All men and women share certain experiences. All are born; all suffer illnesses during their lives; and all must sooner or later die, whether from disease, degenerative process, accident, or violence. The historian's overall view of ancient peoples is incomplete if he or she fails to take into account these phenomena of health or disease. The major lines of study of ancient diseases comprise examination of literary sources by scholars in collaboration with physicians, study of artistic representations in sculpture and painting, and study of skeletal remains and mummies by macroscopic examination, supplemented by radiography and by histological examination using light, polarizing, and electron microscopes.

The major literary sources for our knowledge of disease processes in Egypt are the Ebers, Edwin Smith, and Kahun papyri (Dawson 1953). The first deals with medical diseases and includes, among many others, descriptions of parasitic gut infestations and urinary disorders, most certainly including schistosomiasis. The second is surgical and contains accurate prognostic comments on traumatic and certain inflammatory diseases. The third concerns obstetrical and gynaecological disorders. Precise diagnoses are, in many instances, difficult to make from the symptoms listed. Nevertheless, the papyri will continue to engage scholars and medical historians for many years. From these, as well as other literary sources, specialist scholars have adduced evidence of trachoma, seasonal ophthalmia, skin diseases, hernia, haemorrhoids, and so on.