It’s another sweltering morning in Memphis, Egypt. As the sunlight brightens the Nile, Peseshet checks her supplies. Honey, garlic, cumin, acacia leaves, cedar oil. She’s well stocked with the essentials she needs to treat her patients.
Je še eno žgoče jutro v Memfisu v Egiptu. Ko sonce osvetli Nil, Pesešet preveri svoje zaloge. Med, česen, kumina, listi akacije, cedrino olje. Dobro založena je z osnovnimi stvarmi, ki jih potrebuje za zdravljenje pacientov.
Peseshet is a swnw, or a doctor. In order to become one, she had to train as a scribe and study the medical papyri stored at the Per Ankh, the House of Life. Now, she teaches her own students there.
Pesešet je sunu ali zdravnica. Da bi postala zdravnica, se je morala uriti kot pisarka in preučiti zdravstvene papiruse, shranjene v Per Ankhu, Hiši življenja. Zdaj tam uči svoje lastne učence.
Before teaching, Peseshet has a patient to see. One of the workers at the temple construction site has injured his arm. When Peseshet arrives, the laborer’s arm is clearly broken, and worse, the fracture is a sed, with multiple bone fragments. Peseshet binds and immobilizes the injury.
Pred poučevanjem mora Pesešet k pacientu. Eden od delavcev na gradbišču templja si je poškodoval roko. Ko Pesešet prispe, vidi, da je delavčeva roka očitno zlomljena, in, kar je še huje, zlom je kominutiven, kost je namreč zlomljena na več delcev. Pesešet poveže in imobilizira poškodbo.
Her next stop is the House of Life. On her way, a woman intercepts Peseshet in the street. The woman’s son has been stung by a scorpion. Peseshet has seen many similar stings and knows exactly what to do. She must say an incantation to cast the poison out. She begins to recite the spell, invoking Serqet, patron of physicians and goddess of venomous creatures. Peseshet recites the spell as if she is Serqet. This commanding approach has the greatest chance at success. After she utters the last line, she tries to cut the poison out with a knife for good measure.
Njen naslednji postanek je Hiša življenja. Na poti tja Pesešet na cesti prestreže neka ženska. Njenega sina je pičil škorpijon. Pesešet je videla mnogo podobnih primerov in točno ve, kaj narediti. Izreči mora urok, da bo pregnala strup. Prične recitirati urok, klicati Serket, zavetnico zdravnikov in boginjo strupenih bitij. Pesešet recitira urok, kot da je Serket. Ta ukazovalni pristop ima največ možnosti za uspeh. Ko izreče zadnjo vrstico, poskusi za dobro mero izrezati strup z nožem.
Peseshet packs up to leave, but the woman has another question. She wants to find out if she is pregnant. Peseshet explains her fail-safe pregnancy test: plant two seeds: one barley, one emmer. Then, urinate on the seeds every day. If the plants grow, she’s pregnant. A barley seedling predicts a baby boy, while emmer foretells a girl. Peseshet also recommends a prayer to Hathor, goddess of fertility.
Pesešet pripravi stvari, da bi odšla, a ženska ima še eno vprašanje. Rada bi ugotovila, če je noseča. Pesešet razloži svoj nezmotljivi nosečnostni test: posaditi je treba dve semeni, ječmen in dvozrnico. Nato je treba vsak dan urinirati nanju. Če rastlina zraste, je ženska noseča. Ječmenov poganjek napoveduje dečka, dvozrnica pa deklico. Presešet priporoča tudi molitev boginji plodnosti, Hator.
When Peseshet finally arrives at the House of Life, she runs into the doctor-priest Isesi. She greets Isesi politely, but she thinks priests are very full of themselves. She doesn’t envy Isesi’s role as neru pehut, which directly translates to herdsman of the anus to the royal family, or, guardian of the royal anus.
Ko Pesešet končno prispe v Hišo življenja, naleti na zdravnika-svečenika Isesija. Vljudno ga pozdravi, a misli, da so svečeniki polni samih sebe. Isesiju ne zavida njegove vloge kot neru pehut, kar dobesedno pomeni pastir anusa kraljeve družine ali stražar kraljevega anusa.
Inside, the House of Life is bustling as usual with scribes, priests, doctors, and students. Papyri containing all kinds of records, not just medical information, are stored here. Peseshet’s son Akhethetep is hard at work copying documents as part of his training to become a scribe. He’s a particularly promising student, but he was admitted to study because Peseshet is a scribe, as was her father before her. Without family in the profession, it’s very difficult for boys, and impossible for girls, to pursue this education.
V notranji Hiše življenja vse kot ponavadi vrvi pisarjev, duhovnikov, zdravnikov in študentov. Papirusi, ki vsebujejo različne zapise, ne le zdravstvene informacije, se hranijo tu. Presešetin sin Akhethetep pridno prepisuje dokumente kot del svojega usposabljanja, da bo postal pisar. Je še posebej obetaven študent, na študij pa je bil sprejet, ker je Pesešet tudi pisarka in prav tako njen oče pred njo. Brez družine v poklicu je zelo težko za fante, za deklice pa nemogoče lotiti se tega izobraževanja.
Peseshet oversees all the female swnws and swnws-in-training in Memphis. The men have their own overseer, as the male doctors won’t answer to a woman. Today, Peseshet teaches anatomy. She quizzes her students on the metu, the body’s vessels that transport blood, air, urine, and even bad spirits.
Pesešet nadzoruje vse zdravnice in zdravnice pripravnice v Memfisu. Moški imajo svojega nadzornika, ker zdravniki nočejo odgovarjati ženski. Danes Pesešet poučuje anatomijo. Študentke sprašuje o metu, telesnih poteh, ki transportirajo kri, zrak, urin in celo hudobne duhove.
Peseshet is preparing to leave when a pale, thin woman accosts her at the door and begs to be examined. The woman has a huge, sore lump under her arm. Peseshet probes the growth and finds it cool to the touch and hard like an unripe hemat fruit. She has read about ailments like this, but never seen one. For this tumor there is no treatment, medicine or spell. All the texts give the same advice: do nothing.
Pesešet se pripravlja na odhod, ko jo pri vratih nagovori bleda, vitka ženska in jo roti, naj jo pregleda. Ženska in ogromno vneto bulo pod roko. Pesešet pregleda izrastek in vidi, da je hladen na dotik in trd kot nezrel sadež. Brala je o takih tegobah, a videla je še ni nikoli. Za tak tumor ni zdravljenja, zdravila ali uroka. Vsa besedila nudijo isti nasvet: ne stori ničesar.
After delivering the bad news, Peseshet goes outside. She lingers on the steps of the House of Life, admiring the city at dusk. In spite of all her hard work, there will always be patients she can’t help, like the woman with the tumor. They linger with her, but Peseshet has no time to dwell. In a few short weeks, the Nile’s annual flooding will begin, bringing life to the soil for the next year’s harvest and a whole new crop of patients.
Ko pove slabo novico, gre Pesešet ven. Postaja na stopnicah Hiše življenja in občuduje mesto v somraku. Kljub njenemu trdemu delu bodo vedno pacienti, ki jim ne more pomagati, tako kot ženska s tumorjem. Ostajajo z njo, a Pesešet nima časa razmišljati. Čez nekaj kratkih tednov se bo začelo letno poplavljanje Nila, ki bo prineslo življenje zemlji za naslednjo žetev, in cel nov pridelek pacientov.