What does the word cataract mean in ancient Egypt?
In fact, “cataract” means both an opacity of the lens and a torrent of water and is derived from the Greek word kataráktēs meaning the fall of water. A wall painting in an ancient tomb at Thebes (about 1200 B.C.) seems to reveal the treatment of an eye by an oculist.
What does Pharaoh mean in Egyptian?
Great House
The word “pharaoh” means “Great House,” a reference to the palace where the pharaoh resides. While early Egyptian rulers were called “kings,” over time, the name “pharaoh” stuck. As the religious leader of the Egyptians, the pharaoh was considered the divine intermediary between the gods and Egyptians.
What did the ancient Egyptians use the cataracts for?
The six first cataracts of the River Nile were the main obstacles for boats sailing on the Nile in antiquity. Couching is the earliest surgical procedure to be used in the treatment of cataracts. The cataracts prevented Nubians from trading by traveling on the river, so Nubian trade routes had to be over land.
Did Egypt have cataracts?
In the case of the Nile cataracts, large outcroppings of granite make the flow of the river unpredictable and much more difficult to traverse by boat. The cataract system created a natural boundary at Aswan, separating Egypt from its southern neighbor, Nubia.
What is a cataract in nature?
A cataract is a lens abnormality characterized by decreased transparency and increased cloudiness.
What is the difference between a cataract and a waterfall?
A waterfall is an area where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops in the course of a stream or river. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision.
What was the pharaoh responsible for?
As “Lords of the Two Lands,” pharaohs were responsible for politically ruling Egypt and had to fulfill obligations such as handling legal disputes and commanding the army. Pharaoh Menes established a unified Egyptian state by the combining both Upper and Lower Egypt under one monarchy.
What kind of word is pharaoh?
noun
The supreme ruler of ancient Egypt; a formal address for the sovereign seat of power as personified by the ‘king’ in an institutional role of Horus son of Osiris; often used by metonymy for Ancient Egyptian sovereignty.
How did Egyptians remove cataracts?
These findings confirm the high surgical skill level achieved and the possibility that ancient Egyptians and Babylonians used the couching procedure to dislodge the cataract away from the pupil before Indian surgeons. The surgeon used a lancet to push the clouded lens backward into the vitreous body.
Did ancient Egyptians perform cataract surgery?
In antiquity, as early as the 5th century, the first form of a cataract operation was performed, known as couching. This method consisted of dislocating the cataract lens, moving it away from the pupil, and letting it sit in the vitreous cavity towards the rear of the eye.