Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022

18-Medical Instruments

Title Ligula (ear pick)
Era Ptolemaic–Roman Period, 199 BCE–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.90
Title Twisted Stem Probe
Era Roman Period, 30–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.94
Title Spatula Spoon Probe
Era Ptolemaic–Roman Period, 99 BCE–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.455
Title Spatula Spoon Probe
Era Ptolemaic–Roman Period 99 BCE–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.454
Title Combined Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe
Era Roman Period, 1st century CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.943
Title Spatula Probe
Era Roman Period, 199–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.933
Title Spatula Probe
Era Roman Period, 199–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.932
Title Spatula Probe
Era Roman Period, 199–500 CE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.935

The practice of medicine in the Ptolemaic–Roman periods introduced many instruments. Probes with shafts mounting spatulas, spoons, and scoops were primarily pharmaceutical and used to measure, prepare, and apply medication. They were also utilized for exploring, cauterizing, cleaning, piercing, retracting, and scraping. Ear wax buildup was cleared with ligulas. Several of these instruments appear in relief on the north corner of the outer ambulatory in the twin temple of Horus-the-Elder and Sobek at Kom Ombo, Egypt, which dates to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.1

MH

  1. . ↩︎

Bibliography

Nunn 1996
Nunn, John F. 1996. Ancient Egyptian medicine. London: British Museum Press.
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
Group Shot of Surgical Instruments
From left to right: Ligula (ear pick), Twisted Stem Probe, Spatula Spoon Probe (two), Scoop and Olive-Ended Probe, Spatula Probe (three) © Bruce M. White, 2022
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