EGYPTIANS, NOT GREEKS WERE TRUE FATHERS OF MEDICINE

In the holistic world-view so typical of ancient Egypt, natron cleansed many levels simultaneously. Alongside its ability to bestow physical cleanliness, natron also seems to have provided spiritual purification. It is as common an ingredient in the magical papyri as it is in formulae devoted to cosmetics and cleanliness.

This, in fact, corresponds to the way salt is used today: as a preservative, as a magical product, to provide beauty and cleanliness. However, today, the user of salt tends to have only one of those goals in mind at a time; it seems that the Egyptians had a conception of receiving multiple benefits simultaneously.

In fact, salt is a very adequate preservative, as demonstrated not only by mummies but by the quantity of salt contained in modern packaged foods. Applied to the body it also has antiseptic properties, a reasonably effective, if painful, method of cleansing minor cuts and wounds. For the purposes of beauty, salt combined with oils, both true and essential, are easily combined into exfoliating salt scrubs, a modern product whose components would all be recognizable and appreciated in ancient Egypt. Salt, while inexpensive in the supermarket, is still treasured as a protective material in modern magic. The simplest protective spell is a circle of salt, within which one can sit for spiritual safety. Presumably, the natron salts applied to the bodies of the ancient deceased, promoted spiritual safety as well as physical desiccation.