Bronze cupping vessel, Egypt, 300 BCE-300 CE
Cupping is the practice of placing heated cups or vessels like this on the body to draw out any impurities and bring blood to the surface of the skin. This is known as dry cupping. Wet cupping is when the welts left on the body are cut to let blood flow out. It was believed that this would re-balance the humours and restore a person to health. It is thought that this object was made in Egypt.
Object number:
A608649
Related Themes and Topics
Glossary:
Glossary: cupping
The application of a heated cup to the skin, creating a slight vacuum , which causes swelling of the tissues beneath and an increase in the flow of blood to the area. This was thought to draw out harmful excess blood from diseased organs nearby and so promote healing.
Glossary: humours
The fluids of the body whose balance is essential to well-being. They are blood, choler (yellow bile), phlegm, and melancholy (black bile). The system of the humours was closely related to the theory of the elements by the Ancient Greeks (especially Hippocrates), who were the first society to widely embrace the theory and apply it to medical practice. In Ancient Roman culture, the theory of the humours was embraced by Galen. During the neo-classical revival in western culture, the theory of the humours was a dominant form of medical practice. Its legacy in the form of activities such as blood-letting continued in England into the eighteenth century.
Glossary: cupping vessel
No description.
Glossary: bloodletting
Puncturing a vein in order to withdraw blood. A popular medical practice for over two thousand years. Bloodletting often involved withdrawing large quantities of blood in the belief that this would cure or prevent many illnesses and diseases. The practice has been abandoned for all but a few very specific conditions.