods or spirits. Healers were often priests, and reciting a spell was part of the prescription. Yet Egyptians were unusually familiar with the body — mummification meant looking inside it often.

Why this question

What is striking is that they recited spells and kept records at the same time. What the symptoms were, what was done, what followed. They believed it was the gods' doing — and yet their hands were observing.

What was found

The Edwin Smith papyrus lays out 48 injury cases in order: what was examined, what was judged, what was done. Remarkably, some cases are marked plainly as 'an ailment not to be treated.' Rather than promising a cure, they wrote down what could not be done. They also noticed vessels running through the body, carrying something outward from the heart.