History credits the Greeks with identifying the constellations, conceptualizing metaphysics and originating modern-day medicine. Looks like it’s time for a rewrite. A British researcher has recently discovered that the origins of modern medicine lie not with Hippocrates, the so-called “father of medicine,” but with ancient Egyptian physicians. By studying four papyri that date back to 1,850 B.C., more than 100 years before Hippocrates was born, Dr. Jackie Campbell at the University of Manchester KNH Center for Biomedical Egyptology has pinpointed which plants may have existed at the time and where they were grown, giving fresh clout to ancient documents previously dismissed as more magic than science.

British, American, Danish and Belgian scholars translated some of the medical prescriptions on the papyri more than 100 years ago. But many of the prescriptions for ailments like constipation, rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders were viewed by the scientific community as medically irrelevant. Some five years ago, Campbell began her own assessment, using botany, pharmacognosy and pharmacology to measure the validity of the documents’ thousand-odd prescriptions and remedies.

In assessing ancient treatments for common problems ranging from cough to cardiac conditions, Campbell and her team found that 60 percent of the recommended treatments had therapeutic value. What’s more, each prescription lists the ingredients, from most to least important, including secondary drugs that might help alleviate side effects. Each also includes instructions for preparation, such as how to extract the drug overnight using alcohol, fat or water. Plus, there are tips on how to disguise a bitter flavor—with sweet beer, fruit or honey, for example. Drugs were formed into the same pill, cream and tablet formations that we use today. “The drug extraction medium was correct for the drug in each prescription,” Campbell marvels. “They didn’t know chemistry, but they got it right. They even made suppositories for women with gynecological problems.”

Even more startling, some remedies prescribed in the papyri are still popular today. According to the documents, ulcers and wounds were cleaned, sprinkled with powdered copper and covered in honey, both of which are antimicrobial. Campbell notes that honey dressings have recently resurfaced as a popular treatment alternative when antibiotics fail. Other ingredients in the documents, such as aloe, acacia and hyoscyamus—used then to treat skin conditions, cough and colic—are used to treat the same ailments today.

Some credit the ancient Egyptians’ practice of mummification for their extensive knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. But it seems their edge came from a deep knowledge of plants.

“They got to know the plants so well that they knew the pharmacology—which parts were good for food, medicine or fodder,” Campbell says. “The plants and food which sustained them in health, they used in potent quantities to cure illness. It is recorded in such detail that many of the prescriptions can be replicated today.”

And as natural therapy treatments grow in popularity—there was an 18 percent increase in herbal remedy use in the United States between 1990 and 2002, according to Harvard University Medical School researchers—these documents could serve as a new, but ancient, authority on healing everyday ailments. Among the remedies detailed in the papyri, for example, are the benefits of celery for use with rheumatism patients, something Campbell says pharmaceutical companies are just beginning to seriously study.

Over the next few years, Campbell’s colleagues plan to continue their studies based on the papyri discoveries. They’ll use chemical fingerprinting and examine DNA sequences of ancient plants found in tombs and archaeological sites to find the regions in which these practices originated. The research is designed to also identify possible trade routes used by Egyptians and determine whether the plants were locally farmed for medicinal use or imported.

Remains of ancient Egyptians tell us that their life spans were not very long—about 30 years or so. Without these developments in early medicine, their lives might have been even shorter.