From Ma’at to Panchamahabhutas: Unpacking the Conceptual Foundations of Healing in Ancient Egyptian and Indian Traditions

Paper ID: EIJTEM_2024_11_4_150-155

Author's Name: Anjana Victor, Dr. Thallapally Manohar

Volume: 11

Issue: 4

Year: 2024

Page No: 150-155

Abstract:

This article compares ancient Egyptian and Indian medical systems through Egypt’s concept of ma’at (cosmic order) and India’s panchamahabhutas (five great elements). Both traditions viewed health as harmony between the body and the cosmos. In Egypt, illness stemmed from disruptions of ma’at, treated through rituals and remedies restoring divine order. In India, disease arose from imbalances among the five elements expressed as three doshas, managed through diet, herbs, and surgeries. Drawing on ancient texts and modern scholarship, this study highlights how both systems integrated spirituality, philosophy, and empirical practice—revealing a shared vision of healing as balance between the microcosm and macrocosm, a principle that continues to shape holistic medicine today.

Keywords: Ma’at (cosmic order), Panchamahabhutas , Tridosha, Ayurveda, Microcosm–Macrocosm equilibrium

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