Did a connection exist between medicine and pharmacy as practised in pharaonic Egypt and medieval Wales? I undertook a pilot study to explore whether there is any evidence that these two strands of transmission overlapped, and if any healing concepts or practices passed from ancient Egypt, either via Classical sources or by a more direct route, to medieval Wales.
Welsh traditions
Wales, one of the four countries comprising the United Kingdom, has a rich tradition as a centre of early medicine and pharmacy. Medical manuscripts written in the Welsh language date from c.AD 1400 and include glossaries, recipes, and health advice. They belong to a scholastic rather than folkloric tradition, and probably reflect a medical system that was practised in Britain from at least the 12th century AD.
Studies have indicated that this medical system was largely derived from a European tradition, which itself owed much to Classical medicine preserved and transmitted via Greek, Latin, and Arabic manuscripts. To some extent, these Classical traditions are themselves a continuum of the medicine and pharmacy passed directly from ancient Egypt through Latin and Greek sources. However, there are some indications that the transmission route from Egypt to Wales may have been more direct.
