CLASSICS 2902 ANCIENT MEDICINE
EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
ACCURATE QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT DETAILED SOLUTIONS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<NEWEST VERSION>
1. Timeline - ANSWER ✔ - 4th century BCE (399-300 BCE/BC) to 2nd
century CE (100-199 CE/AD)
2. Problems with the sources when studying ancient medicine - ANSWER ✔
- only a fraction of sources exists from ancient day (need to look be critical
and may need to consider other timelines)
- complication with Greek society (only elite member were literate)
- experiential medicine and oral tradition (many medical
theories/procedures were observed first hand, never written down, and
was passed down orally)
- throughout time, sources like texts simply destroyed
- biases of scribes: copying/recording: things published based on
interest
- general public may not be interested in them
3. Types of sources - ANSWER ✔ Written texts, Art, Physical evidence
4. Examples of written texts - ANSWER ✔ - letters, poetry, inscriptions,
papyri, treaties
5. Examples of Art - ANSWER ✔ - vase, paintings, statues, relics, etc.
6. Examples of Physical Evidence - ANSWER ✔ - human remains, artifacts,
tools, archeological sites/buildings
,7. What affects Transmission of sources - ANSWER ✔ - Natural disasters,
warfare (destroys sources)
- Monasteries picking what is transcribed (some works lost or
forgotten)
- Latin medical texts before 350 AD lost
- Books translated to codex (codex more accessible/easy access, books
may contain contents that is difficult to format in codex, so they are
simply left out and eventually forgotten)
- In 850 AD/CE: changes in handwriting made in difficult for people to
make sense of what is written (more abbreviation in language/writing)
8. Mesopotamian - ANSWER ✔ - Between Tigris and Euphrates river (Iraq)
- Fertile land- perfect for farming
9. Babylonia - ANSWER ✔ - Mesopotamian state
- ruled by Hammurabi (1795-1750 BCE)
- conquered by Persian King Cyrus 539 BCE
10.Assyria - ANSWER ✔ - up north of Babylonia
- rose to prominence 1900 BCE
- collapsed in 612 BCE (Babylonians to be blamed)
11.Mesopotamian Religion and Culture - ANSWER ✔ - no separation
between natural and supernatural
- Cosmology: all elements have wills/conscious power
- Physical entity and spirit are one
- Supernatural has greater power than humans
12.Describe the hierarchy in Mesopotamia... - ANSWER ✔ -
gods>spirits>humans
- obedience and considerations: relationship between different entities
- humans praise and obey the gods
- gods listen to the humans
13.What does good communication with the gods ensure? - ANSWER ✔ -
good health
,14.How are symptoms of disease viewed in Mesopotamia? - ANSWER ✔ -
viewed as messages from the gods
- they must encode these messages, and figure out what needs to be
fixed within the person or community to restore health
- physiological processes are not important
15.what is a primary source? - ANSWER ✔ A primary source is any piece of
evidence (such as a document, artifact, literary work, or manuscript) that
was created during the time period under examination
16.what is a secondary source? - ANSWER ✔ A secondary source is a work
(such as an article or textbook) that comments on, discusses, or cites a
primary source. Secondary sources were usually written after the time period
under discussion.
17.What is BCE? - ANSWER ✔ Before the Common Era (or BC- Before
Christ)
*count downward*
18.What years are 4th century BCE? - ANSWER ✔ years 399-300 BCE
19.What is CE? - ANSWER ✔ Common Era (AD "Anno Domini" after the
birth of christ)
*count upward*
20.what is second century CE? - ANSWER ✔ years 100-199 CE
21.what are 6 problems with sources of ancient medicine? - ANSWER ✔ -
Only a fraction of the medical works still exist (have to piece together the
existing works)
- Greek heiarchy in society affected literacy rates (only high class
people were literate and could write)
- Passage of time (much evidence is lost with time)
, - Experiential medicine and oral traditions
- Biases of scribes: copying and recopying (what was copied and
recopied comes down to the intrest of the individual and economic
factors)
- highly specialized works often lost
22.3 types of sources - ANSWER ✔ - written texts
- art
- physical evidence
23.5 types of written texts - ANSWER ✔ - treatises
- letters
- inscriptions
- poetry
- papyri (early form of a book)
24.3 types of art sources - ANSWER ✔ - (vase) paintings
- statues
- reliefs
25.3 types of physical evidence - ANSWER ✔ - artifacts and tools
- archaeological sites and buildings
- human remains
26.6 factors influencing the transmission of sources - ANSWER ✔ - natural
disasters, fires, warfare, etc
- monasteries picking what is transcribed: empirical works lost (what
was transcribed came down to their bias about what was worth
preserving)
- latin medical works from before 350 AD lost
- Greek East: scarcity of medical and science books copied from 650
AD
EXAM STUDY GUIDE 2026/2027
ACCURATE QUESTIONS WITH
CORRECT DETAILED SOLUTIONS ||
100% GUARANTEED PASS
<NEWEST VERSION>
1. Timeline - ANSWER ✔ - 4th century BCE (399-300 BCE/BC) to 2nd
century CE (100-199 CE/AD)
2. Problems with the sources when studying ancient medicine - ANSWER ✔
- only a fraction of sources exists from ancient day (need to look be critical
and may need to consider other timelines)
- complication with Greek society (only elite member were literate)
- experiential medicine and oral tradition (many medical
theories/procedures were observed first hand, never written down, and
was passed down orally)
