How Headaches Were Treated at the Asclepius Sanatorium

You are looking at a dedication base with relief medical tools (circa 320 BC), which is in the Akr'opolis Museum. It was found in 1877 in the sanctuary of the god of medicine, Asclepius, which also served as a healing centre. At the top of it was placed a tribute, perhaps a statue, an anathema probably of a doctor. On the front of the base there is a relief of medical instruments:
▪️ Two figs (suction cups) left and right. With their use, doctors treated a variety of conditions, such as headaches and abdominal pain, neuralgic, arthritic and rheumatic diseases, disorders of the circulation of the limbs, spasms of the dorsal muscles, respiratory diseases, etc.
▪️ An open case of surgical instruments. It consists of five scalpels and a tool which may have been used to remove stones from the urethra or bladder. Photo by Socrates Mavrommatis, republished from the Acropolis Museum.