Sakikku (The Diagnostic Handbook)

SA.GIG

Compiled by Esagil-kin-apli · c. 11th century BC (reign of Adad-apla-iddina, when Esagil-kin-apli compiled the standard edition) · Babylon (Iraq) · medicine

A forty-tablet handbook of over three thousand diagnostic entries argues that a physician's first task is systematic observation, symptoms read head to foot, to determine which god or demon caused an illness, before any treatment is attempted.