From Clay Tablets to Cure: Inside an Early Medical Education Establishment in the Ancient City of Aššur

Alsheikh, Ghanim; Mustafa, Omar

doi:10.32894/kjms.2026.166110.1220

From Clay Tablets to Cure: Inside an Early Medical Education Establishment in the Ancient City of Aššur

Document Type : Perspective, opinion, and commentary

Authors

Ghanim Alsheikh ¹

Omar Mustafa ²

¹ Founding Dean, Tikrit University, College of Medicine, Tikrit, Iraq

² Department of Diabetes, Associate Director of Medical Education, King’s College Hospital, London, United Kingdom

https://doi.org/10.32894/kjms.2026.166110.1220

Abstract

Clay tablets and cuneiform manuscripts offer a rare window into medical education and training in the Neo-Assyrian period (c. 725–614 BCE). This article reviews recently published in-depth scholarship that reconstructs the life and work of Kiṣir-Aššur—a magico-medical practitioner, physician, and exorcist—and situates his practice within a multigenerational scholarly household in the ancient city of Aššur. As a descendant of Bāba-šuma-ibni, the presumed founder of a family of healers, Kiṣir-Aššur inherited not only a corpus of texts but also a tradition of apprenticeship and communal mentorship. Evidence from the House of Bāba-šuma-ibni (House N4) suggests a structured, integrated ritual–medical curriculum marked by progressive responsibilities, text-based learning, and early exposure to healing practice. Taken together, these findings highlight how scholarly households shaped Neo-Assyrian medicine and preserved professional standards through teaching, practice, and the transmission of specialized knowledge.

Keywords

Neo-Assyrian period

Aššur

Medical education

Scholarly households

Subjects