Every culture that has ever developed had some form of medicine. People were using herbs and minerals for healing long before recorded history. The oldest known herbal remedies were recorded by the Ancient Sumerians.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been in use for twenty three centuries. This type of medicine, still in use today, relies on more than just herbs. Acupuncture grew out of this practice as did several other ideas about the human body and medicine, much of which are still being proven true by scientists.

The first part of the culture was Bronze Age that started around 3000 B.C. in the Indus Valley. They were already growing and using turmeric both in cooking and medically. The culture later moved to the Ganges where it was written down in Sanskrit. That medical practice is also still in use and being studied.

The Ancient Egyptians had a great medical system. They used a lot of preventative medicine as well as treating everything from a simple cut to cancer. One of the places information about their practices can be found is on the Ebers Papyrus. This ancient writing discusses the uses for aloe and garlic, among other herbs. Western and Unani medicine were both based on the Ancient Greeks. So, for that matter, was Ancient Rome.

You may be already be familiar with Hippocrates - an Ancient Greek doctor most famously known for the Hippocratic Oath.

Read more on ancient medicine below.

Unani medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine