Ancient Crab Amulet found in Turkey was a Ward Against Cancer

Archaeologists working to excavate the ancient Anatolian city of Pisidia Antioch have found something special. An amulet has been unearthed which the team believes was used to treat cancer in ancient Turkey.

The amulet, worked in a black and red stone known as “gemma,” contains inscriptions for healing, as well as the design of a crab. The symbology comes from the Greek word for cancer, “karkinos” which also means crab, a link which survives in modern astrology.

The link between crabs and cancer is believed to date back to the 2nd century philosopher and physician Galen, considered to be amongst the greatest medical researchers of antiquity. Galen saw the shape of a crab’s legs in the blood vessels which surrounded tumorous growths on cancer sufferers. 

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As reported in Hurriyet Daily News the amulet was discovered in an area of Pisidia Antioch known as Aedilicus Hill, near the site’s church, but is believed to predate it. Such amulets, generally made of gemma and in this fashion, are believed to have been common in the Hellenistic period of ancient Greece, with examples being known up to the 4th century AD.

Cancer was known throughout the ancient world, appearing in ancient Egyptian papyri a millennia and a half before this amulet was crafted and possibly being known for a thousand years before that. It was Hippocrates, writing several hundred years before Galen, who recommended the ancient treatment: a specific diet, regular drawing of blood, and strong laxatives.

Hippocrates was basing his treatment on the theory that the human body was made up of four competing “humors” and that cancer, as with all maladies, represented an imbalance of these humors. Although such theories seem facile today we had no better answer than this for treating cancer until the 19th century.

Nor can Hippocrates’s approach have been very successful, hence the advent of such magical amulets to ward off the “emperor of all maladies.” But let us hope that there was a little magic in this newly discovered amulet, and that whoever needed it was protected as they so clearly hoped.

Original Story: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-cancer-treating-amulet-discovered-in-pisidia-antioch-204149.

Header Image: The crab symbol on the amulet and the inscription suggest that it was sued to treat cancer. Source: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-cancer-treating-amulet-discovered-in-pisidia-antioch-204149.