Ancient medical texts uncovered in Iraq are prompting scholars to rethink how healing was practiced in Mesopotamia, revealing that sanctuaries played a significant but understated role in medical treatment.
In a study published in the journal Iraq, Assyriologist Troels Arbøll examined cuneiform medical prescriptions from the second and first millennia B.C. to better understand how religion and medicine intersected.
The research shows that while sanctuaries were not central to everyday healthcare, they were sometimes required as part of treatment for specific illnesses.
Rare references to sacred spaces in medical care
Most Mesopotamian medical texts focus on physical remedies. These include plant-based treatments, ointments, and repeated healing actions carried out over several days. References to temples or sanctuaries are uncommon.
Out of the entire medical corpus available for study, only 12 prescriptions, preserved across six manuscripts, instruct patients to seek out a sanctuary of a deity. The relationship between these sacred spaces and primary healers, such as the asû or the āšipu and mašmaššu, remains unclear. The texts do not suggest that healers worked inside temples or that sanctuaries functioned as medical institutions.
Which gods were involved
When sanctuaries are mentioned, the texts refer to several major Mesopotamian gods. These include Sîn, Ninurta, Šamaš, Ištar, and Marduk. Patients were instructed to visit a sanctuary linked to one of these deities to receive “good fortune” before treatment continued.
The evidence suggests that not all sanctuaries were large public temples. Some appear to have been personal or household shrines, possibly located within the patient’s home. This points to a flexible understanding of sacred space rather than a strict reliance on major temple complexes.
A striking focus on ear-related illnesses
A clear pattern appears in the types of illnesses associated with sanctuaries. Five of the six manuscripts deal with afflictions of the ear. The remaining text concerns a disorder of the spleen or pancreas, known in Akkadian as ṭulīmu. No other diseases in the medical texts require a visit to a sanctuary.
A new study by Troels Arbøll shows that some patients were instructed to visit sanctuaries as part of treatment – especially for ear diseases – revealing a rare but deliberate link between medicine and religion in the ancient world. pic.twitter.com/5ziZyqRhNa
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) January 20, 2026
Researchers are unsure why these ailments were treated differently. Arbøll suggests that both symbolic and practical factors may have played a role. In Mesopotamian thought, the ear was linked to listening, attention, and the reception of wisdom and divine messages. An illness affecting the ear may therefore have carried religious significance.
There were also medical concerns. Ear infections were unpredictable and could worsen rapidly. They could lead to vertigo or force patients to remain bedridden, signaling a more serious condition. In some cases, such illnesses may have progressed into severe or life-threatening diseases.
Seeking good fortune before treatment
The prescriptions indicate that healing often began with securing divine favor. Patients were told to seek good fortune before physical remedies were applied. This step was considered essential to recovery.
One medical text links this good fortune to the number six, but its meaning is uncertain. The line can be read as referring either to “the 6th day” or to “six days.”
Arbøll notes that many treatments were meant to be repeated over several days, suggesting that good fortune may have lasted throughout the course of treatment. The texts, however, do not explain how this period was calculated.
Ritual practice supported by archaeology
Archaeological evidence supports the written sources. At the temple of the healing goddess Gula in the Babylonian city of Isin, researchers have uncovered votive figurines left by visitors. These objects may have represented body parts or symptoms linked to illness and were likely offered as formal requests for healing.
A selective role for sanctuaries in medicine
The findings challenge older assumptions that religion and medicine operated separately in the ancient world. Instead, they reveal a selective system in which sanctuaries were used only in specific cases. Healing in Mesopotamia relied primarily on remedies and repetitive actions, but in certain illnesses, it also involved sacred spaces where belief, ritual, and medicine worked in conjunction.
