The Egyptians were very strong believers in medicine. Their god of healers and embalmers was Anubis. Egyptians were the first people to start using antiseptics to stop infection. Their version was willow leaves and bark which can lower your chances of infection.

Medicine in the Egyptian mind had one goal ahead of others. It was not practiced by witch doctors as in tribes of long ago with combinations of magic, herbal remedy, and gullible beliefs. Homer in the Odyssey acknowledged this phrase: "In Egypt, the men are more skilled in medicine than any of human kind".

The human body was believed to be born in a very healthy form and could not suffer illness or die except through the manipulation of an ancient agent. In case of wounds or intestinal worms, that agent was able to be seen and the treatment wanted was simplistic. As the Egyptians had never heard of microbiology because of their time, internal diseases were thought to be due to an evil force placed by the devil gods, a severe punishment or witchcraft procedures. The physician was forced to exterminate this evil before really performing an operation.

Despite all of their limits of knowledge of what caused diseases, their studies of anatomy and physiology were very sensible. Without any thought against it, they mummified the dead while other nations of the world would smolder their dead to ashes. An example of part of the mummifying process is emptying the skull through the person's nose with a long hook. It could have never been constructed without any knowedge of the anatomy of the head and brain. Today, many brain surgeries are carried out by this routine.