- throughout time, sources like texts simply destroyed
- biases of scribes: copying/recording: things published based on
interest
- general public may not be interested in them
3. Types of sources - ANSWER ✔ Written texts, Art, Physical evidence
4. Examples of written texts - ANSWER ✔ - letters, poetry, inscriptions,
papyri, treaties
5. Examples of Art - ANSWER ✔ - vase, paintings, statues, relics, etc.
6. Examples of Physical Evidence - ANSWER ✔ - human remains, artifacts,
tools, archeological sites/buildings
,7. What affects Transmission of sources - ANSWER ✔ - Natural disasters,
warfare (destroys sources)
- Monasteries picking what is transcribed (some works lost or
forgotten)
- Latin medical texts before 350 AD lost
- Books translated to codex (codex more accessible/easy access, books
may contain contents that is difficult to format in codex, so they are
simply left out and eventually forgotten)
- In 850 AD/CE: changes in handwriting made in difficult for people to
make sense of what is written (more abbreviation in language/writing)
8. Mesopotamian - ANSWER ✔ - Between Tigris and Euphrates river (Iraq)
- Fertile land- perfect for farming
9. Babylonia - ANSWER ✔ - Mesopotamian state
- ruled by Hammurabi (1795-1750 BCE)
- conquered by Persian King Cyrus 539 BCE
10.Assyria - ANSWER ✔ - up north of Babylonia
- rose to prominence 1900 BCE
- collapsed in 612 BCE (Babylonians to be blamed)
11.Mesopotamian Religion and Culture - ANSWER ✔ - no separation
between natural and supernatural
- Cosmology: all elements have wills/conscious power
- Physical entity and spirit are one
- Supernatural has greater power than humans
12.Describe the hierarchy in Mesopotamia... - ANSWER ✔ -
gods>spirits>humans
- obedience and considerations: relationship between different entities
- humans praise and obey the gods
- gods listen to the humans
13.What does good communication with the gods ensure? - ANSWER ✔ -
good health
,14.How are symptoms of disease viewed in Mesopotamia? - ANSWER ✔ -
viewed as messages from the gods
- they must encode these messages, and figure out what needs to be
fixed within the person or community to restore health
- physiological processes are not important
15.what is a primary source? - ANSWER ✔ A primary source is any piece of
evidence (such as a document, artifact, literary work, or manuscript) that
was created during the time period under examination
16.what is a secondary source? - ANSWER ✔ A secondary source is a work
(such as an article or textbook) that comments on, discusses, or cites a
primary source. Secondary sources were usually written after the time period
under discussion.
17.What is BCE? - ANSWER ✔ Before the Common Era (or BC- Before
Christ)
*count downward*
18.What years are 4th century BCE? - ANSWER ✔ years 399-300 BCE
19.What is CE? - ANSWER ✔ Common Era (AD "Anno Domini" after the
birth of christ)
*count upward*
20.what is second century CE? - ANSWER ✔ years 100-199 CE
21.what are 6 problems with sources of ancient medicine? - ANSWER ✔ -
Only a fraction of the medical works still exist (have to piece together the
existing works)
- Greek heiarchy in society affected literacy rates (only high class
people were literate and could write)
- Passage of time (much evidence is lost with time)
, - Experiential medicine and oral traditions
- Biases of scribes: copying and recopying (what was copied and
recopied comes down to the intrest of the individual and economic
factors)
- highly specialized works often lost
22.3 types of sources - ANSWER ✔ - written texts
- art
- physical evidence
23.5 types of written texts - ANSWER ✔ - treatises
- letters
- inscriptions
- poetry
- papyri (early form of a book)
24.3 types of art sources - ANSWER ✔ - (vase) paintings
- statues
- reliefs
25.3 types of physical evidence - ANSWER ✔ - artifacts and tools
- archaeological sites and buildings
- human remains
26.6 factors influencing the transmission of sources - ANSWER ✔ - natural
disasters, fires, warfare, etc
- monasteries picking what is transcribed: empirical works lost (what
was transcribed came down to their bias about what was worth
preserving)
- latin medical works from before 350 AD lost
- Greek East: scarcity of medical and science books copied from 650
AD
