The ancient use of faïence in paediatric illness.

We examine the treatment of urinary incontinence in Ancient Egypt with faïence in the light of current concerns regarding the treatment of dysfunctional elimination in children with milk of magnesia. The origins of medical science in Africa and their influence on Western medicine are attested to by surviving documents from the XVIII Dynasty of the New Kingdom period of Pharaonic Egypt. One such document is the Ebers Papyrus, an ancient medical treatise containing 108 columns of text, that represents the then current and ancient medical knowledge in Egypt from about 1536 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep I. Its translation1 provides insight into the art and science of the early practice of historical medicine – some of which still applies to modern medical practice. One ancient practice of interest to the modern practising physician can be found in Rubric #273 (Column 49, Line 21) of the Ebers Papyrus, that involves the treatment of bed-wetting or urinary incontinence in a child. ‘Do this for a child suffering from bed-wetting: Boil faïence beads until they form a pellet; if he be an older child, he should swallow it in a gulp, [but] if he be in swaddling clothes, one should rub [it] together for him in the milk, just as it flows forth from his nurse for four days.’2 Ancient Egyptian faïence (or tjehnet) was one of the first artificial substances created by man (Figs 1 and 2). Used mainly as jewellery, this by-product of bronze-age technology was first made about 5 500 years ago. Faïence items are symbolic of life and rebirth, and many beautiful examples have been found in burial chambers dating back to the pre-dynastic age of Pharaonic Egypt.3 Faïence is a non-clay ceramic material that has a vitrified glaze of various colors, usually blue and green. It is not pottery or glass. The most common faïence beads were made of steatite, or soapstone, that was heated. Steatite is a soft metamorphic mineral made of talc and magnesium, and it is the magnesium released from the faïence on boiling that provides its medicinal value.