1 



[V] 



THE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL OF 

 ANATOMY-332 B.C. to A.D. 200 



xVlthough the classical Greeks did not permit human dissec- 

 tion in their own country, for reasons which have been outlined, 

 they were not averse to having it carried on in one of their con- 

 quered territories, specifically in Alexandria, Egypt. During the 

 pre-Christian era, the setting was ripe for anatomical pursuits in 

 man, but only temporarily. That city became an important center 

 for learning, because many people who had been granted religious 

 asylum there, were anxious to avail themselves of the pre-eminent 

 facilities offered for study at the famous city library and museum. 

 The Platonic and Stoic schools of philosophy were undergoing 

 deterioration, monotheism was in vogue and Judaism flourished. 

 Attempts had been made to combine Greek philosophy and He- 

 brew theology, and a belief in Gnosticism was gaining headway. 

 The last is of importance in the history of anatomy because 

 the Gnostics (a philosophic-religious movement which believed 

 that emancipation comes through knowledge) held a disdain for 

 the human body. To them it was merely a prison for the soul, 

 which was inalienably immortal, existing from eternity to eter- 

 nity. The Alexandrian men in this group concluded that all men 

 pass immediately at death to their final lot: the ghosts of the 

 wicked went to their doom with suffering, the good to absolute 

 perfection through a series of transmigrations after which they- 

 would exhibit no interest in mundane affairs. In practice, the 

 followers of this creed were either rigorously ascetic or completely 

 licentious. To these individuals, life was an unpleasant interlude 

 so death was welcomed (Wood, '20). It was largely because of 

 this adverse regard for the human body that there developed a 

 relaxation of popular prejudices whereby the first unequivocal 

 dissections were sanctioned on man. Taking advantage of this 



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