Epilepsy in Ancient Medicine: From Mysticism to Observation

Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the earliest documented medical conditions, and references date back to Mesopotamian texts from around 2000 bce, when it was often attributed to divine or supernatural causes. Similar spiritual interpretations appeared across ancient cultures, including Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, Judaic, and Greco-Roman traditions. While the condition was frequently regarded as a curse, possession, or divine punishment, some texts—such as the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus—suggest early recognition of physical trauma as a cause. The Hippocratic School marked a turning point by rejecting supernatural explanations and identifying the brain as the source of epilepsy. Hippocrates’ treatise On the Sacred Disease presented epilepsy as a natural disorder, noting hereditary influences, prenatal origins, and observable clinical symptoms such as aura. Later physicians, including Galen, Aretaeus, and Soranus, further categorized seizure types, documented associated symptoms, and developed various treatments, ranging from dietary and herbal remedies to surgical interventions. Despite advances in clinical understanding, epilepsy retained strong cultural and religious connotations, contributing to stigma and shaping medical approaches well into the Middle Ages.