Dry or Wet? A Lexical Approach to Fumigation and Fomentation in Egyptian, Greek, and Coptic

Therapies employing smoke or steam constitute a cornerstone of medical practice in the Nile Valley, persisting from the Pharaonic period through Late Antiquity. While the clinical application of these remedies is well-attested in the archaeological and papyrological record, the linguistic categorization of these treatments reveals a complex evolution.
This paper proposes a diachronic lexical analysis of the terminology used for fumigation and fomentation, tracing the semantic shifts from the indigenous Egyptian medical corpus (e.g., the root kꜣp) into the Greek medical lexicon (e.g., the verbs θυμιάω and καπνίζω), and finally into Coptic pharmaceutical texts (e.g., the verb ⲕⲁⲡⲛⲓⲍⲉ). By focusing on the dichotomy of “dry” (fumigations) versus “wet” (fomentations), this study investigates how language shaped, and was shaped by, the underlying medical theories of each era.
Specifically, we will examine whether the translation of these concepts in Coptic texts represents a continuation of Pharaonic “vessel theory” – where fumigation was often used to unblock or sanitize internal conduits – or if it reflects an adoption of the Greek humoral emphasis on balancing dry and moist qualities. Through a comparative analysis of prescriptions found in Pharaonic, Greek, and Coptic medical papyri from Egypt, this paper aims to demonstrate how the vocabulary of heating and steaming served as a vehicle for the systematization of healing knowledge.